Domain.com Review 2023: Features, Pros & Cons – Forbes Advisor … – Forbes

Updated: Oct 23, 2023, 5:29pm
Reviewed By
Reviewed By
Domain.com is one of the most popular domain name registrars. It offers attractive introductory prices starting at INR 997.92 ($11.99) per year for a top-level domain (i.e., .com) and has a massive library of unique domain name extensions available. In addition to its domain name registration service, it offers web hosting, business email, SSL certificates and antivirus plans through SiteLock. Learn more about it and if it’s right for you with our Domain.com review.
INR 997.92 ($11.99) for your first year (.com extension)

INR 1,830.22 ($21.99) per year

Large library of unique extensions, 50% off Google Workspace

INR 997.92 ($11.99) for your first year (.com extension)

INR 1,830.22 ($21.99) per year

Large library of unique extensions, 50% off Google Workspace

Besides providing domain name registration services, Domain.com also offers a wide range of services relating to building, maintaining and securing your online presence.
Here’s what Domain.com offers:
Featured Partners
1
Domain.com
Starting price
$9.99 (Around INR 820 for the first year)
Renewal cost
$19.99 (Around INR 1,642 per year)
Free WHOIS privacy
No
On Domain.com’s secure website
2
NameCheap
Starting price
$6.98 Around INR 573.50 for the first year
Renewal cost
$13.98 Around INR 1,148.62 per year
Free WHOIS privacy
Yes
On Namecheap’s Website
Domain.com is a domain name registrar that enables anyone to search for and purchase available domain names. It is an ICANN-accredited registrar, meaning that it has been verified by ICANN to sell domains. A domain name can be purchased for a set period of time (usually one year). Domain names cannot be purchased for life, so instead, domain name registration is similar to an auto registration where it requires renewal.
While Domain.com offers affordable domain registration with a vast number of domain extensions, it’s not the only registrar available—nor is it the cheapest. Whether or not Domain.com is right for you will depend on your budget, needs and the features you are looking for, such as web hosting, domain name privacy or web design services.
Domain.com Is Best For:
Domain.com Is Not Recommended For:
Domain.com stands out in terms of its wide range of unique domain extensions and its low-cost web hosting plans that come with unlimited storage. So, for those who are in need of a new domain and are looking for something outside the ordinary (i.e., .com, .org, .net), it is a good registrar as not all offer such a large library of extensions.
It offers domain registration service and domain-related extras such as domain name privacy and a control panel. It also offers affordable web hosting services, a website builder through Web.com and web design services for those who do not want to build their site in-house. On top of that, it also offers business email through Google, and professional marketing services.

Domain.com also stands out for its unique domain extensions (e.g., redcliff.brewery or lakeside.construction). This is because such domain extensions are not widely available from all registrars, so if you are looking for something outside of the standard .com, .org or .net, it is a good choice. However, for those who do want a domain with, say a .com extension, it costs INR 997.92 ($11.99) per year and increases to INR 1830.22 ($21.99) per year, so it’s not the best long-term value as other top registrars offer lower renewal rates.
Additionally, Domain.com does not offer domain reselling services. That said, it’s not the best choice for those who are interested in buying and selling domains.

One of Domain.com’s biggest selling points is its web hosting service. Plans start at INR 312.11 ($3.75) per month with annual billing. This includes unlimited storage, which is rare for a low-cost, entry-level web hosting plan, as well as a free SSL certificate and a free domain for your first year, and renews at INR 1830.22 ($21.99) per year).
A benefit of getting a free domain with web hosting is that it eliminates the need to manually connect your domain to your hosting service. This saves time (and aggravation) for those who are new to building websites as connecting domains isn’t always as simple as it should be.

