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Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

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Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#211

Post by branon »

dang wrote: post #208

The submitted title was "Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, screws existing customers". The latter bit is linkbait so I've edited it (as the site guidelines request - https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html ). But I realize the OP isn't just complaining about price increases, so if someone can suggest a more accurate and neutral title, we can change it again.

OP's original issue had to do with changes to Gandi's included email service specifically.

Perhaps the title should indicate that Gandi is rugpulling email accounts from people who have prepaid for domain registrations.

They haven't told me I'm losing my mailbox yet but I'm on the lookout.

The free mailbox was honestly one of the biggest reasons I chose Gandi, and I would not mind paying for it at all - preferably not under duress though!

Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#212

Post by cortic »

bambax wrote: post #193
mikea1 wrote: post #154

> I've purchased domains from Gandi, pre-paying for multiple years of service such that some domains I have don't need renewing until 2027. Just in case you did not know: if you transfer to a different registrar, you will not lose the extra years of registration. You can confirm the expected expiration date of 2027 at lookup.icann.org.

> if you transfer to a different registrar, you will not lose the extra years of registration I did not know that. But how do you do it? And where to find a list of reputable registrars (which seems the rarest of species)?

As an ex-customer, I'd avoid namecheap. They are expensive and have given me no end of trouble.

I currently use porkbun and namesilo with very few issues so far (about 3 years). You will need to unlock your domain and get an authorization code (EPP Key) from Gandi and then go to your new registrar and select Transfer Domain. Its fairly straight forward.

Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#213

Post by lostfocus »

VoxPelli wrote: post #131
Freak_NL wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're getting bitten by this in the Netherlands as well. Two domain registrars, PCExtreme and Neostrada, merged with Versio, and Versio is now owned by TWS. My company has domains registered with Versio (and PCExtreme and Neostrada), but the control panel was showing multiple domains wrongly flagged as 'processing', and actually getting through to customer service takes the better part of day by now. I'm not looking…

Any suggestion of a good serious independent European registrar?

I'm happy with INWX

Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#214

Post by branon »

behringer wrote: post #163
SahAssar wrote: post #145

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For email it is sometimes useful to only have a host handling things like reputation and crypto/protocols (DKIM, SPF, DMARC, DANE, MTA-STS, etc.) while doing the actual handling of data yourself. I'm not sure that gandi's email fits that purpose, but specifically for email it can be a bit more tricky to roll your own than things like HTTPS, so having a hosted solution to handle that can help.

Pretty sure gandi doesn't do much of the above either. Gandi email hosting is generally not worth paying for.

I've been using Gandi's free mailboxes since 2019 when I de-Googled, they provide easy setup for SPF/DKIM/DMARC. Not sure about the other two. No significant deliverability issues to report. They offer IMAP and a choice between two web UIs which is all I need.

I'd be more than happy to pay for their service in general, just not under duress. If they'd have given me 6 months to onboard I'd have been perfectly fine with $3/mo for email. If I'm going to be abused with a false sense of urgency and pushed to make a quick decision, I'll just leave.

Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#216

Post by jacques_chester »

toast0 wrote: post #207
bhartzer wrote: post #39

It sound like they’re hosting at the same place (gandi) where they registered the domain. This is absolutely never recommended, for security purposes. If someone gains access to your hosting account you’ll likely lose all your domain names. Transfer the domains over to a better more secure registrar. Then set up a server or vps and set up as many mailboxes or emails that you need.

I personally prefer keeping domain registrar separate from dns host separate from server host, and probably email host separate from the others, too, but on the other hand, you now have several different vendors that can ruin your day. Using bundled services from your domain registrar is especially problematic though, because when you switch registrars, you usually lose those bundled services, even though you already…

> you now have several different vendors that can ruin your day.

The point is that a single vendor for everything can ruin your life.

Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#218

Post by branon »

deanmoriarty wrote: post #129

How do I find out if this change affects me? I have been a Gandi customer for 5+ years, and I have bought domains til 2026, and I rely on their free email. But I haven't received any communication about changes in pricing.

Same here, I'm registered until 2025 and make heavy use of the free mailboxes. I thought this was a good move because by registering a domain I became a paying customer, even if I was also using free-tier services.

Haven't heard any communication from Gandi yet but maybe I can update here if/when it happens.

Re: Domain registrar Gandi gets bought out, removes free mailboxes

#219

Post by mcsniff »

hrunt wrote: post #197
mcsniff wrote: post #143

I have quite a few domains with Gandi, using their email service on a few because I'm lazy and it's free. Not sure when (or if) I'll receive notice of this change. Maybe it's regional? Seems most of the comments show £ as currency. This is going to burn all of their goodwill they accumulated with the "no bullshit" slogan. I will be swiftly moving all my domains, likely to Porkbun.

Why Porkbun? What makes a good domain registrar these days (almost everyone is or has been acquired by someone doing something questionable)?

I've seen the name around recently on HN and people never seem to have much to say other than they use it and it's well priced -- which means to me it's "boring" and that's exactly what I'm looking for.

A boring company who does 1 thing and does it so well that people dont say good or bad, it's so boring they barely notice it because it gets out the way.

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