DynaDot is not your average domain registrar. They market themselves primarily for very active webmasters, and those involved in domain investing and trading. As an ICANN-accredited domain registrar, Dynadot is one of the safest and easiest places to register a new domain. They also operate an extensive aftermarket domain marketplace, which allows you to purchase premium domains, bid on exclusive auctions, and more.
In this Dynadot review, we will go over all the details that you need to know about Dynadot, including features, pricing, customer service, and more.
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Pros:
- Wide variety of services
- Very competitive pricing, particularly on popular domains
- Bulk pricing for power users
- Extensive aftermarket domain marketplace
- Transparent pricing
- Around 500 TLD options available
- Offers international domains (IDNs)
- Useful and simple domain search process
Cons:
- Only one real hosting package available
- Minimal support, particularly for hosting issues
- Domain management steps are somewhat unclear for beginners
What is Dynadot?
Dynadot is a domain name registrar and web services provider based in San Mateo, California. The company has been in operation since 2002, and now offers domain name registration, web hosting, a website builder/templates, and much more.
Dynadot shines where the price is concerned. For many TLDs, they are the cheapest option out there for domain registration. They are a great choice for those who frequently register domains, as they offer 500+ TLDs, a huge aftermarket domain marketplace, and bulk discounts for frequent purchasers.
For hosting, Dynadot offers decent pricing ($10/mo for VPS plans) but does not offer a good budget shared hosting plan.
The main drawbacks to Dynadot are a lack of robust support, a lack of diverse hosting options, and a lack of guidance for new users.
Who is Dynadot best for?
Dynadot is best for anyone who wants to have all their web services in one place. Because Dynadot offers domain registration, hosting, website builders, and more, it’s easy to keep all these products and services under one roof.
Additionally, Dynadot is great for advanced webmasters, domain name investors, and domain traders. This is largely due to the aftermarket marketplace that Dynadot operates. It features domain name auctions, extensive premium domain listings, backorder auctions, and more. For those looking to expand into a wider variety of domains (beyond what is available and unregistered), Dynadot is a great option. Plus, competitive pricing and bulk discounts combine to make Dynadot a great value for those who frequently register domains.
Dynadot features
Dynadot has many features, which vary depending on the service(s) you choose. They offer all the basic features that you would expect from a domain registrar and web host, in addition to some more unique offerings. Here are some highlights that are unique to Dynadot:
Domain extension selection
Dynadot offers access to register over 500 different top-level domains (TLDs), from the popular .com and .net to more niche TLDs like .travel and .live.
Aftermarket domains
Most domain registrars stick to offering domain registration, but Dynadot goes beyond this by adding the ability to purchase aftermarket domains. This includes premium domains (which are already registered and offered for sale by the owner), plus auctions for expired and backordered domains.
Grace deletion
Dynadot allows you to essentially “return” newly registered domain names, through their grace deletion feature. Most domains must be returned within 5 days of initial registration. There is a small fee to return the domain, but you’ll get most of your money refunded.
Domain management features
Dynadot offers several unique features to help you register and manage domains. This includes a custom domain API (standard and advanced), free Whois domain privacy on all domains, an international domain search to find domains in different languages, and more.
What hosting types can users expect?
Dynadot offers two hosting types:
Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting – $10 per month
- 10gb disk space
- 1tb bandwidth
- Dedicated RAM and disk space on your own virtual server
The VPS plan from Dynadot provides 10GB of disk space, 1TB bandwidth, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee. The plan uses high-end servers with 1GB of RAM dedicated to each customer.
Virtual private server plans like this allow you to purchase your own “section” of a given server. Customers are given full root access to the server, which means you’ll have full administrative control and will be able to install any compatible software.
Additionally, VPS plans offer some benefits over traditional shared plans. Because your section of the server is portioned off, you have your own dedicated RAM and disk space. This means that your hosting should not be slowed down if another server user is hogging the bandwidth (which can happen on a shared server).
Email Hosting – $15.99/year
- 30mb disk space
- 3gb bandwidth
- Shared hosting with several major limitations
Dynadot offers what they call “Email Hosting”, which is essentially a shared hosting plan with several limitations. The plan is intended primarily for email, but it can also be used to host very simple static websites.
Email Hosting plans do not support the use of WordPress, PHP, or the use of databases. Thus, you will be very limited with what you can do with this plan. A simple brochure-style website could be hosted, but you’ll need to code it yourself or use a template, as WordPress is not supported.
This plan also has extremely limited disk space (30MB) and bandwidth (3GB), which means it’s only suitable for very basic websites. Again, this service is primarily meant for email hosting (and obtaining you@yourdomain email addresses). You can upgrade bandwidth and storage capacity from the control panel for an extra cost – but if you need more than what this plan offers, it’s best to simply opt for the VPS plan.
What’s performance and liability like for Dynadot?
Dynadot promises 99.9% uptime for its web hosting customers. However, they stop short of guaranteeing this rate, as many hosts do. Instead, they note that “We are dedicated to providing 99.9% or better uninterrupted Internet access.” We would prefer to see an actual guarantee, as this can give you some recourse should extensive downtime occur.
Dynadot’s hosting plans run on modern, fast equipment, including the Intel Xeon CPU. Server equipment is updated and replaced frequently to ensure strong performance. The VPS hosting plans also use RAID 10 SSD storage, which improves latency and throughput.
On the domain side, Dynadot follows all protocols set out by ICANN for domain security and reliability.
What kind of security is in place?
All accounts are protected by two-factor authentication by default. This can be done by setting up the Google Authenticator app on your smartphone. You can also set up an additional level of security by requiring a birthday to be entered upon sign-in.