Domain.com partnered with Web.com to offer its beginner-friendly website builder. While Web.com does offer a quality site builder that is very intuitive and easy to use, there is no special deal when signing up for a Web.com plan through Domain.com. That said, it is worth considering if you are looking for a quick and easy way of building a simple website.
Keep in mind that it costs INR 411.99 ($4.95) per month with annual billing for your first year. It then renews at $15.99 per month. For reference, this is in the same ballpark as the best website builders such as Wix, Weebly and Squarespace. Unlike those, it does not enable users to try it before buying it, so while the introductory pricing is low, it is fairly risky compared to other site builders that let you try it before purchasing an annual plan.
In addition to its partnership with Web.com, Domain.com also offers custom web design services for those who are not interested in building their own site. While it does not provide pricing information on its web design services, it does offer a free consultation so you can get more insight into costs for your specific project. Keep in mind that its web design services do not include web hosting, so you will also need to purchase web hosting.
If you purchase a domain through Domain.com, you have the option to purchase professional business email that uses your custom domain from Google. The benefit of purchasing business email from Google through Domain.com is that Domain.com customers get a 50% discount for their first year. This means that your first year will cost INR 249.69 ($3) per month, or INR 2996.26 ($36) per year compared to the standard rate of INR 499.38 ($6) per month, or INR 5992.52 ($72) per year.

Domain.com offers professional marketing services in the following areas: search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) advertising and social media marketing. It offers users a free marketing consultation, which will provide a customized plan of action for your business and its online presence. While these services might be worthwhile for businesses that have just launched a new site and are looking to gain online visibility, you are likely better off going to a marketing agency that specializes in marketing services for your industry.
SSL certificates come with all web hosting plans. However, for those who are purchasing a domain or already have hosting but do not have an SSL certificate, it’s possible to buy one from Domain.com. The cost for an SSL certificate starts at INR 228.88 ($2.75) per month with annual billing for a basic SSL certificate. The top-tier option is the Wildcard SSL which starts at INR 1247.61 ($14.99) per month with annual billing.
Domain.com also offers website security plans through SiteLock. The entry-level SiteLock plan starts at INR 332.09 ($3.99) per month with annual billing and includes daily malware scans, blacklist monitoring, automatic malware removal and automated bot attack blocking.

The Basic plan costs INR 312.11 ($3.75) per month with a 12-, 24- or 36-month contract. It comes with unlimited storage and scalable bandwidth for one website. It also includes extras such as a free domain name for your first year and a free SSL certificate. This plan is geared toward a small business or blog that includes hosting for just one site, as opposed to Domain.com’s other hosting plans that offer hosting for unlimited sites.
This mid-range plan costs INR 561.80 ($6.75) per month with a 12-, 24- or 36-month contract. It includes everything from the Basic plan, such as unlimited storage, a free domain for your first year and a free SSL certificate, but with the addition of unlimited websites and more MySQL databases and FTP logins. This plan is a good value for those with two or more sites.
The Ultra plan costs INR 1144.41 ($13.75) per month with any contract length (12, 24 or 36 months) and it includes everything from the Deluxe plan, but with unlimited MySQL databases and FTP logins. This makes it a viable option for web design agencies and businesses managing a large volume of websites.
Featured Partners
1
Domain.com
Starting price
$9.99 (Around INR 820 for the first year)
Renewal cost
$19.99 (Around INR 1,642 per year)
Free WHOIS privacy
No
On Domain.com’s secure website
2
NameCheap
Starting price
$6.98 Around INR 573.50 for the first year
Renewal cost
$13.98 Around INR 1,148.62 per year
Free WHOIS privacy
Yes
On Namecheap’s Website
Customer support is available 24/7 via live chat. In order to start a chat with Domain.com’s support, you have to answer a brief questionnaire including your name and the topic of your query. In our experience, it typically warns you that there will be a wait (usually around three minutes). However, it rarely takes as long as the quoted time. Granted, while support has been quick to connect with, we have not found Domain.com’s support overly helpful.

