Top Domain Registrars
Once upon a time there was only a handful of places to register a domain name; now there are too many to name. Here we review some the largest registrars, but also some of the smaller companies with a good reputation and niche features.
GoDaddy Domains – The largest domain registrar. Imagine domains + testosterone + up-selling. Can you believe this business model is working?
GoDaddy must be doing something right to be able to have drones of happy customers who don’t have a problem with their excessive in-site advertising.
Maybe it’s the cheap prices and bikini models?
Dotster – One of the top 20 registrars for market share. Without discounts or promotions, domain pricing starts at around $15 at Doster.com
Network Solutions – The oldest domain registrar, this company has been pimpin’ domains since 1993.
Network Solutions have been the leaders in domain policy, as well as controversy.
Moniker – Known for their incredible security record and customer service.
Registration for many TLDs is around $10.50 — making Moniker a contender for top value among this list of registrars. Has tools and discounts for bulk purchases.
NameCheap – Cheap domains, easy to use (but fully featured) control panel, and the ability to freely "push" domains other NameCheap users makes them a favorite choice among webmasters.
123-reg – Very popular U. K. based registrar and host that features .co.uk’s at £2.79 per year.
Included in domain purchase are a variety of features including email forwarding, and page creator. They recently started accepting Paypal as a form of payment.
1 & 1 Domains – Domains start at $6.99/yr and include a free email account and private registration, making 1&1 one of the cheapest registrars.
The user-interface is not the most user-friendly with domainers and power users finding it too bulky for efficient use, but is good for casual domain purchasers.
Daily.co.uk – U. K. based registrar and host. Domain registration is priced competitively making them one of the top European registrars.
Melbourne IT – One of the largest registrars (#5 in market share) — and hugely popular in Australia.
Domain Discover – Founded in 1996, competitive domain pricing starts at around $10/yr.
Dynadot – Popular choice for IDN domains. Bulk purchase options, and intuitive interface has made Dynadot fans out of some domainers.
Easily.co.uk – One of the UK’s top providesr of cost-effective web hosting and domain name services.
eNom – One of the leading registrars, eNom.com offers the most standard features among the top registrars but also charges some of the highest prices.
They are also a pioneer in domain reselling offering tons of tools and bulk pricing options.
GKG – Overall good registrar with below average pricing.
Joker – Based in Germany, offering competitively priced domain registration services, and reseller tools.
DomainSite.com – Very competitive pricing, known for quality service — all around a good registrar.
MyDomain – Pricing starts at about $9/.com, with bulk pricing options available.
Name.com – No frills interface + competitive domain pricing…and it’s really hard to forget the domain name.
NameScout – Free parked page, customer and technical support, domain forwarding, high security and privacy protection.
NamesDirect – Domain name registration, URL & e-mail forwarding, web hosting and e-mail accounts. Namesdirect.com is an ICANN accredited registrar and one of the top 10 DNS hosts in the world.
NameSecure – Affordable domain name registration with NameSecure for $8.95 per year or less.
Register.com – Big company offering many services.
Although they are priced reasonably now, they were one of the most expensive top registrars for many years and lost the average consumer’s business along the way.
Domain.com – Founded in 2001. One of the world’s leading domain registrars and web host providers. Domains start at around $9. 
