Recently I’m looking for some new domain registrars to work with. I have a few choices in mind: NameSilo, Cloudflare, OVH, and Google.
Google Domains is pretty smart. First, it would detect and copy all your DNS records from your current domain registrar and ask if you will modify the records manually. When I was just about to pay for the transfer, I noticed that’s a warning message “The Google Domains service can only be used for business or commercial reasons in your current country.” Uh oh, I only plan to use the domain for my blog. I guess I won’t be able to sign up. Also, it does not accept PayPal.
OVH has their domain registration service under the category called Web Cloud. Support is excellent and fast. In the process of domain transfer, I even received an email confirmation asking if I approved the domain transfer. That reminds me of the old Network Solutions, which always ask for email approval in the past. Everything seems fine except whois privacy. The default setting in the whois listing is “hide”, but when I check my whois record, I see my email displayed in the registrant email field. That’s something unthought of. Later, I found an option to generate “substitute email addresses”, select “Obfuscate”, and save.
At first sight, I could not find a “transfer” option on Cloudflare. When you search for a domain that displays as unavailable for most domain registrars, the system will ask if you own that specific domain and plan to transfer it in. At Cloudflare, there is no such option. To transfer a domain to Cloudflare, you need to first “add a website”, change the DNS server to Cloudflare, and then you can move it to Cloudflare. There are two excellent features of Cloudflare: 1. Whois privacy is on automatically, and you don’t need to “obfuscate” your email. 2. Their system automatically copies your current DNS record from your old registrar, just like what Google Domains does.
Before using NameSilo, I heard a lot of good things about them. Great price, excellent service, etc. The interface design may be outdated, but it carries all the functions one would expect. Indeed, there are too many features on NameSilo. Members are encouraged to add funds to their NameSilo accounts. They accept the most popular payment methods even including Bitcoin. An affiliate program is available for those who plan to market their services. There was an incident that I was unable to transfer a domain automatically. So NameSilo did it for me manually; that’s some great service.
Now let’s compare the prices of the above-mentioned domain registrars. Just for reference, I also include fees of Google and old Uniregistry. Uniregistry was acquired by GoDaddy some time ago. Because of currency exchange, the prices might fluctuate a bit, and I got the data from my PayPal receipts. The most affordable one is OVH.
10.99CAD OVH
11.38CAD NameSilo
12.26CAD Cloudflare
15.88CAD old Uniregistry
17.00CAD Google
17.25CAD GoDaddy
About support service, I believe both OVH and NameSilo provide a prompt, polite, and knowledgeable service. In comparison, NameSilo service is a bit faster.