Buy a domain
For countries where Google Domains is available, you can use Google Domains to purchase a domain. By default, Google Domains provides a one-year registration period and opts you in to auto-renew (step 6 below).
How to buy a domain
Follow these instructions to purchase a domain:
- Search for an available domain. Identify the one you’d like to purchase.
- Click Add to cart
.
- To review your cart, click View cart. To remove a domain, click the trash can
next to a name.
- Some domains (e.g. .US and .CA) require you to provide additional information. Click Enter info to do so.
- Select a privacy option.
- Google Domains defaults to opting you in to Auto-renew. You can choose to opt out, if desired. Auto-renew helps you keep ownership of your domain by not missing a payment. When auto-renew is on, Google automatically bills the payment method on your account each year around the time your domain expires. Learn more about renewal options.
- Click Checkout at the bottom of your cart.
- Enter or edit the Contact information for the domain. The information you enter becomes the public contact information for your domain in the WHOIS database.
- Select your payment method.
- Click Buy. Processing your registration can take up to a few minutes.
Google Domains may be one of the lesser-known tools in the company’s portfolio — but its certainly not one we should overlook. Google’s solution aims to be the most straightforward domain registration service on the market, but does it manage to deliver on this promise? In this review, we’ll look into what Google has in store and how good its domain registration solution really is.
We discuss what Google Domains is exactly, who should use it, how to use it, and whether the service is a worthwhile alternative to other, more established domain registrars already on the market.
What Is Google Domains?
In short, Google Domains is a domain registration service offered by Google.
On the surface, its product is very similar to what other domain registrars have been doing for years — you can go to Google Domains and register a brand new domain name or transfer an existing domain. You can then use that domain to launch a website, create custom email accounts, integrate it with third-party services, and so on.
However, the devil’s in the details, and there are some specific traits that make Google Domains unique among its competitors:
1. IT COMES WITH WHOIS PRIVACY AT NO ADDITIONAL FEE
What this means is your personal information won’t be accessible via various WHOIS lookup tools (such as this one).
Just to give you some context, with other domain registrars, the price of domain privacy can be anything from $0 to $12 annually. GoDaddy, for instance, offers basic domain privacy for $9.99 a year.
2. THERE ARE NO HIDDEN FEES DURING CHECKOUT
Hidden fees are the scourge of the domain registration industry. There are very few registrars that won’t try to upsell you on additional services or upgrades that you don’t necessarily need.
Google Domains is one of the good guys: It doesn’t force you to buy anything other than the domain itself, and there are no surprises on the checkout page. Google Domains doesn’t even charge you the ICANN registration fee.
3. IT GIVES YOU HASSLE-FREE INTEGRATION WITH TOP WEBSITE BUILDERS
If you’re looking for a place to register a domain name, the chances are you’ll then want to build a website on top of it. To make this easier, Google Domains integrates with some of the most popular website building solutions on the market.
To begin with, there’s built-in integration with Blogger and Google Sites, but you’re probably not too excited about that. Luckily, Google Domains also lets you connect your domain to solutions such as Squarespace, Wix, Shopify, Weebly and WordPress (powered by Bluehost).
In short, what it comes down to is, after you register your domain with Google Domains, you can go straight to your website builder of choice and continue your website setup there — with most of the hurdles removed to make life easier.
Of course, if you’re not interested in Google helping you out via website builder integrations, you can map your domain name to any other third-party web host — Google doesn’t prevent you from doing that.
4. YOU CAN HOOK UP YOUR DOMAIN TO G SUITE
G Suite gives you and your team access to integrated Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet, Gmail services and more. It’s paid for separately, but Google Domains lets you integrate it with your new domain with no hassle.
This also allows you to set up a range of custom email addresses for you and your team — all under your main domain name.
The current price of G Suite starts from $6 per user per month.
5. IT LETS YOU CREATE UP TO 100 SUBDOMAINS
Although a hundred is probably overkill, it’s still great to know Google Domains will allow you to create basically as many subdomains as you want for your projects.
What this means in practice is you can add up to a hundred sub-websites under your main ‘hub’ site.
6. EVERYTHING RUNS VIA GOOGLE’S DNS SERVERS
DNS servers are critical elements of the web infrastructure; their task is to take your domain name and translate it into a form of a web address that other computers on the internet can understand. Without DNS servers, a domain name would be useless.
