Godaddy Alternatives
GoDaddy is an excellent example of marketing dollars outweighing development and infrastructure investments to create a wildly successful company with a sub-par product. I used to recommend GoDaddy to my clients because they were well known and seemed like a reputable company (if you can afford a Superbowl commercial, you must be a decent company, right?).
My honeymoon period with GoDaddy ended when they started using dirty tricks to nickel and dime consumers (like automatically extending your registration to 2 years on the checkout screen when you only asked for 1), bombard users with advertising (email and direct mail), suspend account without due cause, and their website became slower and clunkier as they expand their offerings.
To GoDaddy’s credit, their service does enable you to get a website up and running within a few hours and their basic domain name registration is a good deal at about $10/year with all taxes and fees included. However, it’s not enough for me to recommend my clients to use them anymore.
Here are some reputable alternatives I have used:
- enom - Google resells their registration services.
- Joker — Based in Germany. If you have a website that might spark some controversy, foreign registrars are often able to stand up for you against corporate or government pressure.
- Network Solutions - One of the pricier companies out there, but they offer excellent customer service.
- 1and1.com - Easy to use website, prices starting at $6.99 for .com domains, and free private registration. Only downside new domains may take up to 24 hours to be fully registered and available for user.
