Best Domain Name Registrar: Namesilo, GoDaddy, Google Domains
We researched dozens of domain name registrars to see which one is best for small business owners, and decided that Namesilo, GoDaddy and Google Domains are the top three options. We chose these three because they are very popular, inexpensive, and easy to use. Read on for our comparison and review of these three options, as well as our top recommendations. Buying a domain name is only the first step in getting a website. You’ll also need someone to host your website.
Best Domain Name Registrar for Small Business Owners: Namesilo
We recommend Namesilo as the best domain name registrar because of its competitive pricing, clutter free and easy to use interface, and inclusion of features in the price (such as privacy protection and email forwarding) that many registrars charge extra for. Plus, when researching user reviews, Namesilo was consistently one of the highest rated registrars and most of their customers seem very satisfied with the service.
Since most domain name registrars have access to the same domain names, the biggest aspect that sets one apart from the other is price. Namesilo is the least expensive registrar that I found. Often times a company will try to hook you with low prices, just to way overcharge on either renewals or upsells. This is not the case with Namesilo.
Other areas where they shine are their easy to use website, both during the checkout process and the back-end user interface and the fact that they include privacy protection in the price. They also include a domain defender for free that will alert you to any requested changes to your domains.
Where Namesilo is lacking is that they are strictly a source for registering domain names, which means that they have not built out additional features (such as hosting, SSL certificates, or web design). The domain name is only a small part of creating a website, and if you are looking to create your own self-hosted website, it may be easier for you to have all of your services in one place. If you are looking for a hassle-free and inexpensive place to register your domain name, go with Namesilo. If you want more assistance with the next steps of creating a website, you may prefer GoDaddy or Google Domains.
Best Domain Name Registrar for Additional Services: GoDaddy
GoDaddy is on the other end of the spectrum as Namesilo. Where Namesilo only offers domain name registration, GoDaddy offers almost everything you may need to create and manage a website. Their services include web hosting, website builder, SSL certificates, online marketing, email, and more.
Where GoDaddy excels is in their web hosting packages, and they are actually our recommended web hosting provider. The web hosting plan that we recommend from GoDaddy for small business owners is $7.99/month and includes a free domain name for the length of your term (up to 3 years). Therefore, if you are looking to create a self hosted website on a content management system such as WordPress, then you will most likely save money in the long run by going with GoDaddy. This is because even though Namesilo is cheaper for domain names, you may still need to pay for web hosting services.
The downside of GoDaddy offering all of these services is that their checkout process can come across as a little scammy and not very transparent, because they try to upsell you every step of the way. If you are new to the domain name world, it can be confusing which additional services are beneficial, and which are completely unnecessary. They also charge for services, such as privacy protection, that both Namesilo and Google Domains include in their price.
Best Domain Name Registrar for the Less Technologically Savvy: Google Domains
Google is known for it’s smart and easy to use products, and their domain name registrar is no different. Their website walks you through the steps of registering a domain, setting up a website, and creating a custom email address in a clear and simple way.
If you have little experience with registering domains or setting up websites, Google Domains is a great choice for you. Immediately after registering your domain, the website points you to various website builders you can use to easily create a website. This includes our recommended website builder for small businesses – Weebly. View our guide to learn how to set up a Weebly website in under 60 minutes.
The reason we don’t recommend Google Domains as our top choice is because the domains are slightly more expensive than Namesilo. It is also more expensive than GoDaddy if you factor in the cost of creating the website with a website builder.
However, the additional cost is worth it if you are looking for a straightforward and easy way to register a domain name, create your website, and set up your custom email address. Plus, the customer service is helpful and available 24/7, and they have in-depth self-help guides for answers to quick questions.
Pricing
GoDaddy on the other hand offers almost every service related to creating and maintaining a website. From web hosting, to website design, and web security, GoDaddy has it all. This is why we recommend GoDaddy if you are interested in creating a self-hosted website using WordPress (or similar CMS). You can get their web hosting package for $7.99 a month which includes a free domain name and email account.
Google Domains does not offer other services directly through the Google Domains website, however, it directs you to where you can sign up for other Google services such as G Suite (gmail for business) which costs $5 per month. The site also integrates with website builders such as Squarespace, Blogger, Weebly, and many others. Though all the domain name registrars in our guide are compatible with these website builders, Google Domains is the only one that guides you directly to these sites in an easy and intuitive way.
Best Domain Name Registrar for Small Business Owners: Namesilo
We recommend Namesilo as the best domain name registrar because of its competitive pricing, clutter free and easy to use interface, and inclusion of features in the price (such as privacy protection and email forwarding) that many registrars charge extra for. Plus, when researching user reviews, Namesilo was consistently one of the highest rated registrars and most of their customers seem very satisfied with the service.