If you register your domain through Google Domains, that domain is going to use the same DNS servers as the main Google search engine. Read: They’re quite efficient, allegedly.
What’s also important about this is you don’t have to pay anything extra to get access to those DNS servers. For comparison, the PremiumDNS add-on at Namecheap is $4.88 a year.
7. IT LETS YOU SET UP EMAIL ALIASES AND EMAIL FORWARDING
Google Domains lets you create up to a hundred email aliases, and then have them forward emails automatically to other (actual) email accounts.
For example, if you don’t want to create a new email address to handle customer support, but you still want your customers to be able to send requests to support@yoursite.com, then this is where an alias comes in. An alias will grab all of the emails people send to the ‘support’ address and forward them to some other existing email address.
Google Domains Review: TLDs and Prices
Apart from the classic .com or .net, Google Domains also gives you access to a really nice selection of other TLDs — 200 of them.
That said, there are still some notable local TLDs missing (such as .ru or .it). On the plus side, when it comes to custom TLDs, you’ll find some really interesting options, including .accountants, .limo, .actor, .cleaning, design, store, .tech, .dental, .studio, .investments, .shoes, .university, .wine, and many other niche TLDs.
Overall, Google Domains won’t disappoint in 99% of the cases when talking TLDs. However, not all of them are that affordable.
Here’s how Google Domains’ offering compares with GoDaddy’s and Namecheap’s:
| TLD | Google Domains | GoDaddy * | Namecheap * |
|---|---|---|---|
| * Prices for the initial registration period | |||
.com | $12 | $12.17 | $8.88 |
.net | $12 | $15.17 | $11.98 |
.org | $12 | $9.17 | $12.98 |
.co | $30 | $11.99 | $7.98 |
.ru | – | $14.99 | – |
.de | – | $7.99 | $6.88 |
.it | – | $12.99 | – |
.club | $13 | $1.17 | $1.57 |
.site | $20 | $1.17 | $1.29 |
.store | $50 | $3.17 | $1.88 |
.design | $40 | $20.17 | $5.88 |
Although the prices at Google Domains may not look too stunning in this comparison, the great thing about Google’s offering is the domain renewal prices are the same as the initial registration fees, which isn’t the standard in this market. With some registrars, you can find that renewing your domain name for the second period can set you back as much as twice(!) the initial price.
Just to give you an example, GoDaddy offers .org domains at the initial price of $9.17, but renewing them after that first period costs $21.17. For a .com, it’s $12.17 vs $18.17. Google Domains is much more transparent with pricing and will often be cheaper in the long run.
Is Google Domains Better Than Other Registrars?
Setting aside the clear pricing model and all of those additional perks you get with Google Domains, deciding whether Google Domains is actually worth it is still not an easy call to make. For me, it comes down to a couple of things:
First, the core product with all domain registrars is always the same — it’s registering a domain name on your behalf and keeping it ‘alive’. So, in this regard, Google’s product is just like everyone else’s — the domain names aren’t any better than what you can get elsewhere.
Second, as cool as the extra perks are, things such as WHOIS privacy, website builder integration, subdomains and email aliases aren’t exactly game-changing, and you’ll find other companies offering them as well. Google Domains is by no means revolutionary.
At the end of the day, what matters most for 99% of the users is the price of the specific domain they’re interested in. Therefore, getting a domain at Google Domains probably only makes sense if the TLD you want is cheaper than with the competition. Here’s the official pricing table of the domain TLDs available, and here are the prices offered by the most notable competitors, so you can do your own research.
Lastly, you should also consider some risks with Google Domains that Google itself may not be too vocal about: Mainly, even though it has the big G behind it, you can never know whether the service will stick around for the long haul. Not all of Google’s projects have stood the test of time, and Google is notorious for shutting things down if they fail to meet the company’s expectations. For every Gmail, there are several Google Buzzs, Waves and Glasses. For instance, even though it’s been five years since Google Domains’ inception, it’s still in beta.
Now, on to the hands-on part of this Google Domains review:
How to Register a Domain Name with Google Domains
Google’s got us used to a certain standard when it comes to its tools and services. Most of what it gives us is simple and intuitive, yet functional. Google Domains is kind of that, but not entirely.
First off, Google Domains isn’t available worldwide, and probably won’t ever be.
To use it, you have to have a billing address in one of these countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, United Kingdom, United States or Vietnam.
