I've been struggling to decide between namecheap, porkbun and hover as a domain registrar. I'm setting up a shopify store for e-commerce. There are so many pros and cons, hundreds of YouTube videos, most of which are repeating the identical script they probably found from chat GPT. And my head is genuinely tarting to physically hurt. I'm so overwhelmed.
Which one should I go for. I don't know much about web development at all. But from what I've heard this is what I need.
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SSL certificates - the thing that makes my website safe and not look sketchy I guess??
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Custom email hosting - so I can have my own custom email @ which is very professional and very cool.
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Email forwarding so may all goes to my personal email?? (I guess this is good but I don't really know if I want that. I'd rather just log into my business email every time I want to respond to customers) - this just seems like it would inconvenience me and getting my way.
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Domain forwarding could be very useful, so even if someone types the wrong domain, they would still end up on my website. (But not a necessity I suppose idk)
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I barely even know what a sub domain is, but I think I need this. (Yes I will continue researching these things)
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DNS management - the most important of all I reckon. From what I've learnt this is the thing that ensures that there are no connectivity issues. When people type in my website name they actually end up on my site + with no slow loading time etc)
The lower the price the better, but not if it means I'm going to have a headache running this business. I see the extra prices as a way of delegating the hard work to somebody who isn't me. You're very important for someone running their first business on their own.
I tried asking chat GPT, I did it for hours actually. But it kept giving me false info, I was incredibly biased for some strange reason, telling me the price per month for certain companies but the price per year for other companies. When I calculated the numbers they were all wrong. And even I barely know anything I had to correct it, it would agree and explain again, still getting things wrong. So I'm overwhelmed and coming to Reddit for help.
I won't get it from shopify in case I feel like I need to transfer it later. I'd rather own the domain individually, so shopify won't be an option.
Thank you in advance.
Domain Registrars Which Developers Recommend
Best domain registrar and why?
Namesilo has by far been my favorite. Namecheap made their interface shitty trying to make it to "hip". Namesilo is straight to the point, the cheapest one I've been able to find, great customer service, and pretty much every addon that registrars like namecheap charge for, namesilo gives you for free.
More on reddit.comHover Vs …
Where to get a domain? (Namecheap, porkbun or hover?)
Is Porkbun cheaper than Hover?
What’s the difference between pointing a domain and transferring a domain?
Pointing a domain means changing the DNS (domain name system) settings to point to your website. Transferring a domain means moving the domain registration to a new domain registrar.
How to buy a domain name for the cheapest prices?
Domain name prices change very fast, and some companies offer cheap rates upfront, but renewal rates skyrocket. The best domain registration companies offer a balance between the two. The easiest way to compare them quickly is with a comparison tool like the one from get.shop during domain availability searches for .shop TLD names.
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Searching for your best domain registrar and the reasons why it's the best in your eyes. I'm currently at Namecheap with over 20 Domains but as of now I might need to move them to a new place. Please be as specific as needed.
Namesilo has by far been my favorite. Namecheap made their interface shitty trying to make it to "hip". Namesilo is straight to the point, the cheapest one I've been able to find, great customer service, and pretty much every addon that registrars like namecheap charge for, namesilo gives you for free.
I've stuck with Google Domains.
I Figure, I've had Google accounts for two decades that I might as well store my domains there. No email provided though, but it can connect into G Suite's $5 per month to get emails for all my sites