This new domain registrar has a lot of promise beyond just good prices.
Unstoppable Domains, which began as a Web3 naming company, has reinvented itself as an ICANN-accredited registrar. Now, it’s using aggressive pricing and new tools to win over traditional domain investors.
One of the ways it’s doing this is by offering new .com registrations for $5. By default, Unstoppable offers each customer up to 100 $5 .com registrations each Friday. However, domain investors can request to join Unstoppable’s free domainer club to receive an additional 100 registrations for $5 per week, which can be registered on any day. Few domain investors have a need to register 200 domains a week, but it’s nice to be able to pick them for just $5 any time you discover a good available name.
Unstoppable is also offering $5.54 .com transfers, but there’s a catch: you must agree to keep them at Unstoppable for a year. Technically, you don’t have to renew the domain at Unstoppable and can transfer it out during the grace period. However, if you transfer it out within a year, you’ll have to pay back the savings. This offer is limited to $2,000 worth of discounts off the standard .com price of $11.08.
Beyond that, Unstoppable Domains works on an “at cost” pricing model. Its prices cover the registry fees, ICANN fees, and payment processing fees.
The discounts are working. As of the end of April, ICANN statistics show that the company had nearly 60,000 .com domains under management, growing at over 10,000 per month.
Discounts aren’t the only way Unstoppable is trying to stand out.
The company recently created a custom GPT called UnstoppableBot that lets you find available domains to register. If you’ve ever searched for domains using ChatGPT, you’ve likely been stymied by its inability to do availability checks. UnstoppableBot uses an API to make it possible. Here’s an example output:
After playing around with UnstoppableBot and reviewing Mononame’s latest lists, I decided to hand register some .coms at Unstoppable. After all, $5 is hard to beat.
Here are some things I like about the platform:
- The user dashboard loads extremely quickly.
- It’s very intuitive. Usually, when I use a new registrar, I struggle to figure out how to do things like bulk nameserver changes. But everything I’ve tried to do so far has been easy to figure out.
- Unstoppable allows you to set up an anti-phishing code. This code will appear in all Unstoppable account emails, allowing you to verify it’s not a phishing email.
- There’s an activity log showing every change you made to domains.
- You can list domains for sale on UD’s marketplace and pay just a 3% commission. Although the marketplace is relatively new, using the landers could result in some sales at low fees. Domains on the marketplace are automatically added to web3 marketplaces such as OpenSea.
The biggest drawback today is that Unstoppable isn’t yet part of the Afternic network, though the company says it’s working on it. On the plus side, it already integrates with SedoMLS.
Low pricing may get investors in the door, but features that help domain investors find valuable domains and sell more of them could determine if they stick around. For now, Unstoppable is undercutting the competition while trying to innovate its way into becoming a serious registrar option for domain investors.
Unstoppable told me it has a lot of innovation on the way:
- Lease-to-own transactions are coming, and they will range from 2 months to ten years. You’ll also be able to configure down payments.
- There’s a portfolio suggestion tool that suggests domains based on your existing portfolio. Right now, it’s very basic (only suggesting alternative TLDs), but the company is working to improve it. It will also start showing expiring domains similar to those in your portfolio and offer integrated backordering.
- It’s improving its sales landers to make them less cluttered.
- Currently, you must have your domains at Unstoppable to use its sales tools and marketplace. Soon, you’ll be able to list domains registered elsewhere.
I appreciate competition in the domain name business and will keep an eye on Unstoppable Domains. I’m curious if others have experiences to share.
Source: https://domainnamewire.com/