The main Google Domains homepage welcomes you with a neat search field and some additional features. The search will show you what’s available in relation to your input, and also let you add more extensions (TLDs) in case the one you’re interested in isn’t on the main list.
To see all available TLDs, click on the ‘All Endings’ tab (visible above). The list is alphabetical, so it may take you a while to scroll through it all. Still, you can find some gems there.
If there’s anything on the list you like, you can add it to the cart, and, when you’re done, proceed to checkout.
To complete the purchase, Google Domains will ask for some personal information that’s required by ICANN, and, of course, your payment method.
Google Domains will also suggest you enable auto-renewal for your new domain name. If you agree, you’ll be billed automatically every year.
The very last thing you have to do is confirm your email address with ICANN. This is a required step, no matter where you register your domain name. Google will let you know how to do this.
At this stage, you’ll be able to see your domain name in the main Google Domains user panel. From the user panel, you can set the domain’s DNS, add email aliases and connect the domain to your website builder of choice (e.g. Squarespace, Shopify).
Google Domains review: Conclusion
Overall, Google Domains is okay as a domain registrar. It’s no game-changer, and it’s hard to see it dominating the market anytime soon, since it’s only available in a handful of countries.
That said, the interface is excellent, and the domain registration process itself is very straightforward. The overall experience is similar to what Google got us used to with other tools in its portfolio. What really stands out is Google’s easy checkout and the lack of upsells or hidden fees. If you’re a beginner to domain buying, this is something you’ll surely appreciate!
However, setting the interfaces aside, most people will probably still only decide to go with Google Domains if the specific domain name extension (TLD) they’re after is cheaper than it is with other registrars. To find out if that’s the case for you, check out our comparison of the top domain registrars and their prices.
PROS AND CONS OF GOOGLE DOMAINS
Clear checkout process- Great selection of TLDs
- No upsells or hidden fees
- Easy integrations with popular website builders
No certainty that Google Domains will still be here in a couple of years
What do you think of our Google Domains review? Does Google Domains excite you as a domain name registrar — one that can potentially disrupt the industry?
If you’re looking for a service to help you register a domain name, Google Domains is one of the best services you’ll find. In this Google Domains review, we’ll help you understand why we recommend Google Domains by offering comprehensive coverage of what this Google service has to offer. Here’s everything we’ll cover in this review:
What is Google Domains?
Google Domains is a domain registration service launched by Google in January 2015.
Google Domains helps you register the domain name that you use with your WordPress site (or any other website).
Unlike a lot of other popular domain registrars, Google Domains does not offer any type of hosting. That means you’ll need to purchase hosting separately. For example, you could purchase your domain name from Google Domains and then connect it to Kinsta for hosting.
Google Domains also makes it easy to connect to other Google services, like G-suite, Google Search Console, and more, and you can access Google Domains by using the same Google account you use for other services.
Though it was launched in 2015 and is fully functioning, Google Domains is still technically in beta.
Google Domains Review of Features
- Register new domains.
- Transfer in existing domains from other registrars.
- Free privacy protection included with your purchase.
- Google-powered DNS.
- Simple management dashboard that matches other Google services.
- Part of your existing Google account, no separate login. Also allows for two-factor authentication.
- Email forwarding (up to 100 aliases).
- Domain and subdomain forwarding.
- Built-in integrations/verification with other Google services.
Google Domains FAQs
Can You Use Google Domains With WordPress?
Yes! You’ll still need WordPress hosting to power your site, but Google Domains makes it easy to connect your domain to any WordPress host (Kinsta included).
We even have instructions on how to point your domain to Kinsta that work perfectly with Google Domains.
Is Google Domains a Host?
No, unlike many other domain registrars, Google Domains does not offer any complementary website hosting service (excluding Google Sites, which is pretty limited).
You’ll need to purchase hosting separately if you want to launch a website. You can then use the Google Domains interface to point your domain to your hosting service.
Does Google Domains Work for Email?
Yes! Google Domains makes a great option for creating your own custom email address. Btw, do you need to find someone’s email address? Here are a few solid tricks.
There are two ways to use emails with Google Domains:
- Built-in email forwarding: Free, create up to 100 email aliases and forward them to your existing accounts. You can send emails from these aliases using Gmail or any other email client.
