How much does it matter where my domain registrar is located?

Mr. Forager@lemmy.world to Selfhosted@lemmy.world – 49 points –

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I want to buy a domain name for personal usage (reverse proxy, selfhosting serivces). I'll probably go with a general purpose .net or my country specifc one. I am based in Northern Europe.

  • Does it matter based on where I am located where the domain is registered?
  • Any recommendations for domain registrars in that regard?

Thanks

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In my opinion it really comes down to support, price (first year and renewal) and ethics.

For the ethics piece, if you think Google is an evil company then avoid Google Domains, as an example.

Apparently google doesn't even offer new registrations anymore

https://domains.google/

Google has trained me to think “I wonder if that still exists” every time I remember one of their products.

The Google graveyard is vast.

I would also include support for Dynamic DNS and API access as well. Those both can come in handy depending on what your doing. I know this wasn't as common years back but maybe it is more supported now.

I used Namecheap and I think they required that I have like $50 credit on my account before the API access would open up. Maybe that has changed, like I said this was years ago last time I need to look.

Fair point. I failed to mentioned features in my previous comment. Things like WHOIS Privacy are essential to me and I imagine it is for most of us (self hosters)

Any registrar worth their salt will offer whois privacy and local representative services nowadays. I would not use a registrar that wasn't capable of them — even if my domain didn't require either, I would take it as a sign their services are limited and sub par.

Absolutely agree! Just pointing it out in case OP runs into a registrar that doesn’t offer this

Most self-hosters are probably using dns services through their registrar, but you don't have to. A registrar with poor api support might still be a good choice, if that was the only negative.

while I appreciate everyone naming their favorite companies, this is the only real answer to the question. It doesn't matter at all which registrar you use, it's about brand recognition, support, add-on services, and cost.

[source: friend founded his own (now defunct) registrar and I would help out. Even when a registrar goes out of business there's no real risk, as there are plans in place to hand off customers to other sites]