Polomarc

Thanks again everybody, wow plenty of options
The newly added:
Joker for 2 years: 16.73 GBP

An American friend based here in London just email me recommending GoDaddy (he has some crazy domains he bought just for fun)

So many choices and with many that seems to be ok, I will short list them and pick one.

Thanks again

gfunkdave

Don't forget to add in the costs of what each registrar would charge you for additional features you might want - like email forwarding, dynamic DNS, additional record types, etc.

nerd

Can't you use a 3rd party's name servers, where a lot of that stuff is free, if your registrar charges for that?

slowmail

for domain name registrar, I use Enom central. I started using them because they offered free dynamic DNS, as well as URL and email forwarding. Have been with them for a number of years now, and am pretty happy with them. I pay USD9.95 per domain each year. Pm me if you would like an account with them with this price (com/net/org).

I'd personally avoid GoDaddy and NameCheap. Lots of horror stories about GoDaddy online, and NameCheap is known to hold customer's domains hostage over charges unrelated to those domains , which puts them on my permanent do-not-ever-use list.

tehiota

GoDaddy has been fine. Couple reasons why I use/like them:
* 2-Factor Authentication. When I log in, they txt me a code to my cell phone that I have to enter in. An extra layer of protection if my password was ever somehow comprimised.
* In expensive DNS hosting. They have a basic free, but a inexpensive full features with DNSSEC
* Customer Support - Couple times I've needed assistance with SSL Certs being re-issued. I can speak to someone in the US (Arizona I think) via tech support.

Yes, they try to upsell you when you purchase items, but with such slim margins on domain registration, I don't blame them. I also don't get spammed at one of the original respondents had mentioned.

Polomarc

Even found webhostingtalk currently short listing and will report back

CraigWatson

If you're UK-based, I'd certainly recommend either fasthosts.co.uk or evohosting.co.uk - I personally use Fasthosts for my domains and Evo for hosting, with the domains' nameservers pointed to Evo. That said, most domain registrars are much the same nowadays. Any registrar worth their salt will allow you to use third-party nameservers, and that's really the only "feature" you'll need.

If you're looking for hosting, I seriously cannot recommend Evo enough. I moved away from them in 2011 because I fancied running my own dedicated server, and have just moved back because I got fed up with it! Their support is second-to-none and although their pricing is a smidge above the likes of 1&1 and GoDaddy, you really do get what you pay for

Source: 10 years of freelance web development, 4 years as a professional Linux systems admin

Bear4Asian

I inherited the maintenance of a website hosted and domain name with Godaddy.com. Never received spam, BUT the website was very co fusing to navigate.

I now host the same site and several others on Bluehost.com. Much easier to use for Domain name issues and ease of use.

HDQDD

I have a registered domain for my home. I did it through dyndns.org (awesome site for dynamic DNS). First I used their free version which allows you to have a free subdomain i.e. myDomain.dyndns.org Then I ponied up for a real registered domain to host our wedding website on one of my servers. It's actually quite cheap if you host your own.

I did it all through dyndns, but I think the backend was godaddy. I've never been spammed by them (dyndns or godaddy).

Spectre17

I used register.com for my domain 12 years ago and have just stuck it out with them. Never had a problem using them, but then again my needs are simple. When I decided to get secondary DNS service (I run my own DNS server), I went with DynDNS. Neither one spams me, although the unique address I use for register.com occasionally needs to be changed when some third party scrapes the whois data and adds it to a spam list. (Yeah, I could probably use a domain registration data hiding service, but I haven't found the hassle to be worth the expense.)

rybob1

Generally I agreed with the others about the godaddy website being confusing. In addition, I always felt a bit sleezy after doing my business on their site . I was just too lazy to ever switch, although I came close a few times.

Recently they got a new CEO, some exec from Microsoft I believe. Since he took over, I've noticed a steady improvement in their website. Gone are the godaddy girls, and now there tends to be a focus on businesses, rather than sex appeal. Additionally, while their site is still some what confusing, I see it improving. And the hard upsell, its getting better too - I see many of the upsell options still, but there are easy ways to bypass them now, and it doesn't feel as those my experience is focused on them when checking out.

nkedel

I use GANDI.

javabytes

GoDaddy is fine if you want domains and nothing else, though their control panels are a mess. Avoid them for hosting, especially for databases... they really overload their shared hosting servers and slow page loads and full blown outages were common. My monitoring service was always blowing up my phone with alerts. If you want anything to do with email, be prepared to pay ridiculous amounts of money on upgrades to get the "features" you need.

I use Namecheap for domains and HostGator for hosting now. Both have been fantastic. I also agree it is prudent to keep your domain registration at a different provider than your other services.

rybob1

Ok, I'll revise what I said, GoDaddy is great for registering domains, I won't use their other services. I tried once, they were beyond horrible.

Both Amazon and Windows Azure offer some level of free hosting, not sure the specifics, but I use the paid levels on Azure and have been very happy with them. Azure offers the ability to load common applications such as wordpress too.

ctuttle

Been using 1and1.com for my hosting and domain registration for the past five years after using a budget company. They are inexpensive and I have not had any issues with them like the previous company I had used. Lots of options and you can add on as you wish or grow.