Personally use Porkbun since Namecheap's API is poorly-documented and they attempted a KYC audit for purchasing a $100 domain.

I am fine with the identity verification, but their ticketing system seems to have sent all of my e-mail to their spam box, because they would never respond. I attempted opening tickets explaining the e-mail situation, but they wouldn't listen. In the end, I gave up and let them deactivate the account.

Moved to Porkbun, purchased the exact same domain (no KYC required!), and have been a happy user of their API for about two years now. They also have much more lax requirements for API usage compared to Namecheap. Porkbun also supports WebAuthn and logging in with a security key. It's overall a much nicer service than Namecheap.

I've been using IONOS (formerly 1und1) for the last 20 years for all of my DNS and hosting needs and couldn't be happier. Their uptime, non-obtrusive policies, and customer support have all been top notch. Can't recommend enough.

As an example; I had a dedicated server that I was leasing that I wanted to upgrade, the sales tech noticed that the plan I was currently on had been retired/replaced and credited my account with difference of what I had payed vs the new payment tier which amounted to six months of billing on the upgraded server. You can't really put a price on that kind of honesty!

Namecheap is terrible and cannot be trusted, you can google tons of horror stories.

Without a doubt, Porkbun is one of the best. Their staff is knowledgeable, helpful and efficient. Highly recommend them.

Namecheap is definitely on my “never use under any circumstances” list for reasons I outlined in this comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18091287

The full thread is worth reading for more feedback on a range of registrars, particularly Namecheap: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18086522

I strongly encourage people to only recommend domain registrars if they have verified that customer support won’t completely fuck you over when something goes wrong. Recommending registrars when you’ve only experienced the happy path is doing a disservice to the people you are trying to help out.

easyDNS still seems good for those who want a more old style "full fat" registrar like gandi was? I know some folks I respect who have long used it alongside Route 53. Though they don't appear to support hardware tokens which is a major black mark in my book in 2024.

As well as Gandi, DNSimple was another higher service one I really liked that went crazy on pricing. Agreed the registrar scene nowadays seems like a quite small "do use" list vs a couple of "don't use" :(.

Route 53 is outrageously expensive for domains, one should only use it, if they need AWS’s DNS product.

Porkbun seem popular, I do use them for a couple domains. I haven't heard of anything egregious.

I use infomaniak from switzerland. Mainly because I can physically go to their office and discuss in person if there is a problem.

Any recommendations for people looking for a strictly European registrar?

Hover is fine. Never had a domain shut down though.

I have one on dynadot because Hover doesn't support the TLD, and the website sure is a lot more awkward.

I’ve been using Hover since they advertised on 5by5 a decade and a half ago, and never had a single issue. They never bother me nor do I need to remember they exist. I only hear from them when they need ICANN contact confirmation or to remind me a domain is expiring.

INWX

I've used Register4Less for over a decade and I've been thrilled with them. They're slightly more expensive than the cheapest options (by a buck or two), but this is more than made up for by the fact that they're the only registrar I've ever used who have proactively reached out about minor issues. Every time I've needed to email them, I've gotten a response from somebody who can fix the problem within minutes.

Can you elaborate on Cloudflare?

I currently have some domains there (moved a few years ago from Godaddy), so is there something I need to worry about?

Namecheap is on my personal "never use; fuck them" list. I moved my domains to Cloudflare, and I am happy since then.

Porkbun is great.

I use Namecheap and sadly still Gandi for old domains.

The only issue I experience with Namecheap are included redirects which have something like 90% uptime.

Route53 domains is seriously not needed for anything - just add zone in AWS and point your registrar to new NS.

Namecheap has horrendous billing UI with their products, also not PDF so makes it hard for freelancers when you have many domains and your accounts want an PDF. Easiest is a registrar that mails you invoices in PDF.

I'd prefer a 'do not' list, because 'experience quoted'. Any one of the names you mention could be bought/ new CEO etc tomorrow and start the turdification (tm) slide.

I'm with Namecheap and they're decent but one big minus is how inaccessible their API is, would put them on the bottom of the "do use" list.

I have used dreamhost forever and have had a lot of domains through them for over 20 years. Never had a hitch and excellent customer service.

Namecheap's been out a while, I'd drop them from your list too. Porkbun's in for now.

I use pananames.com, they for sure won't do things like OP described

OVH is pretty good

I've had great experiences with NameSilo.

The upper two have had several known issues with them. I haven't heard anything about the latter one, but that doesn't mean they're free of issues.

Namesilo?

Gandi?

easyDNS (not to be confused with DNSEasy or DNS Made Easy). Very happy customer for many years and there are not many companies I can say that about.

If you are in Germany donaindiscount24.com is good option too.

What's wrong with aws lmao

I've been using namecheap for over a decade and have had zero issues with them.