Since most domain name registrars have access to the same domain names, the biggest aspect that sets one apart from the other is price. Namesilo is the least expensive registrar that I found. Often times a company will try to hook you with low prices, just to way overcharge on either renewals or upsells. This is not the case with Namesilo.
Other areas where they shine are their easy to use website, both during the checkout process and the back-end user interface and the fact that they include privacy protection in the price. They also include a domain defender for free that will alert you to any requested changes to your domains.
Where Namesilo is lacking is that they are strictly a source for registering domain names, which means that they have not built out additional features (such as hosting, SSL certificates, or web design). The domain name is only a small part of creating a website, and if you are looking to create your own self-hosted website, it may be easier for you to have all of your services in one place. If you are looking for a hassle-free and inexpensive place to register your domain name, go with Namesilo. If you want more assistance with the next steps of creating a website, you may prefer GoDaddy or Google Domains.
Best Domain Name Registrar for Additional Services: GoDaddy
GoDaddy is on the other end of the spectrum as Namesilo. Where Namesilo only offers domain name registration, GoDaddy offers almost everything you may need to create and manage a website. Their services include web hosting, website builder, SSL certificates, online marketing, email, and more.
Where GoDaddy excels is in their web hosting packages, and they are actually our recommended web hosting provider. The web hosting plan that we recommend from GoDaddy for small business owners is $7.99/month and includes a free domain name for the length of your term (up to 3 years). Therefore, if you are looking to create a self hosted website on a content management system such as WordPress, then you will most likely save money in the long run by going with GoDaddy. This is because even though Namesilo is cheaper for domain names, you may still need to pay for web hosting services.
The downside of GoDaddy offering all of these services is that their checkout process can come across as a little scammy and not very transparent, because they try to upsell you every step of the way. If you are new to the domain name world, it can be confusing which additional services are beneficial, and which are completely unnecessary. They also charge for services, such as privacy protection, that both Namesilo and Google Domains include in their price.
Best Domain Name Registrar for the Less Technologically Savvy: Google Domains
Google is known for it’s smart and easy to use products, and their domain name registrar is no different. Their website walks you through the steps of registering a domain, setting up a website, and creating a custom email address in a clear and simple way.
If you have little experience with registering domains or setting up websites, Google Domains is a great choice for you. Immediately after registering your domain, the website points you to various website builders you can use to easily create a website. This includes our recommended website builder for small businesses – Weebly. View our guide to learn how to set up a Weebly website in under 60 minutes.
The reason we don’t recommend Google Domains as our top choice is because the domains are slightly more expensive than Namesilo. It is also more expensive than GoDaddy if you factor in the cost of creating the website with a website builder.
However, the additional cost is worth it if you are looking for a straightforward and easy way to register a domain name, create your website, and set up your custom email address. Plus, the customer service is helpful and available 24/7, and they have in-depth self-help guides for answers to quick questions.
Pricing
The price of your domain name is an important consideration when choosing a domain name registrar. Since every registrar has access to the same domains, the price is really what sets one apart from the other.
Below we provide the 1st year cost and renewal rate of popular domain extensions from each registrar. If you are wondering which domain extension is right for your domain name, check out out our article on how to choose a domain name. As you can see, Google Domains does not offer promotional prices for the first year. GoDaddy typically does offer a discount on the first year price and Namesilo does for some of their extensions.
If you want the cheapest price today, consider going with GoDaddy. However, if you want to maintain control of your domain for more than 2 years, then Namesilo will be the least expensive choice.
Ease of Use
The process of checking out and maintaining your domain name is an important aspect of your domain name registrar. You want to be able to easily set up email forwarding and subdomains, and be able to renew your domain when it is set to expire.
- Namesilo has a very simple checkout process. Simply type in the domain name that you are interested in registering, and checkout. The control panel is laid out cleanly and is easy to navigate as well.
- GoDaddy has a very cluttered checkout process. You have to scan through each screen carefully to make sure they did not add on a feature that you are not interested in purchasing. The backend interface is easy to use, but not as clean as Namesilo.
- Google Domains has a very sleek checkout. Plus, if you are familiar with other Google products you will probably intuitively understand how the system works.
Transfer Policy
You may have heard horror stories where a registrar held a domain captive and a user was unable to transfer away. That is why we made sure all of the domain names registrars in this guide are ICANN accredited.
The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) is a nonprofit and one of its functionalities is to govern its accredited registrars to make sure there is no foul play with transfers, registering, maintaining, etc.
For all of the registrars, you will have to wait 60 days before you can transfer out to a different domain registrar. This is a security measure required by ICANN to protect against domain hijackers. None of the domains will charge you a fee for transferring out your domain. Where the registrars differ is the cost they charge to transfer a domain into their registrar.
- Namesilo charges $8.39 to transfer a .com domain in, which is slightly lower than it’s cost to register a domain. This price includes a one year extension that is added to the current expiration date of the transferred domain.