Unlike Domain.com, Google Domains only offers domain name registration services—no website or web hosting services. In terms of domains, Domain.com is slightly more affordable for your first year given its introductory rate of INR 997.92 ($11.99). However, upon renewal, Domain.com becomes far more expensive than Google Domains at INR 1830.22 ($21.99) per year compared to Google Domains at INR 998.75 ($12) per year. On top of that, Domain.com charges an additional INR 748.23($8.99) per year for domain name privacy, whereas this comes free with all Google Domains purchases.
The cost for a domain with Hover is slightly more for your first year compared to Domain.com at INR 1247.61($14.99) per year. It’s also more affordable upon renewal at INR 1414.07 ($16.99) per year compared to Domain.com which renews at INR 1830.22 ($21.99) per year. Additionally, Hover includes domain name privacy for free, whereas it costs an extra $8.99 per year with Domain.com. Also, Hover offers email hosting for as little as INR 1664.59 ($20) per year, or about INR 138.99 ($1.67) per month, whereas Domain.com offers email through Google Workspace, which costs over three times as much at INR 499.38 ($6) per month per user.
Domain.com and GoDaddy are the most comparable in that both sell domains, web hosting, websites and business email. In terms of domain name cost, GoDaddy is more expensive than Domain.com with renewal rates at over INR 1831.05 ($22) per year—this is nearly double the cost of Google Domains. However, once you add domain privacy, which is included with GoDaddy domains and costs an extra INR 748.23 ($8.99) per year, Domain.com becomes more expensive with a .com renewal with privacy at INR 2411.99 ($28.98) per year. GoDaddy also allows users to resell domains, whereas Domain.com does not have this capability.
When it comes to business email, GoDaddy offers email hosting for as little as INR 165.63 ($1.99) per month, making it the more affordable choice than Domain.com. As for web hosting, while Domain.com offers unlimited storage with all plans, GoDaddy’s storage starts at a meager 10GB. GoDaddy web hosting plans also do not come with a free domain, whereas Domain.com’s web hosting plans do. On the other hand, Domain.com does not have a standard cPanel, nor does it offer one-click WordPress installation like GoDaddy. For more information, check out our GoDaddy review.
Featured Partners
1
Domain.com
Starting price
$9.99 (Around INR 820 for the first year)
Renewal cost
$19.99 (Around INR 1,642 per year)
Free WHOIS privacy
No
On Domain.com’s secure website
2
NameCheap
Starting price
$6.98 Around INR 573.50 for the first year
Renewal cost
$13.98 Around INR 1,148.62 per year
Free WHOIS privacy
Yes
On Namecheap’s Website
Domain.com offers quality domain name registrations and web hosting services. However, it’s not the most feature-rich as it lacks many of the extras that top competitors include for free, such as domain name privacy. It also has high renewal rates, making it a low-cost option for your first year, but an expensive option for each year thereafter. While it doesn’t stand out for its domain registration services, its web hosting services are competitively priced and do include unlimited storage, making it a potentially good choice for those with content-heavy sites.
Domain.com is a solid registrar. It offers a large range of unique domain extensions and low introductory prices. However, pricing nearly doubles upon renewal, domain name privacy costs an extra INR 748.23 ($8.99) per year and it does not allow users to resell domains they own.
The cost to buy a domain on Domain.com varies by extension (e.g., .com, .org, .net). For insight, a .com domain costs INR 997.92 ($11.99) for your first year and renews at INR 1830.22 ($21.99) per year, making it more expensive than most domain name registrars.
There are a number of great options when it comes to the best domain name registrars, such as Namecheap, Domain.com, Google Domains, DreamHost, Hover and BuyDomains. Which is best for you will depend on your needs. For example, Namecheap is the best overall, Google Domains is the best value for price with domains at INR 998.75 ($12) per year with domain name privacy included and BuyDomains is best for premium domains. Learn more about the best domain registrars.
Kelly is an SMB Editor specializing in starting and marketing new ventures. Before joining the team, she was a Content Producer at Fit Small Business where she served as an editor and strategist covering small business marketing content. She is a former Google Tech Entrepreneur and she holds an MSc in International Marketing from Edinburgh Napier University. Additionally, she manages a column at Inc. Magazine.

source