
Ask HN: Are .io domains still considered good for (web based) startups? - plessthanpt05
Just wondering if they are still considered a good choice or if they&#x27;re &quot;sooo 5 years ago&quot;?  They were all the rage a few years back, but how about nowadays?
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cjbprime
There have been some frustrating and long outages of the DNS, causing hours of
downtime. We switched our API endpoint from .io to .com because we can't
afford that much downtime for no good reason.

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spking
I think so, depending a bit on your audience. When the .com you want is taken
(almost always), going for the .io usually makes sense as it's now so
commonplace (especially in tech-savvy circles).

If you're trying to build a big direct to consumer brand, .io might not be the
best choice.

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badrabbit
+1 .io is for a "techie" audience. .com still wins for a generic consumer
audience.

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notheguyouthink
I'd almost argue that for the techie crowd, .io is shiny, but any extension is
welcome. Tech audience cares less about domaine ext I think.

Where as I think my father would assume `legitsite.la` is a virus or
something.

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icedchai
They were never a good choice...

When I see a startup with a .io, I always check the .com and almost always see
their name was already taken by some other company.

That's a pretty big hint: think of a better name.

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plessthanpt05
In my experience it's not that another company has the .com for what I'm
looking for, but a squatter has parked it or a reseller is asking $100s or
$1000s.

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27182818284
I think the novelty has worn off, yes. You won't get a bonus by it anymore, so
ask yourself if it is worth the extra money and the potential stress of any
DNS issues.

I've owned them in the past and I wouldn't buy them again for a new thing.

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LinuxBender
I would diversify across several tld's and be ready to make use of any of them
in your application by switching a properties file or database entry. Should
there be a problem with a set of root servers, your SLA impact can be reduced.
Even for my personal hobby sites, I always get at least 2 TLD's, sometimes 4+.
That is just my own opinion based on my own experiences.

There is also some factor of brand protection in this method. If you wait
until your business is successful and fast growing, it is too late to go back
and get all the TLD's for your brand. They will have been snatched up and you
will have been too busy to remember this or notice until it is too late.

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quickthrower2
If your audience is the British Indian Ocean Territory, why not?

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timdavila
As others have said, .com is king.

But since it's very difficult to obtain a good name in .com these days, a good
alternative is .app which was just released so there's plenty of good names at
reasonable prices.

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plessthanpt05
What if you don't plan on releasing an app, but just want a web presence for
your startup -- is .app a good idea in this case?

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ecesena
If you can, just stay with a .com. You're just looking for more headaches down
your road to success.

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segmondy
They were never a good choice.

