The True Cost of Owning a Domain Name
There's always a bit of a discussion that crops up in chat as to which domain registrar to use.
I wanted to break down the average cost of buying and owning a .com domain from the web's biggest registrars for one year and over the course of five years.
These are current, non-promotional prices.
Before you buy a domain, definitely do your research and see if you can get coupon codes or if there are other promotions you can take advantage of. Nearly every registrar offers a discount on first-time domain name purchases. Do your research!
1AND1
First Year Registration: $10.99Yearly Renewal Cost: $10.99
First Year Private Registration: Free!
Private Registration Renewal: Free!
Five year total cost with private registration at 1AND1: $54.95
Namecheap
First Year Registration: $10.69Yearly Renewal Cost: $10.69
First Year Private Registration: Free!
Private Registration Renewal: $2.88
Five year total cost with private registration at NameCheap: $64.97
Name.com
First Year Registration: $10.99Yearly Renewal Cost: $10.99
First Year Private Registration: $3.99
Private Registration Renewal: $3.99
Five year total cost with private registration at Name.com: $74.90
GoDaddy
First Year Registration: $9.99Yearly Renewal Cost: $14.99
First Year Private Registration: $9.99
Private Registration Renewal: $9.99
Five year total cost with private registration at GoDaddy: $119.90
Register.com
First Year Registration: $0.99Yearly Renewal Cost: $38.00
First Year Private Registration: $11.00
Private Registration Renewal: $11.00
Five year total cost with private registration at Register.com: $207.99
Network Solutions
First Year Registration: $11.99Yearly Renewal Cost: $39.00
First Year Private Registration: $9.00
Private Registration Renewal: $9.00
Five year total cost with private registration at Network Solutions: $212.99
Domain name prices vary wildly depending on the registrar. While they are all more or less providing you with the same service (a .com for 5 years) there can be a $150 discrepancy depending on which site you're purchasing from.
Personally, my favorite registrar is NameCheap. No shady upsells, consistent, fair pricing, and phenomenal customer support. I moved all of my sites there from GoDaddy a few years ago and I haven't looked back since.
One final piece of advice:
Be wary of ridiculous promotions and advertising.
Sites like GoDaddy and Register.com lure you in with cheaper prices, then absolutely kill you with hidden renewal costs. Always do the math and rely on the "if it sounds too good to be true" mantra.
-Steve
Recent Comments
102
Great blog! I've always wondered about domains and the true cost of owning your own. I would definitely go with Name Cheap as well. It's come highly recommended from other users. Thanks for the insight!
Cool summary. Thanks for doing this work ! Of course, even Namecheap will give a discount, usually around $3 , for using an online coupon. You know, just google namecheap coupon, or discount. Options pop up. That's first year only, of course. But their renewals are a great. savings.
I've continued with GoDaddy, using coupons that bring the initial year down to $3-4 . For hosting, of course, point the URL to WA. Always. So many tools for success here. And hosting is free.
Soooooo, I gotta switch to NameCheap and overcome the tendency to just keep what I already use, using it just for the familiarity factor.
Thanks for researching the main options. That sure makes my job quick and easy.
Been with Godaddy right from the start and have always been happy with the price and service.
Whenever I get a renewal notice via email, I always manually renew the domain as I can apply my coupons and pay $8 per annum instead of the higher auto renewal fee.
Great information, thanks for your research. Yeah, I've wanted to move my domains from GoDaddy ever since they sleazily supported ending Net Neutrality, along with AT&T and Verizon.
I think I'll start a Namecheap account and transfer my domains as they become due for renewal.
I used to use 1&1 but their website is slow and they have almost no customer service so even tho they are a bit cheaper I also use Namecheap and I am very happy with them.
I guess GoDaddy has to pay for all those hot women commercials somehow, right? lol
I personally use Ipage. Very cheap for .com and hosting included!
Nice info. I'm with siteground. They're pretty affordable and have excellent support. I'm working with Joomla, and they're Joomla dedicated hosting.
See more comments
It was pure luck that I chose NameCheap over GoDaddy but glad I did. Also, is that banner from the GoDaddy superbowl advert?