Register.com Review: Are Domain Name Specialists Any Good For Hosting? Here’s Our Verdict
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Our Verdict: #1 of 381 Hosts For Convenience
Register.com offers bargain-priced web hosting plans that come with a free domain name, email, and website builder. WordPress users can create a site easily or get it designed for them by Register.com.
Use this discount link to get the best current deal.
Pros:
- Small businesses can get marketing help to grow traffic and leads
- Choose from 4 SSL certificate types to get exactly what you need
- Customer support is available 7 days a week
Cons:
- No VPS or dedicated server hosting available
- Annual billing only
Do your homework and find out what more than 70 users say about Register.com’s service.
Is Register.com the Right Host For You?
Looking for something specific? Jump to our most popular sections:
- Expert Review — read our thorough analysis by hosting expert Claire Broadley.
- Customer Reviews — see what Register.com customers have to say.
- Plans — see Register.com plans and pricing.
- FAQs — find the answers to the most asked questions about Register.com!
Register.com Web Hosting Review
Register.com specializes in domain names but they also offer web hosting, design services and marketing tools.
But are they a good fit for you or your small business? How is their customer support? How do they compare to other bargain-priced competitors?
Read on to find out what I’ve discovered about Register.com.
About Register.com
Register.com is an internet services company that specializes in domain name registrations. The company states they have provided over 2.5 million domain name registrations over more than a decade.
In 2010, Register.com was acquired by Web.com. They are a very large web services organization which owns other brands such as Network Solutions.
Collectively, Web.com brands provide services to over 1 million customers around the world.
Register.com Reviews by Our Community
Overall Rating from 72 Reviews by Register.com Customers
| Support | |
|---|---|
| Quality | |
| Features | |
| Value |
Most Helpful Reviews
Matthias Maurer spectrum07.com
Feb 05, 2018
Charles Fasterling fasterling1.net
Jul 11, 2018
Although I know that the service agreement stipulates these facts, beware that the fine print between you and register.com is heavily slanted in their favor, and they are unyielding in their enforcement of it. Though I’ve received a transfer code from register.com, when the attempt to utilize said code was properly executed, it was refused thrice by register.com due to their 60 day "lock" on your paid for domain name. I’ve communicated with them about this and they are unyielding.
Now I have to wait for 54 more days to transfer the domain name to another registrar. Register.com has no benefit in holding it, as stated in my email to them, and they’ve been paid. I don’t want my money back, though I’d go that route now due to this issue, but they….have no money back guarantee either.
Additionally, if you don’t notify them by 5pm on the day following your request for the registration of your domain name, your s.o.l. on the transfer until the 60 days are up. In these days when the customer can be aggressive and "always right", I believe I’ve been polite and will continue to be.
I don’t find register.com to be a good representation of a company that is interested in it’s customers. I will not continue to do business with them, and would almost go out of my way to inform others of my experience.
Roger Dahl easypasswordrecovery.com
Aug 18, 2014
I joined Register.com to take advantage of a $0.99 .com deal. The next year, they raised the price to an outrageous $38.00 for a one year renewal. I decided to let the domain expire.
They sent me at least 10 emails saying that I had to renew then, when I didn’t renew, they tried to renew it anyway, at the $38.00 price! I never signed up for automatic renewal. Fortunately, my credit card on file with them had expired, so they were unable to renew.
Of course, they then sent me another 10 emails telling me that I needed to update my credit card. And, get this, it’s not possible to turn off the automatic domain renewal from the website. You have to call them.
Shared Web Hosting
Register.com only offers shared hosting plans, meaning you share server resources and a single IP address with other customers.
The plans can be based on Unix or Windows operating systems and there are three plans to choose from:
Essential Hosting Plan
Professional Hosting Plan
Premium Hosting Plan.
Choose From 3 Plans
Take a minute to compare the three plans on offer, side-by-side.
| Essential | Professional | Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disk Space | 300 GB | 500 GB | Unl |
| Email Boxes | 10 | 25 | 25 |
| FTP Accounts | 25 | 50 | Un |
| MySQL Databases | 25 | 50 | Unl |
Essential Hosting Plan
The Essential hosting plan is the lowest priced option available with Register.com. This provides unlimited bandwidth and 300 GB disk space. This plan also gives customers up to 10 email boxes, 25 FTP accounts, and 25 MySQL databases.
Professional Hosting Plan
The Professional plan increases the available disk space to 500 GB, email boxes to 25, FTP accounts to 50, and MySQL databases to 50.
While numbers aren’t much greater than the Essential Plan, some medium-sized businesses may benefit from the slight increase.
Premium Hosting Plan
The top-tier plan is the Premium hosting plan. This provides unlimited disk space, FTP accounts, and MySQL databases. Additionally, the customer has the option to set up 25 email accounts.
E-Commerce
Register.com offers 3 e-commerce plans. These include everything you need to start selling online. You pay a monthly fee for hosting plus a transaction fee that ranges from 1.25% to 0.75% of your online sales.
Other Services
Register.com also advertises a range of other services such as website building, site security tools, and marketing/SEO services.