- Email hosting with G Suite – From $6 per month – you can easily integrate with Google G Suite for hosted email, 30 GB of storage, and more. G Suite is Kinsta’s recommended email hosting solution.
Advantages of Using Google Domains
Well-Designed, Familiar Interface, and Single Sign-On
Google Domains is just like any other Google service in that:
- It uses your existing Google user account.
- The dashboard styling fits the Google aesthetic.
There are two big advantages to that:
First, you don’t have to create a new account because we can almost guarantee you have a Google account. Just make sure to lock your account down with a strong password and two-factor authentication because this creates a single point of failure.
Second, you’ll be able to pick up the interface really quickly because it feels similar to existing tools you might be using, like Google Analytics.
Competitive, Transparent Pricing
Google Domains is not always the most affordable option (more on this later), but it does have the most transparent pricing. And it’s more affordable than much of the competition for many popular domain extensions.
With Google Domains, you’ll know exactly what the domain name will cost you both now and in the future. That is, the price you pay to register your domain name is the same as what you’ll pay to renew.
Some other domain registrars lure you in with big first-year discounts before raising the price when you renew. For example, GoDaddy charges $11.99 for the first year of a .com domain, but then charges $17.99 when you renew. Google Domains, on the other hand, is just always a flat $12.
Free Privacy Protection
When you register a domain name, you have to provide your own personal information, like your address and phone number.
By default, all this information is publicly available in the Whois registry, which leaves you open to spam or other annoying/malicious activity.
Privacy protection changes that by hiding your information behind generic privacy information.
Many domain registrars charge you for privacy protection, sometimes as much as $10 per year.
Google Domains, however, includes privacy protection for free as part of your purchase.
Google-Powered DNS Servers
DNS, short for Domain Name System, is what connects your domain name to your web server. It’s often called the “phonebook of the Internet”.
Each domain registrar has its own DNS service, as do many hosts.
But here’s the thing:
Not all DNS are created equal, and the DNS you use can have an effect on your page load times.
With Google Domains, you get to use Google’s Cloud DNS, which is backed by Google’s own infrastructure. This delivers premium-level speeds at no extra cost to you.
Sidenote: if you host at Kinsta, we include premium DNS via Amazon Route 53, which is also a great option.
Two-Step Authentication to Protect Your Account
It’s essential that you protect your account at your domain registrar because malicious actors would just love to get their hands on your domain names.
With Google Domains, that’s easy to do because you get access to all the Google 2-Step Verification options. You can use text messages, smartphone apps, physical keys, and more.
Email Forwarding
If you want to use your own custom email address (like you@yoursite.com), Google Domains lets you create up to 100 email aliases that you can deliver to your existing email accounts, like Gmail.
Or, it’s also super easy to hook Google Domains up to Google G Suite for email hosting, though you’ll need to pay extra for G Suite.
Automatic Verification with Other Google Products
If you run a website, you’ll almost certainly need to verify your website with some Google products.
The most popular scenario is verifying your site with Google Search Console, but there are also other properties like Google App Engine, Cloud Run, etc.
When you register your domain with Google Domains, though, Google can automatically verify your domain with those properties, which saves you some time and effort.
Disadvantages of Using Google Domains
You Can Still Find Cheaper Alternatives
While Google Domains’ transparent pricing is quite competitive, you can still find cheaper alternatives for some domain extensions. This really does depend on the extension, though. For example, Google Domains is one of the most affordable options for .org domains, but pretty pricey for .io domains.
Let’s look at some examples so you can see how Google Domains stacks up:
.com domains:
- Google Domains – $12
- Namecheap – $10.98 ($8.88 first year)
- GoDaddy – $17.99 ($11.99 first year)
- Domain.com – $9.99 (with a heavy upsell for privacy protection)
.org domains:
- Google Domains – $12
- Namecheap – $12.98 ($9.98 first year)
- GoDaddy – $20.99 ($9.99 first year)
- Domain.com – $14.99
.io domains:
- Google Domains – $60
- Namecheap – $32.88 ($25.88 first year)
- GoDaddy – $59.99 ($44.99 first year)
- Domain.com – $49.99
Not as Many Smaller Extensions
Google Domains supports 100+ domain extensions, including all of the popular options. However, other domain registrars support even more.
For example, Namecheap offers 400+ extensions.
Does this difference matter? Not for most people because the majority of people will purchase a mainstream domain extension (which Google Domains supports).
