Cheaper quality domain host renewals vs 123-reg

isofa

I have over 50 domains for various projects with 123-reg, and over the past few years the renewal prices have rocketed. All .co.uk renewals are now £9.99 + VAT per year with no discounts for several years, .coms are twice as much.

I do value the 123 control panel, but have hosting for sites elsewhere.

Any recommendations for cheaper domain renewals, but with a decent well established host and control panel with full DNS control? I'd be happy to renew for 5 years in advance for a good discount, as used to be the case with 123-reg.

Neil_Jones

Nominet charge £4.50 themselves to the registrars for UK domains so its perhaps hardly surprising most of them charge about £10 themselves, at that sort of level there is little room for multi-year discounts.

pramsay13

I'm in exactly the same position with around 10 domains that I control.
The renewal price seemed to double at 123-reg a few years ago but the other providers also seemed to be more expensive, so I assumed it was an increase of the wholesale prices.

virgo17

A few years back I moved my UK domains (20 or so) from 123Reg and Heart Internet to Namecheap in the USA. (namecheap.com). I have just renewed a .co.uk domain for two years at a cost of $18.96 which is £14.90 at today's rate. Same price for .uk also.

I've used tham for a few years now and when needed, support has been excellent.

I have no connection/affiliation with them other than being a happy punter.

There is full DNS control from their panel, although I run my own.

isofa

Yes, I knew Nominet had bumped up the prices, still with multiple domains and a completely automated renewal process, I'd have thought there is plenty of scope for discounts for customers with tens of domains, and still run a profitable business. After all they can offer a new .co.uk domain for 99p in many cases.

Will have a look at the two you suggest virgo17, as a few hundred pounds has esclated to nearly a thousand in my case, and even saving a third would be a decent amount.

Neil_Jones

The 99p domains are clearly loss leaders to suck you in and then you forget about it next year and it rolls over to whatever the going rate is at the time, which will be nowhere near 99p.

virgo17

isofa wrote: »

Will have a look at the two you suggest virgo17, as a few hundred pounds has esclated to nearly a thousand in my case, and even saving a third would be a decent amount.

I was just the one I suggested, Namecheap. I found that 123Reg and Heart Internet has increased their prices by about the same amount.

I don't want to exclusively recommend one provider, there are others that are less costly. Some people favour Gandi, although I only have one domain with them they seem reasonable.