Hi there folks, I'm in need of some advice. After RegisterFly went belly-up last year, taking my site down with it and locking the domain name from access forever, I'm looking to try again with my new site. This is nothing major, a reasonable-sized semipersonal site where I'll put up some of my work and play around with web design, but I would really like it if nothing bad happened to it this time.

I've been browsing the net for a couple days now and I'm still having extreme difficulty getting good information on which registrars are good and reliable. They all seem to be roughly the same price wise, around $20 a year with WHOIS protection thrown it. That isn't a problem, I'm much more concerned that they'll block transfer attempts I might make in the future or steal or sell the domain somehow. I was all set to go with GoDaddy until I stumbled on a host of complaints against them, alleging that they steal registered domains from their customers and all kinds of unscrupulous stuff. While these are likely to be a few isolated cases out of thousands, I'm still a bit concerned.

So, what's a good, reliable registrar that, frankly, won't screw me over? That's my main criterion. Enom was another possiblity, but they don't seem to let you get just single domains, you need to be a reseller and have a formal company. Namecheap, Moniker, I don't know. It's hard to get reviews of these things.

Any recommendations?

Oh, another thing. If I end up using GoDaddy, apparently if I get 5 domain names at once I can get the WHOIS protection free. I wouldn't mind having a few twist names with similar syntax, to use them to forward to the main site or to different sections of the site. Does anyone know if these WHOIS fees are only waived for the first year, or if it's for as long as you keep the domain names?

And one last question to those that have used GoDaddy. Again, if I end up going with them, is their Protected (as opposed to Standard and Deluxe) plan worth it? I'm inclined to think no, but it's hard to tell.

Thanks for any help.

Maybe Enom.com as alternative?

Yeah, I considered them, but like I said, they don't seem to let you just pop in and buy single domains. I can't find any retail registration option on their site, only reseller registration.

I use name.com and I am pretty much satisfied with their services. It is a daughter company of GoDaddy.com though.

I use NameCheap.com and have never had a problem. Domains cost 9.29 /year and you can always find a coupon online each month.

Plus the domains come with 1 year of FREE whois guard.

I'm using moniker and godaddy as my favorite registrar.
I have many domains that I registered with those registrar. Until now I haven't any problem with their service. If I have problem, I send email to them and they reply back to answer my question.
I have some domains that are whois protected which I think it's necessary to be protected. And some domains are not protected. It depends on you. If you feel that your whois need to be protected, it's worth.

I use 1and1 and GoDaddy as my registra.
I think these is easy web to use and secure.

Had been using Opensrs for years and strongly recommend them for their reliability

I use godaddy exclusively. There's always coupons around for $6.95 .com domains, which are primarily what I use, so... =)

I would never use any of godaddy's other services like hosting etc, but as a simple registrar they are more than adequate.

I use godaddy for any non .co.uk names .

I'd advise you to avoid such problems in future to reg domains with EuroDNS.com, Directi.com and SiberName.com. All these companies are ICANN-accredited and have a long history in providing domain registration services. Their reputation is unblemished.

And what did you mean under reability while talking about doamin name registrar?

Among reputable domain registrars I can't help mentioning NameCheap.com services. They provide really resourceful package plans for their clients and the process of domain registration is flawless.

By reliability, I meant, not likely to die anytime soon, not likely to try to cheat me or steal my domains, etc.

I'm currently going through some of the options you guys have listed, as well as some others I heard about. Here are my current options:

Name.com
Moniker
GoDaddy
1and1
Gandi.net

The following are out:

OpenSRS (Tucows)
Directi
DomainDirect
SiberName
Joker.com
EuroDNS.com
Register.com
Network Solutions

Reasons:

Although I'd like to try OpenSRS since I heard some pretty high recommendations for them, both they and Directi seem to only cater to resellers. I'm not a reseller or a company, I'm just a private individual, so I can't use either of them.

Similarly, NameCheap requires you to give an Organization Name when signing up. I don't have one! Or am I supposed to just make something up?

DomainDirect only seems to allow domain parking or for you to use their own hosting; for external hosting I'd have to use something else.

SiberName only allows registrations for Canadian citizens.

Joker.com doesn't have WHOIS protection.

EuroDNS, Register.com and Network Solutions are all quite expensive, and since I'm planning on getting a few domains with similar syntax to redirect to the main site, I'd rather not use them for that. Possibly I might go with one of them for the main domain. EuroDNS, however, doesn't seem to offer any form of WHOIS protection even on global domains, so they're out regardless.

Am I right dismissing all these sites, or am I messing up details? As a non-company, non-organization, can I still register a few domains with OpenSRS, for example? And more significantly, would it be worth it? I'm only planning on getting 3-6 domains in all. OpenSRS charges $95 on sign up, and Directi (resellerclub) charges twice that, although I think you get some of that money back when you purchase domains. Does anyone who's used one of those two know if you get some of your deposit back with yearly payments? Not initial payments on new domains, since as I said, I won't be getting many of them.

Hello,
it is really useful info, thanks guys. I just wonder if these companies will allow me to transfer my domain from them to another place easily in case I wanted to?
I read the agreement of GoDaddy and found they have the right to not accept domain transfer. what does this mean?

Any one can advice?

Rafiq

Similarly, NameCheap requires you to give an Organization Name when signing up. I don't have one! Or am I supposed to just make something up?

It's optional to provide organization name when signing up with Namecheap.com.
I second their service, you can get quality service for you money plus a lot of free stuff.

Enom is very good, just their support is slower than camels, they are still one of the largest and oldest on the internet. We have around 10,000 domains with them.

If you're looking for a new registrar here's a list:
http://midflux.com/domain-register-list.php

SiberName only allows registrations for Canadian citizens.

Why do you think like that? I haven't heard anything of that. There is no info about that on SiberName.com web site. I have looked through all their pages but ....
They are ICANN, CIRA and Eurid -accredited and as I understand the web masters from different countries may uswe their services. Correct me if I'm wrong.

I have to put my hat in the ring for Namecheap.com as well. I've been with them for awhile. They don't show any signs of going belly up. In fact, it seems as though they are growing.

I like that they offer free whoisguard. They are now also giving away ssl certificates for free with each new domain purchase.