- GoDaddy charges $8.17 to transfer your .com domain. You will get a 1 year extension from your expiration date included in this cost.
- Google Domains charges $12 (the same cost as registering for 1 year). The domain will then be registered for 1 year after it’s set expiration date.
Privacy Services
Every domain that is registered must be entered into the WHOIS domain database. The database includes the contact information of everyone who has a registered domain. Most domain registrars offer privacy services so that your information will be protected and not available for public access. This prevents people from being able to spam you with unsolicited offers. Although hiding your information is a simple process, some registrars charge for this service.
- Namesilo has a “forever free” policy towards privacy protection. You will never have to pay for this service, even after your first year is up. This is refreshing since many registrars will only offer this for free for the first year.
- GoDaddy charges $7.99 to keep your information private for the first year, and then ups the price to $9.99 for all subsequent years. Though this service is in no way mandatory, it is comforting to know that someone won’t be able to access your contact information from the database.
- Google Domains, like Namesilo also keeps your information private for no additional cost. When someone performs a WHOIS lookup on your domain, alternate contact information will be returned.
Bundle Pricing
There are two main ways registrars can bundle their prices:
- Offering multiple extensions. You may be interested in this for your business name so that no one else can create a website using a very similar name to yours (ex: mybusiness.com, mybusiness.co, mybusiness.org). Purchasing multiple extensions helps to prevent similar website names from cropping up and stealing your traffic.
- Bulk discounts for multiple domains. If you are interested in registering domains so that you can then try to sell them at a higher price, then you may want to buy in bulk.
Namesilo offers bulk discounts. If you purchase 50-100 domains the cost goes down to $8.69, and for 101-500, the cost decreases to $8.49. Though not a huge discount, the savings do add up if you’re registering a large number of domains
GoDaddy offers bundling discounts for different extensions. For example, when I went to checkout a .com domain, they offered 3 other domains (.net, .org, and .info) for $18 (originally $53.97). Be careful when jumping at this low price, however, since costs will go back up to normal after the first year. GoDaddy also offers a discount domain club which costs $9.99 per year and is designed for people frequently registering domain names. As a member, you get up to 40% off of participating extensions.
Google Domains does not offer any bundling or bulk discounts. This makes sense as their service is geared toward the small business owner or individual who would only be interested in registering a single domain.
Other Services Offered
It takes more than a domain name to create a website, which is why many domain name registrars offer additional services such as hosting, email, and website design.
Namesilo does not offer any additional services which is one reason why, according to their website, they are able to keep prices so much lower than competitors. Here is a quote from their site: “We do not need to inflate our pricing to cover costs such as expensive celebrity spokespeople, vanity phone numbers, Super Bowl advertising, or non-domain-related technical and support staff.” Side note – did you notice the direct dig at GoDaddy?
GoDaddy on the other hand offers almost every service related to creating and maintaining a website. From web hosting, to website design, and web security, GoDaddy has it all. This is why we recommend GoDaddy if you are interested in creating a self-hosted website using WordPress (or similar CMS). You can get their web hosting package for $7.99 a month which includes a free domain name and email account.
Google Domains does not offer other services directly through the Google Domains website, however, it directs you to where you can sign up for other Google services such as G Suite (gmail for business) which costs $5 per month. The site also integrates with website builders such as Squarespace, Blogger, Weebly, and many others. Though all the domain name registrars in our guide are compatible with these website builders, Google Domains is the only one that guides you directly to these sites in an easy and intuitive way.
Customer Support
Having good customer service is important if you are having a hard time setting up domain forwarding, email forwarding, or any other feature that you may want to use from your registrar.
Namesilo offers phone support Mon-Fri 9:30am-4:00pm Arizona time (MST), however they strongly encourage customers to try contacting them through email, contact form or chat first. They actually won’t even show you their phone number until you read through their plea, and then you have to press a button that says “POINT TAKEN! Please show me your number!” Not sure this is necessary, but at least there is a number to call if you absolutely need to.
GoDaddy offers 24/7 phone and chat support. They also have a knowledgebase of common questions. We use GoDaddy for a few domains that we maintain, and have never had an issue with reaching customer support (even late at night).
Google Domains offers 24/7 chat, email and phone support. If you want to talk to someone over the phone, you fill out a form with your phone number so that someone can get in touch with you. Personally, I prefer this to having to wait on hold for any period of time. Most customers reported a quick call back (less than 5 minutes). The other great thing about Google Domain’s support is their helpful archive of support documents. If you’ve ever used a Google product, you know they have very clear and informative posts on almost any question you could have on their product.
Bottom Line
If you are only looking for a place to get the least expensive domain name, then Namesilo is the best domain name registrar for you. However, if you want additional services for creating your website, then GoDaddy or Google Domains is probably a better option. Once your domain name is registered, it’s time to create your website and email address. View our in-depth guide on creating a WordPress website or learn how to setup your business email address for free.
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