One of the most common questions I get from readers on this blog is where to purchase domain names to start their own online business. Many of you ask for cheap and reliable service, but this kind of ‘package’ can be very rare on the internet. Anyways, I set out to research on the subject matter and found a few platforms to help you do some comparison.
What I Am Looking For
Basically, I am aiming for a .com domain extension and a privacy protection for one year. I would encourage you to do the same too because .com domains are easier to remember for branding and when that domain is protected, your personal information would not leak easily on the internet. As for email forwarding, it would be great to know the fees, but that’s not necessary at this point of time since you are only at the beginning stage.
It’s also important to note that I am not going to compare publishing platform here because if you are truly serious about creating a successful online business, you only need to focus on WordPress. It’s customizable and scalable – you can’t go wrong with that.
Now, let’s start with the top three popular ones first.
GoDaddy
You’ve heard of them, you’ve seen their ads – they are everywhere when you do a domain research. GoDaddy is huge and they have offices all over the world where you can even call 24 hours for support. Awesome, right? Without taking into consideration any promotional codes or freebies (we want to compare everything on the neutral line here), let’s see what the fee is like for one year.
Domain + Protection = $20.16. That’s a pretty standard price in my opinion.
HostGator
Established in 2002, HostGator is also another popular company that provides domains and hosting services. Here’s what their fees look like;
Domain + Protection = $25.90. That’s slightly pricer than GoDaddy.
NameCheap
NameCheap is a long time company that is well-known for its level of service and support. It’s also my personal favorite because their offers are straightforward and non-exaggerating. My first domain was bought through them.
Domain + Protection ($2.96) = $13.83. Now, that’s a cheaper rate.
Moving away from the top 3, I thought I check out other smaller companies. They haven’t been in the domain industry for too long, so you’ve probably not heard of them before.
Register
Register is actually part of Web.com that caters for larger organization settings. When you research thoroughly, Web.com has quite a bit of negative reviews for the services that they provide. How much is that reflected in this new company called Register? Well, we don’t know about that yet, but one thing for sure, their domain fees are not cheap.
Domain + Protection = $49. That’s expensive!
Only Domains
Only Domains is a New Zealand based company that have just joined the scene. From their features, we could see that they offer a lot of exciting services. Not much is known about this company like who’s the founder and what kind of team they have. In terms of customer reviews, they are equally divided between the good and the bad.
Domain + Protection = $15.99. Fairly affordable.
Wix
Wix is originally (and still is) a website builder software that uses the drag-and-drop technology before they provide an in-house domain registration. Essentially, these domains are made easy for beginners to start building their website after purchase.
Domain + Protection = $24.85.
There’s the option to transfer to other domain sites that offers WordPress hosting, but from what I gather, the process can be quite complicated and frustrating.
SiteDomains
The next company that I am about to introduce to you isn’t just another domain company. SiteDomains is part of a comprehensive hosting platform called SiteRubix and it’s offered exclusively through a membership program that teaches about online entrepreneurship.
When you sign up for the training, you can choose to become a Starter member (free forever) and build 2 free websites OR become a Premium member and build 25 WordPress websites using SiteDomains. As far as domain cost is concerned, you can get a .com extension, protection AND email for as low as $13.99/year, while learning from experienced marketers on how to run a successful online business. 
That is a custom domain, a WordPress hosting and a plethora of up-to-date training – all in one platform. No other company has come this close to offering so many perks at such an affordable fee.
So there you go. I hope this list has made it clear to you where to purchase domain names and what are the things that you need to look out for. If you need any help getting started, please visit the SiteRubix platform for more details or leave a message below and I’ll walk you through the process.
You may also be interested in;
Ways to Come Up With a Domain Name
I have never liked dealing with GoDaddy as I felt like their upsells are too much. They get you in to buy that first domain for $0.99, and then from there on, $20+. And that doesn’t even include domain privacy.
But for now, I love Site Comments. $13.99, all inclusive. Plus, you can learn how to build a business with the Wealthy Affiliate training for free. GoDaddy doesn’t even compare.
Thanks for comparing them all. NameCheap looks cheap for domain + protection but the protection is only for the first year. Wealthy Affiliate never charges for protection so they appear to be the winner.
However, I still don’t buy my domains from WA even though I’m a member since I know of a site where you can get domains with free protection (even when you renew) for $8.99 /year. A deal like that is a keeper.
Hey Jay, that’s interesting. Which domain registrar is this that you are talking about?
Sorry for the (very) late reply. The domain registrar I was talking about is Namesilo.
Hey Cathy,
I love Wix’s drag and drop feature and actually recommended my sister to create her small online store page there because it is much easier for beginners.
But you’re right about the fee that we have to pay when buying domain from them. $24+ is quite a fee. Is there any other drag and drop website builders that you would recommend besides the Wix platform?
Hi Riaz, you can check out Weebly and Squarespace. They are not essentially drag and drop, more like building content with block elements.
Cathy, you have just made my work much much easier. Instead of opening websites for all web hosting companies, I will refer to this article in the future. I have bookmarked it. And by the way, according to my opinion and what I’ve heard, GoDaddy is so huge and the problem is their customer care. So since NameCheap has the most affordable bundle and for its reputation as a top hosting company, I would much rather do business with them. Thanks.
I used to buy all my domain names from GoDaddy and once in Hostgator. While GoDaddy can be the cheapest, in my opinion, the upsell to make your details private will add to the cost eventually.
When Wealthy Affiliate offered an option to register a domain name, I never used any other platform again. Wealthy Affiliate’s registration cost, although a little higher than what I was used to GoDaddy’s, it already includes privatizing your details. And the total cost, in the end, is a huge saver compared to the rest.