Whois domain privacy is included with all domain registrations for free, which helps improve security and privacy.
On the hosting side, Dynadot performs all necessary server maintenance and upgrades in order to bolster security. SSL certificates can be added to plans, starting at $16.99 per year.
Dynadot pricing
Dynadot.com makes it simple to register new domain names. They offer hundreds of different extensions/TLDs, each of which is priced individually. Here are prices for some of the most popular TLDs.
- .com domain registration – $6.99 first year
- .net domain registration – $5.99 first year
- .org domain registration – $8.99 first year
- .info domain registration – $3.99 first year
- .biz domain registration – $5.99 first year
- .co domain registration – $10.99 first year
- Other extension domain registration – prices vary
- Premium domain name registration – prices vary
- Domain name privacy (Whois privacy) – Free
Overall, domain registration pricing from Dynadot is very competitive. For many TLDs, Dynadot is the cheapest registrar out there. They also have routine sales and promotions that can help you save even more money.
However, keep in mind that renewal rates are typically higher than initial registration rates. They are still quite reasonable, however – for instance, a .com domain renews at just $8.99 per year, which is still one of the cheapest prices in the industry. Dynadot also makes it clear what the renewal price will be, so there are no surprises.
Whois privacy is included for free by default with all domain name registrations. This helps keep your private information and email address protected from spam.
Hosting pricing
Dynadot keeps things simple with just two hosting plans:
VPS Hosting – $10 per month – Dynadot offers Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting plans that give you your own “slice” of a server to host your websites. This offers some benefits over shared hosting, as with VPS hosting, your resources are not shared with other customers.
- 1gb RAM and 1 core CPU
- 10gb disk space
- 1tb bandwidth
- 99.9% uptime
- Full root access (allows you to install any compatible software on the server)
- Raid protected
- Free dedicated IPV6 IP address
- Simple hosting control panel
Overall, this is a competitive price for VPS hosting. It’s not the absolute cheapest out there, but it offers a solid value at just $10 per month.
Email Hosting – $15.99 per year – Dynadot has what they call “email hosting”, a service that is primarily meant to be used to operate custom email addresses (you@yourdomain). They call this “hosting”, but it’s quite limited in what you can actually do with it. You can technically host a basic website on this plan, but it does not support WordPress, PHP, or databases – and the storage/bandwidth limits are quite low.
- 30mb disk space
- 3gb bandwidth
- Does not support WordPress/PHP/Databases
- Shared hosting with several major limitations
- Useful mostly for email and/or simple brochure websites
Dynadot does not offer a “normal” shared hosting plan. However, you can upgrade the storage and bandwidth limits on the email hosting plan to expand its functionality a bit. That said, you still won’t be able to install WordPress or other CMS’ – if you’d like to build a full-functioned website, opt for the Website Builder or the VPS hosting plan.
Website builder pricing
Another key service from Dynadot is their website builder. With this, you can easily build a basic website or a more advanced one, with no coding experience needed. There are a few different tiers of this service:
Free – $0 per year
- Ad-supported (displays Dynadot ads)
- Build 1 page
- Mobile responsive
- Connect your domain
- 1 email address
Basic – $10 per year
- Ad-supported (displays Dynadot ads)
- Build up to 5 pages
- Mobile responsive
- Connect your domain
- 5 email addresses
Pro – $30 per year
- No ads
- Build unlimited pages
- Mobile responsive
- Connect your domain
- Unlimited email addresses
- Blog and SEO functionality
- More customization options
Business – $100 per year
- All features of Pro plan, plus
- Remote email access
- Online store with unlimited products
- More customization options
- Much more
Pricing for Dynadot’s website builder is competitive. It’s sold as an add-on to domain names, and the listed prices are per year, rather than per month. While the Free and Basic tiers are attractive for their low prices, for most people the Pro plan will be worth the upgrade to remove the ads and give you more versatility in how you construct your website.
Other services pricing
In addition to domain name registration and VPS hosting, Dynadot offers a handful of other services, such as:
- SSL certificates – regular – $16.99/year
- SSL certificates – wildcard – $80/year
- Email hosting – $15.99/year
- Aftermarket domains – prices vary
Dynadot customer support
Dynadot has customer service representatives available via an online chat feature on their website. Alternatively, customers can submit a support ticket via the online portal. Dynadot does not have service available via phone at this time.
Dynadot does not provide much in the way of customer support for hosting customers, however. The VPS hosting plans they sell are unmanaged, which means that customers will be responsible for their own maintenance and troubleshooting.
Overall, Dynadot is not known for great customer service. There are several complaints about inadequate support in customer reviews on TrustPilot, the Better Business Bureau (BBB), etc. This is to be expected from a budget provider like Dynadot, but it’s certainly worth noting.
FAQs
Can I build a website with Dynadot?
Yes, you can! Dynadot has a full-featured website builder that makes it simple to develop a site with no coding experience required. There are a few different tiers of the service, ranging from free to $100 per year (see pricing section above).
Does Dynadot offer shared hosting plans?
Not really. They have an “Email Hosting” plan, but it is quite limited in functionality. Opt for the VPS plan at $10 per month if you want a full-featured hosting plan.
How do aftermarket domains work?
“Aftermarket” domains refer to any domains that have already been registered and are for sale by the registered owner of the domain (or a middle-man). Premium domains usually have a fixed price assigned to them, while aftermarket domain auctions are bid on by interested parties.
Does Dynadot offer SSL certificates?
Yes, SSL is available as an add-on for $16.99 per year. It comes with 256-bit encryption, as well as a $10,000 warranty.
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