Top 5 Best Domain Registrars For New Zealanders + Reviews

Be the master of your own domain… a .com domain that is.

Ok, that was a pretty bad joke admittedly.

But securing your own .com or co.nz domain is a great first step to making your own website or taking control of your brand.

Since domains are an integral cog in the machine, I have rounded up 5 of the best domain registrars for New Zealanders so you can lock up your very own domain in minutes!

Best of all, I have chosen domain registers who provide .com, .co.nz, .nz, .net, and .org so you can pick the perfect domain for your business, blog, e-commerce store, forum, portfolio and more. Ok, let’s get stuck in! 🥝🤓

Top 5 Best Domain Registrars NZ 2021 + Reviews

1. BlueHost Review (Best For .com Domains & Combined Hosting)

.co.nz Domain: No
.com Domain: Yes
Hosting Available: Yes
Customer Support: 9/10
Price: Click here to find latest price

If you are a frequent reader of my blog, then you know that I love BlueHost. They are in fact my top recommended web host pick for Kiwis.

But what does that have todo with domains?

Well, I thought I would include BlueHost into this list for those who want their own domain name and website. For that, BlueHost is a great option as they throw in a free .com domain name for the first year.

After that, it is $11.88 per year.

They only down side however is that BlueHost doesn’t provide .co.nz domains to their customers. So if you plan on making a local business website or local new sites, this might not be right for you.

But if you want to start your own blog, e-commerse store, portfolio website, or an affiliate site that will target international visitors, then this is a value packed deal!

Get Your Free Domain Name

2. CrazyDomains Review (Best Range Of .nz Domain Names)

.co.nz Domain: Yes
.com Domain: Yes
Hosting Available: Yes
Customer Support: 9/10
Price: Click here to find latest price

Since beginning my web design career 8 years ago, CrazyDomains was the first company I had exposure to within the website landscape. 8 years on and I still use them to purchase nearly all of my domains.

Is it a fluke that I have been with them so long…? Definitely not!

Crazy Domains is an international company which started in 2000 and is primarily tailored for customers in New Zealand, Australia, Europe and the Middle East.

One of the biggest reasons for me using Crazy Domains is that offer the largest range of .nz domain extensions. While GoDaddy also has a lot, I find that Crazy Domains has a larger catalogue. Here are all their .nz extensions below.

• .nz
• .co.nz
• .net.nz
• .org.nz
• .ac.nz
• .gen.nz
• .geek.nz
• .maori.nz
• .school.nz
• .kiwi
• .kiwi.nz

CrazyDomains .co.nz and .nz extensions start from $17.35 a year which is a pretty good deal as other companies can charge anywhere from $30-$50!.

Overall I was very happy with their prices/ customer support and migration services and wouldn’t hesitate to recommend to my fellow Kiwis.

They also have a toll free number to call from within New Zealand!

3. NameCheap Review (Best For Cheapest .com Domains)

.co.nz Domain: No
.com Domain: Yes
Hosting Available: Yes
Customer Support: 8/10
Price: Click here to find latest price

Next up on my best domain registrar NZ list is NameCheap. While I haven’t been using this company for too long, the experience I have had so far has been great!

Throughout this time, I have had a great experience with their customer support, migration services, prices and overall satisfaction. This makes we want to come back, along with their millions of other customers.

From their inception in the early 2000’s, NameCheap has gone on to become one of the largest domain providers in the world. Last time I looked, they have over 54 millions domains and counting!

While NameCheap doesn’t offer up much variety of their domain suffixes. I have found they are a great option for those who want to quickly and cheaply lock up a .com domain.

Additional Domain Registrars That Made My List But Failed In Either Customer Support, Migration Services & Domain Options

Below I have included domain registrars that I have used briefly, but have found they fell short in a few areas. While I was still satisfied with the overall service, they are not registrars that I would highly recommend.

So here they are in numerical order from most recommended to least.

4. GoDaddy Review (Good alternative for .co.nz domains)

.co.nz Domain: Yes
.com Domain: Yes
Hosting Available: Yes
Customer Support: 5/10
Price: Click here to find latest price

If you are after a very cheap domain name with cheap recurring yearly costs, then GoDaddy is a great option. But as far as their hosting and customer service is concerned, my recommendation stops there.

I have used GoDaddy a handful of times when clients have already had existing domains purchased through them. It seems they got lured into their company by the very cheap domains.

Shortly after they realised that they weren’t getting what they expected and wanted to migrate their domain name.

On the flip side, GoDaddy does however offer up a pretty good lineup of .co.nz domains which is close to CrazyDomains. But with their lack of customer support, I had to put notch them down a few pegs.

5. Name.com Review (Cheapest Option For Extension Domain Names)

.co.nz Domain: Yes
.com Domain: Yes
Hosting Available: Yes
Customer Support: 6/10
Price: Click here to find latest price

Last but not least on my list is Name.com which is a great alternative for locking up a .co.nz domain name.

Overall I have been quite pleased with this company and their wide range of cheap extension names (which has been great for clients outside of New Zealand).

I haven’t had any exposure to their customer support as of yet, and from what I can tell, they use a ticketing system which I have found to be slow when compared to phone support.