Website development features such as Ruby on Rails, PHP 5, JSP, ASP, and Python are available. The hosting plans also come with AWStats tool to monitor traffic to your site.
Interested in Register.com?
Use our special discount link to get the best pricing today.
Register.com Uptime/Downtime
Hosting with Register.com is advertised with a 99.99% uptime guarantee, although this drops down to 99.9% for Windows hosting).
Customers are given free hosting time if availability drops below the relevant point.
What Are Downtime Credits?
Prioritize uptime when purchasing a hosting plan.
Credits are awarded based on a sliding scale. The first hour of downtime only provides 1 hour of credit, whilst every hour after the first will compensate the customer for 12 hours, and so on.
The uptime calculation excludes:
Scheduled maintenance
Problems caused by customer scripting errors
Problems with third-party applications.
Some other factors which may cause downtime are excluded from the calculation as well, so this is a fairly complex arrangement. Regardless, the compensation appears to be quite generous.
Why Is Uptime So Important?
There are many reasons why a solid uptime guarantee is important.
Technical support is available via a US and Canadian toll-free number, plus an international number.
Here are 6 reasons to prioritize this measure, and issues which can arise if downtime becomes frequent:
Loss of money and revenue
Loss of visitors’ trust
Patchy brand image
Increased room for error
Increased reliance on developers
Damaged reputation.
Each and every one of the above is paramount to a successful online presence. Prioritize uptime when purchasing a hosting plan.
Customer Support
Register.com provides its customers with a range of FAQs, user guides, product tours, tips and tutorials for self-help purposes.
Phone numbers: there is a US and Canadian toll-free support number plus an international number for customers to call for technical support.
Lightning Fast Response Times
There is also a call-back form to request a call at a time suited to you, which is a nice addition I haven’t seen elsewhere.
Register.com claims that its phone line statistics show that 70% of all calls are answered in under 50 seconds. Customers can also email the support teams as you’d expect.
Social Media Presence
Register.com staff maintain Twitter and Facebook accounts. More importantly, the company takes the time to interact with its customers through these channels when they need a hand.
Social media support can result in masses of people being answered or supported simultaneously.
Register.com Features
Time to see what features are on offer. In this section, I’ll cover the following Register.com has to offer with its hosting plans:
Control Panel
E-mail Accounts
Extras and Freebies
SSL Certificates
Money-Back Guarantee and Cancellation.
Control Panel
At first glance, Register.com doesn’t seem to mention its control panel at all. Digging a little deeper, it appears that there is a custom control panel of some sort. The design is a little dated.
It doesn’t have the same familiarity and power of a control panel like cPanel that most other web hosts offer. But if the specific control panel doesn’t matter to you, this one will do the basics just fine.
Email Accounts
Register.com is fairly generous with their email limitations.
Many shared hosts charge extra if you’d like to create email accounts for your website or restrict the number of email addresses you can make to a small number.
Even on the smallest Register.com hosting package, you can create up to 10 custom email addresses, with ample storage.
Extras and Freebies
Other than a free domain name, which is valid for any top-level domain name, there are few bonuses to tempt customers to sign up.
I didn’t see any free advertising credits on offer, which is a little unusual.
SSL Certificates
When you take a look at Register.com’s hosting services, you’ll notice that they are tied closely to their SSL certificates.
Register.com’s SSL certificates are not free, but they are not as expensive as the ones that many other web hosts sell.
An SSL certificate is a basic and expected security feature for all websites now, not just e-commerce sites.
Cost of SSL Certificates
Register.com provides their own SSL certificates, and they are not free. However, they are not as expensive as the ones that some other web hosts sell.
You can buy a certificate on a 1 year or 2-year term and will have to renew it when it expires.
It’s nice that the option to get an SSL certificate and easily add it to your website is there, but you need to factor in the extra on-going cost.
Register.com Money-Back Guarantee
There is a money-back guarantee for Register.com’s internet services, but according to their terms and conditions (TOC), web hosting is exempt from this policy.
There doesn’t appear to be a guarantee covering hosting. There is no pro-rated refund if you cancel early.
Other Bargain-Priced Web Hosts
It’s always a good idea to compare a few hosts before making a final decision. Here are some recommended bargain-priced options for you to consider.
Bluehost
Bluehost has some of the lowest prices among entry-level hosts. It’s a simple host to get started with and uses an intuitive cPanel control panel that all site owners should learn to use at some point.
SiteGround
If you’re looking for your site to be faster and more reliable, SiteGround is a solid choice, while still being inexpensive.
Additionally, you can upgrade to cloud hosting or even dedicated hosting as you get more traffic.
Domain.com
Domain.com offers domains, a website builder (choose theirs or use their easy WordPress creator) and hosting. They also can create a website for you.
If you’re a small business, know that they offer digital marketing services as well. (Also check out 1&1 IONOS for web hosting combined with domains and marketing.)
Pros and Cons
Let’s break down Register.com’s hosting services into its strengths and weaknesses so you can determine if it’s a good fit for your hosting needs.
Pros
Simple plans to choose from: there are only 3 web hosting plans to choose from. This is easier to pick from than hosts that have several complex hosting plans.
