Pros
ConsThe details
Namesilo was established back in 2010 by two masterminds: Michael McCallister and Michael Goldfarb. At the time, it was purely a domain registrar. But the company has ventured into other services since, and it now provides security features, email and web hosting.
The good thing about this platform is that its rates are affordable all-round. For instance, you can get web hosting for as little as $2.99 a month. SSL certificates are also offered at a fair price of just $9.59 a year.
However, the key area where Namesilo shines is in its pricing for domains. Read on to learn more about this domain registrar.
Features
Namesilo offers a fairly similar set of features to what you get from other registrars. But there are a few areas where it’s taken things up a notch.
For instance, in domain search, you can choose to look for one specific domain or multiple ones at the same time.
This gives you the freedom to enter as many domain names as you want, and search for their availability all at once. The maximum limit set for this feature is 500 domain names.
Another area where Namesilo tries to get a competitive edge is in domain transfers. Most registrars allow you to transfer your domain to their platform at a fee.
This registrar sweetens the deal by promising to add a whole year to your expiration date. Essentially, you get a grace period of one year once your domain expires.
You’ll also be impressed with the ease of transferring your domain to Namesilo. In fact, you’ll be able to achieve this through a basic 3-step process.
The marketplace is another feature that users find resourceful. Here, you’re presented with a ton of domain names that are up for sale. Namesilo has two sales approaches: auction and offer/counter. You’ll be able to see the sales strategy being employed under each domain that is on sale.
So for some, you’ll have to bid. If you have the highest bid, you’ll be given the domain. With the latter approach, the seller places an offer, and if you’re interested, you can negotiate the price by placing a counter-offer.
Namesilo also prides itself in offering WHOIS privacy for free. Unlike other registrars that charge for this service, here, you can enjoy unlimited protection throughout and at no extra cost.
The registrar achieves this by teaming up with PrivacyGuardian.org. Through this collaboration, Namesilo is able to assign all its domain holders a unique email address; hence, keeping your real contact information under wraps.
Ease of use
We’ll be the first to admit, Namesilo does not have the sleekest interface. However, this is not too big of a deal, especially since you’ll still be able to navigate easily.
When you visit the website for the first time, you’ll see tabs for each of the services they offer. Under the “domain” tab, you’ll come across sub-categories like domain transfers, name search, WHOIS, marketplace and more.
Dividing its interface based on the different functions as it has done is a pretty smart move. This makes it incredibly easy to find what you’re looking for.
Some domain registrars bombard their users with upsells, which can be very distracting. Thankfully, this is not Namesilo’s M.O. If you’re only interested in subscribing for their domain services, then that’s exactly what you get.
Sure, the platform offers complementary services like web security and hosting. But it doesn’t trick you into paying for them or add these items to your cart without your consent.
Customer support
Namesilo offers exceptional customer services. The only drawback is the fact that their phone support is not available round-the-clock.
If you wish to contact them directly, then you have to do so between Monday and Friday, and only during business hours. The registrar’s operating hours start from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm Arizona time.
But apart from the phone support, the registrar has provided a ton of other communication means. For instance, there’s a live chat, where you have an opportunity to speak to an agent. You can also reach them via email.
Namesilo has also set aside a small section where they provide detailed articles, outlining solutions to the most common issues. You get to learn more about the company itself, account options available to you, general terms, domain manager functions and more.
Value
As we mentioned earlier, this is the one thing that helps Namesilo to really stand out.
We’ll start by acknowledging how transparent the registrar is when it comes to their pricing structure. Some domain registrars hide their prices or attempt to impose hidden fees. You won’t have to worry about any of that when you sign up on Namesilo.
Secondly, this registrar has the fairest prices on the market for individuals looking to buy domain names in bulk.
We’ll illustrate this by using the .net extension. Now if you’re buying between 1 and 49 of these, you’ll pay $11.79 per domain. But if you buy between 50 and 100 such extensions, the price per domain is lowered to $11.69. This policy applies to every extension, so you’re certain of getting a discounted rate regardless of the domain name you go for.
When it comes to individual price points, Namesilo offers rates that are pretty close to those of other registrars. For instance, the .com extension is priced at $9.95, making it cheaper than Bluehost’s offering. The .org extension starts at $10.79 while .biz goes for $6.49.
Another aspect we like about Namesilo is that it offers several features for free alongside the domain name. Unlike other registrars that force you to pay extra, this registrar provides WHOIS privacy, domain defender protection, DNS management and email forwarding all for free.
Final verdict
If you’re looking to buy a high number of domain names, then Namesilo is the perfect registrar for you. This platform offers a discounted rate depending on the number of domain names you buy. The more domain names you buy, the lower the rate you’ll pay per domain.
