Namecheap is the domain registrar of my choice. I especially like the free WhoisGuard subscription that makes sure my private data stays private. They always stay up-to-date and offer new domain extensions as one of the first providers.
Namecheap Domain Features
- Free WhoisGuard for one year
- A lot of domain extensions
- 24/7 support
- Security notifications
- Easy domain push to other users
About the company
Namecheap was founded in 2000 and has over 800,000 customers. They claim to manage over 3 million domains. The company is based in Los Angeles (USA). Namecheap is accredited by ICANN, the coordinator of the Internet’s domain name system.
Very untypical for a domain registrar, they positioned themselves as being strictly against SOPA and PIPA legislation, which have been seen as danger for internet privacy by many. They donated $60,000 to the Electronic Frontier Foundation that fights for digital freedom. In 2012, the website went dark for a day to express protest against these proposed laws.
They also care about the environment which has been shown by planting 3,000 trees. Namecheap also donated a large sum to “save the elephants” organizations. The reason for this was the owner of a competing domain registrar who made pictures posing next to dead elephants with a rifle in his hands.
If they could know that I’m writing this post on my wooden keyboard with ivory keys…
But seriously, I think this was a great action which was hopefully not only done for marketing.
Namecheap also offers web hosting and SSL certificates next to domain names.
Namecheap Interface
This is how Namecheap’s interface looks like:
Certainly not the best looking design, but it provides a good overview and easy navigation. For domain-specific options, you just have to click on the corresponding domain. Then you can change the name server, enable/disable WhoisGuard, list the domain for sale and make other administrative changes.
Namecheap payment methods
Namecheap offers a range of payment options. They accept payments via credit card, Google Wallet, PayPal and also the online-currency Bitcoin.
What about support?
Namecheap is answering questions via live chat and ticket system. They never needed more than 24h to contact me back via the ticket system. The live chat is perfect for all urgent requests.
It’s not possible to call them via phone. I think that support is not the most important thing for a domain registrar anyway. You register a domain and if that works you’ll have the domain for at least one year. There is not much that could go wrong.
Special advice
You can let a domain keep using Namecheap’s name servers and then use URL forwarding. Gone are the days of ugly affiliate links. Better let a Namecheap domain redirect to an affiliate offer, e.g. a Clickbank HopLink. This will show a clean link to all visitors.
In case you are owning a high traffic website you might want to secure similar domains with a typo. Let’s say you own google.com then people could register gooogle.com and show nasty stuff or damage your reputation under this similar domain. People could easily land on this site when making a typo. When logged in your Namecheap account click on “TypoScan” and Namecheap will display possible typos for your domain. You can then register these domain names to protect them from abuse.
If you already are a customer, you can rate your own experience with them below:
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