A variety of services: domain registration is tied right into your web hosting services, and other Web.com services are also easily integrated (Marketing, email, etc).
Cons
Only shared hosting: shared hosting is great for hobbyists and very small businesses, but isn’t reliable or powerful enough for sites with significant traffic. There’s no option to upgrade to a VPS or dedicated server, or even purchase a dedicated IP address.
No money-back guarantee: setting up hosting takes time, so it’s annoying when you try out a host, and it doesn’t meet your expectations. Many other hosts offer money-back guarantees so it doesn’t cost you quite as much. Register.com does not.
Interested in Register.com?
Use our special discount link to get the best pricing.
Register.com Summary
Register.com may work for a small business or individual looking to get a basic website created and launched quickly and get marketing assistance as well. But be sure to find out what the renewal price will be for the product that you’re signing up for.
As far as hosting goes, Register.com does not stand up particularly well against its competitors. Those looking for hosting alone will benefit from comparing Register.com to other budget-priced hosts like Bluehost before they buy.
But if you like the idea of a one-stop shop, check out Register.com now.
Additional material by Dale Cudmore. Edited by Sherrie Gossett
Most Popular Register.com Hosting Plans
| Register Essential | Register Professional | Register Premium | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Disk Space | 300GB | 500GB | Unlimited |
| Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Price | $5.95 / mo (Billed as $5.95 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate. Usual price: – Get % off! | $7.95 / mo (Billed as $5.95 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate. Usual price: – Get % off! | $9.95 / mo (Billed as $5.95 Per Month) ⓘPrices in are approximate, based on current exchange rates. The host will likely charge you in USD, or at a different exchange rate. Usual price: – Get % off! |
| Visit Register.com Now | Visit Register.com Now | Visit Register.com Now |
| Plan | Disk Space | Bandwidth | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Starter Ecommerce Hosting Shared | 1GB | Unlimited | $9.95 / mo Visit Host Now |
| Register Windows Shared | 20GB | 300GB | $14.95 / mo Visit Host Now |
| Standard Ecommerce Hosting Shared | 2GB | Unlimited | $14.95 / mo Visit Host Now |
| Premium Ecommerce Hosting Shared | 5GB | Unlimited | $19.95 / mo Visit Host Now |
Register.com Frequently Asked Questions
- Does Register.com sell VPS or dedicated servers?
No. You will only find shared hosting at Register.com. Most users, however, never need more than shared hosting. It provides sufficient power for most uses. If your website takes off and you need VPS or dedicated hosting, you will need to change hosts.
- Does Register.com have a money-back guarantee?
Hosting services are excluded from the Register.com money-back guarantee. This is odd from a company that targets new users. But the appeal of a one-stop hosting shop outweighs this for many users. If not having a money-back guarantee is a deal-breaker for you, you will need to look elsewhere.
- Does Register.com offer phone support?
Yes, between the hours of 9am-midnight Monday to Friday, and 9am-10pm on weekends. It says that email requests will receive a response within 48 hours. So they prioritize phone support.
- Where is Register.com’s headquarters?
Although originally run out of New York City, it is now based in Jacksonville, FL. Register.com moved after being acquired by Web.com in 2010.
- Will it help me to migrate my website from my old host?
No. There is no migration service at Register.com. This makes changing hosts particularly hard because they use a custom control panel. However, if you use a CMS like WordPress, you will be able to use its own system to transfer your website.
- Does Register.com have software available to help build a website easily?
If you need a website builder, you could consider the Do-It-Yourself plans, rather than shared hosting. These plans include a sitebuilder tool and are inexpensive. Note that if you do this, you will find it hard to move to a different host.
Shared hosting comes with a sitebuilder and one-click installers for applications like WordPress. This may be a better option.
- Does it specify an uptime guarantee?
Yes. Linux hosting customers enjoy an excellent 99.99% uptime guarantee. The Windows plans only offer a 99.9% guarantee. This figure is measured across all customer accounts, not any individual account. Other hosting types are not covered under this uptime guarantee.
- Do they offer CDN services on their platform?
No CDN is offered.
- Does Register.com offer monthly contracts?
No. You can only sign up for yearly plans, and you will pay for the whole year at an introductory price up front. If you cancel after the first 30 days, Register.com will not provide a pro-rated refund.
- Which payment methods does Register.com accept?
Register.com accepts all major credit cards for their services, but nothing else.
- Does it offer discounts for students non-profits or schools?
The company does not provide special rates for students, non-profits, and schools.
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Horrible hostiing company. Would like to advise everyone to stay away from them. We filled several complains without any reaction.
You should be careful, when registering your domain with this hosting company. Due to the fact that our website was down several times, back-ups were not available, we decided to move our website to another hosting company. We followed their instructions in regards to the verification codes and needed authorization.
During this process, we realized that Register.com (due to the bundled websites they are hosting), claims to be the owner of our domain. We asked them to immediately release our domains to move to another hosting company. Nothing happened so far (28 days) and we are taking now legal actions through our representatives in the US. agains Register.com