But if you’re in the market for something “out there” like a .vodka domain name, you might need to go outside Google Domains.
Google Domains vs the Competition
So how does Google Domains stack up against other popular domain registrars? We’ll look at two of the most popular options to find out : GoDaddy and Namecheap.
Google Domains vs GoDaddy
If you’re trying to choose between Google Domains vs GoDaddy, Google Domains stacks up quite favorably.
Google Domains is significantly more affordable than GoDaddy for most popular domain extensions. While GoDaddy might have more affordable first-year prices for some extensions, GoDaddy’s renewal prices are typically much higher than Google Domains.
Additionally, GoDaddy charges an extra $9.99 per year for privacy protection, while Google Domains gives you privacy protection for free.
All in all, there are very few reasons to consider GoDaddy over Google Domains for domain registration.
Google Domains vs Namecheap
If you’re trying to choose between Google Domains vs Namecheap, the picture isn’t quite as clear.
Namecheap offers a competitive service with:
- Regular prices that are still competitive with Google Domains, while also offering generous first-year discounts.
- Free included domain privacy, just like Google Domains.
- A complementary hosting service (if you want that),
- A larger selection of domain extensions.
Google Domains still has plenty going for it, like its integration with other Google services and Google DNS. But honestly, you won’t go wrong with either Namecheap or Google Domains.
In fact, when we polled our Twitter followers about their favorite registrars, Namecheap actually beat out Google Domains:
Kinsta poll about favorite registrars
How to Register a Domain With Google Domains
If you’re ready to purchase your first domain with Google Domains, here’s how to do it:
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1. Choose Your Domain
To get started, head to Google Domains and search for the domain that you want to purchase:
Search for your domain at Google Domains
Google will then show you a list of domain extensions that are available. If all goes well, you should see a green checkmark next to your desired domain name, which means it’s available. Click the shopping cart icon to add it to your cart:
Check domain availability
If your domain name isn’t available, you might need to use a different domain name or pick a different domain extension.
2. Check Out and Purchase Your Domain Name
Once you’ve added your domain name to your cart, open your cart to check out.
Google Domains will show you a summary of your cart, along with two options, both of which are enabled by default:
- Privacy protection: this 100% free service keeps your personal information private. We recommend leaving this on.
- Auto-renew: auto-renew ensures you don’t accidentally forget to renew and lose your domain. This is totally up to you, but we recommend leaving it on if you have long-term plans for your domain name.
Once you’ve made your choices, click the Check out button:
Choose add-ons
On the checkout page, you’ll need to enter your contact information. But remember: as long as you left the free privacy protection feature enabled, this information won’t be public.
Enter contact information
Then, enter your payment information to finalize your purchase:
Enter payment information
3. Point Your Domain to Your Host
Once you finalize your purchase, Google Domains will open the dashboard for your domain:
The Google Domains dashboard
To point your domain name to a host (like Kinsta), go to the DNS tab.
There, you can either:
- Change your nameservers to your host’s nameservers.
- Add resource records to your Google nameservers.
How to edit Google Domains nameservers
4. Set Up Email Forwarding (Optional)
If you want to use email forwarding through Google Domains (rather than setting up email through your host or a service like G Suite), you can head to the Email tab and click Add email alias to get started:
How to create Google Domains email aliases
How to Transfer a Domain Name to Google Domains
If you’ve already registered your domain at another domain registrar, you can also transfer your domain from that registrar to Google Domains.
The process is fairly similar but you’ll also need to perform some actions at the registrar where your domain name is currently registered.
To get started, open your Google Domains dashboard and click the Transfer tab. Then, enter the domain name that you want to transfer:
Enter the domain that you want to transfer
Google Domains will automatically detect where your domain name is currently registered and provide a step-by-step wizard to guide you through the transfer process:
The Google Domains transfer wizard
Once you finish the transfer, you’ll be able to manage your domain name just as if you’d registered it directly through Google Domains.
Summary
Google Domains is definitely one of the best places to register a domain name.
Google Domains offers transparent, competitive pricing for most popular domain extensions. It can be pricey for certain extensions — like .io — but it’s near or below the competition for extensions like .com and .org.
It offers a well-designed interface, along with nice features like free privacy protection, Google DNS, automatic Google Search Console verification, and strong two-factor authentication.
And if you’re looking for WordPress hosting to pair with your new domain, give Kinsta a look.
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