Nonetheless a good option for cheap extension domain names!

How I Picked The Best Domain Registrars For Kiwis

When I first started out making websites, I had no idea what to look for in regards to features and benefits for domain registrars.

But after using close to a dozen companies in the past 8 years, I have honed my skills of whats important and whats not, especially for New Zealand based customers.

So here are the things I looked for when consider a good domain registrar company.

Customer Support

While this might not be the most important factor for most, I have found that good customer support can make or break a company.

The same goes for domain name registrars. Being able to quickly call and get a question answered or request made is paramount to me.

Domain Extension Options

Being from the land of the Lord Of The Rings, All Blacks and good ol Kiwi ingenuity, we do things a bit different to the rest of the world.

So being able to pick a .nz, .co.nz, .org.nz or .net.nz domain is very important so we can stand out to other Kiwis and on the search engines.

Price

There is no doubt that price is an important factor when it comes to any purchasing decision. My moto is buy right and buy once.

It’s because of this that I have added in NZ domain registrars that offer up that best value without hurting the wallet. While they are not the cheapest options available, they will provide a great service and peace of mind.

Migration Services

Many times I won’t see migration services added to a list which is a shame as I find it to be quite a big deal. If you ever want to migrate your domain to another provider or host, being able to do it seamlessly, affordably and quick is very important. 

Things To Avoid When Purchasing Your First Domain

If you have come this far, thanks for still reading! Lucky for you, I have thrown in a few things to watch out for so you can hopefully avoid the same mistakes I have made and save some money at the same time.

Below are things to avoid when purchasing your first domain name.

• Avoid SSL Upgrades: Many domain registrars will try and up sell you on an SSL certificate a.k.a the green padlock. I would recommend avoiding this as you can get it for free from any good hosting providers for when you decide to make your website.

• No Need For Custom Email: Again, many hosting companies will try and push a monthly recurring payment for a custom email address. 90% of the time you can set this up for free within your hosting cPanel. Admittedly the free version is clunky, but you can opt for Google G suite which is an infinitely better option.

• SEO Boost: This is absolute garbage and is literally air. You can easily do the same by submitting your domain to Google webmaster and save big.

• Privacy Protection (Sometimes): A lot of domain registrar companies have a privacy protection option which isn’t really necessary unless you don’t want people to see that you own the domain.

What Domain Is Best For You?

I get asked a lot about whether a .co.nz or a .com domain is better for a website. My answer is that it depends on the audience you want to target. Here is what my nutshell response usually is.

If you want New Zealand based traffic = .co.nz domain

If you are making a local small business website, NZ based news website, local forum, directory or restaurant website, then a .co.nz or any other .nz alternative would be ideal.

This tells Google that you want your website to be focused on New Zealand based customers and readers which will help in the search results. Also it is a strong trust signal for locals who know instantly that they are dealing with a local business or publication.

This website for example is a blog, but I am writing for a Kiwi audience so it made sense to use a .co.nz domain name.

If you want international traffic = .com domain

On the flip side of the coin, if you want to have an international website like a travel blog, e-commerse store, affiliate website or niche website. Then a .com domain is your best bet. This means you can get traffic from Turkey to Nepal.

Keep in mind that 60% of all web traffic comes from the USA so you can have access to one of the biggest audiences when using a .com domain name.

Do I Need An SSL Certificate For My Domain/Website?

In short yes! Do you need to pay for one? No!

Many good hosting providers will give this to you for free when connecting a domain name. It saves paying a recurring yearly fee of $50-$100.

But what is everyone making such a big deal about this SSL certificates? Well Google has announced that they will soon be putting red warning “not secure” notifications on websites without this certificate.

This is a pretty big deal as it loses a lot of trust for when people come to your websites.

Red means stay away, which customers and readers will do if they think a website is insecure. These Google rollouts take effect in mid-late 2018, so make sure your website is ready!

Who Am I? And How To Use This Guide

My name is James Parker and I live and breathe the All Blacks!

I was originally born in Auckland and have been calling Christchurch home for the past 4 years. I now know the importance of thermal undergarments.

On a whim, I decided to make my very own website 8 years ago. Fast forward to the present and I am now a full time web designer with over 450 websites under my belt.

So I guess you could I got hooked…

During this time I have used dozens of domain registrars for myself and clients. Unfortunately not all of them have given me good service. Which is why I decided to make this guide for Kiwis so you can avoid the same pitfalls.

Below my list you will also see how I picked the best NZ domain registrars, things to watch out for, best practices and other questions. This list is arranged with my top recommendation for Kiwis at the top! 🙂

Final Thoughts On The Best Domain Registrars NZ

Hopefully this guide has brought you a bit closer to finding a good domain registrar for your website or business. Securing your domain is the first step to creating you own website.

Even if you don’t plan on using it straight away, it is good to have just in case so no-one else can take it from you!

I strive to give the best advice to Kiwis from a Kiwis perspective.

If you think I have missed out on something, or you would like to add in your own thoughts then please share below! It will help me write better articles while also giving other perspective to NZ readers. Thanks for reading!