Domain.com Review
| Support | Help Desk, Live Chat, Phone & Knowledge Base |
|---|---|
| Uptime | Excellent (100% past 6 months) |
| Free DNS |  |
| Free Domain Privacy |  |
| Best For | No-Nonsense Domain Registration |
| Strengths | Straightforward Pricing |
| Weaknesses | Cheaper Domains Elsewhere |
| Promotion | Save 10% Promo DOMAIN10 |
What Is Domain.com?
Domain.com is an ICANN-accredited domain registrar founded in 2000 that also provides web hosting, email, website builders, and SSL certificates. They’re now part of Newfold Digital, which owns some of the biggest names in web hosting like:
While their focus is on domains, Domain.com has started positioning themselves as more than just domains — but that the process starts with a great domain name.
This review of Domain.com will focus mostly on their domain registration. Their other services aren’t a core focus and not their core competency.
Domain.com Pricing
With over 300 domain name extensions available, here is the pricing for some of the more common TLDs available at Domain.com.
| Domain Ext. | Registration | Renewal | Transfer |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com | $9.99/yr. | $19.99/yr. | $9.99/yr. |
| .net | $12.99/yr. | $19.99/yr. | $12.99/yr. |
| .org | $8.99/yr. | $19.99/yr. | $14.99/yr. |
| .biz | $16.99/yr. | $21.99/yr. | $16.99/yr. |
| .co | $3.99/yr. | $29.99/yr. | $29.99/yr. |
Domain.com Alternatives
Pros of Domain.com
Here are some of the advantages that I found using Domain.com over their direct competitors in the domain registration industry.
Usability (Straightforward Search, Purchasing, and Control Panel)
Domain.com’s biggest pro is definitely how straightforward the platform is.
First and foremost, they make searching for and registering a domain simple. The interface is clean, easy to navigate, and straightforward. There aren’t many bells and whistles, which for a domain registrar is just fine — we don’t need them. What we need is function and usability, and Domain.com’s interface gives us both. It’s basic and directs you to where you need to go.
And once you’re signed up, they bring you right into your Control Panel. It’s a simple and seamless process that has absolutely zero confusion.
And once you’re inside the Control Panel, everything is easy to find and navigate through as well.
All in all, the entire process from search to sign up to domain management is simple, straightforward, and clear.
Transparency
There’s nothing more frustrating than going to a domain registrar and having to hunt for pricing information. Domain.com is 100% transparent with its pricing. From the moment you land on the homepage, you can see what .com domains are selling for, and they have a whole page dedicated to the Top Level Domains (TLDs) they offer and their pricing.
They’re also very clear on their pricing terms, auto-renewal policy, as well as any add-on pricing during the checkout process (like WHOIS domain privacy).
In a space where pricing policies can be, well, less straightforward than website owners may want (I’m looking at you – Network Solutions, Register.com, and GoDaddy), Domain.com’s clarity and transparency is refreshing, especially for a big corporate name brand.
Variety of TLDs
Speaking of TLDs… now that ICANN allows more TLDs outside of generic .com/.net/.org, website owners have to make sure their domain registrar has all of the variations they need (especially if you’re buying in bulk). Domain.com offers a ton of TLD options that go beyond generic domains (currently more than 411).
That being said, Domain.com does not offer a wide variety of international TLDs. If you don’t have an international presence, this doesn’t matter for you. But if you do, there are other domain registrars that have more options for you.
Upsells
Upsells aren’t inherently annoying or bad. But so many domain registrars make the mistake of bombarding customers with direct sales tactics that they do become annoying.
Domain.com is not one of these domain registrars. While they do offer complementary products such as websites and hosting, they’re unobtrusive. You can add them during the checkout process or from the control panel, but you’re not bombarded with pop-ups and emails like some registrars.
Complementary Products
It’s important to remember that a domain is not a website. It’s not email or any other service. It’s merely your address online. It helps people locate where your property is by telling browsers/email/etc where to go to get whatever it wants (website files, emails, images, data, etc).
If you want to setup a website, you’ll still need to get hosting or a website builder / eCommerce provider that provides hosting.
Domain.com provides an all-in-one approach with complementary products. You can bundle your domain, website builder, hosting, and email and do it all from their platform.
And while I personally prefer to separate my hosting and domains to provide an extra layer of control & reliability in addition to cost savings, many website owners prefer to have them bundled for convenience.
Domain.com has a variety of complementary products, from hosting packages to email management to site builders, and they’re all incredibly easy to access from both the homepage and the Control Panel.
If you’re looking to package everything together for convenience, Domain.com makes it easy to do so.
Cons of Domain.com
There are a lot of Domain.com reviews online. Most are either super-negative or super-sunny and wonderful. I try to balance and find the actual disadvantages of a company…and who those disadvantages would apply to. Everyone has different needs & goals. Your goal as a customer is to be aware of those and find a company that matches your goals. Here are some of Domain.com’s downsides.
Pricing
In terms of cons, pricing is perhaps the biggest with Domain.com. They’re not outrageously expensive — their first-year discounted price for .com domains is $9.99. But you can get significantly cheaper first-year rates with a discounter like GoDaddy which runs regular promo codes.
In terms of renewal pricing, Domain.com isn’t the worst ($13.99 for .com), but it’s also not the best. You can find cheaper renewal rates with a registrar like Namecheap.
But perhaps the biggest pricing disadvantage of Domain.com is their $8.99 for domain privacy.
Several registrars include this for free with your domain registration, but Domain.com does not. This brings your cost to over $18 for your .com registration, which is definitely one of the more expensive registrars.
No Real Onboarding
With all software, there comes a part in the registration process where you wonder what’s next. How the provider guides you through that setup process is called “onboarding” — and it’s something Domain.com is lacking.
Aside from an email with some key information about setting up the account, there really wasn’t much information about how to actually use the new domain.
If you’re experienced in buying and setting up domains, this probably doesn’t matter to you. The platform is easy enough to navigate. However, if you have no domain management experience and are looking for more guidance, Domain.com doesn’t provide much of it.
Recommendations
If you:
- Want a very simple domain purchasing process
- Don’t need guidance on how to set up / manage your domain
- Are looking for complementary products you can customize to your own needs
Domain.com could be a good choice for you.
However, if you:
- Looking for cheap domain registration
- Wanted WHOIS privacy included
- Are less experienced getting online
- Need detailed steps on how to set up / manage your domain
There are better options out there for you (I recommend Namecheap).
You can read up on how I rate the top domain registrars and where Domain.com ranks.
