Gandi.net Domain Name Registrar Review

Introduction

gandi.net claims itself as a domain name registrar and a cloud hosting company. They also claim to give high priority to customer rights (We will put that to test very soon). They also provide various Web Hosting options, Website security essentials, corporate services, etc.

Pricing

.com registration – $15.50/yr (without taxes) ($10.99/yr Renewal)
Domain privacy – Free (but has lot of catches, read on to find out more)
Total – $17.83/yr

Domain name pricing

The price of $15.50/yr (without taxes) is higher than the normal industry price for domain name registration. Gandi.net charges one and hlaf times the actual price for each of the domains. This is a no go. Read about their pricing structure at: http://www.gandi.net/domain/price/info

Screenshot of their pricing in search results:

Gandi Registration

Screenshot of their pricing before applying tax to the order (in Shopping Cart):

Gandi Order Total $15.50

Screenshot of their pricing after applying tax to the order (final price to be paid):

gandi.net Domain Price With Taxes

Domain Privacy

Gandi.net mentions that the domain privacy is free. And indeed, it appears to be, as seen in the screenshot below:

Gandi Free Whois

The Confusing and Hard Part

Alright, now get ready to encounter a stressful experience with regards to how secure your details would be, when it comes to keeping them private.

Here’s what they say:

“Because We care about protecting the privacy of Your personal information, Gandi offers You this Private Domain Registration option. This free service allows You to hide some of Your personal information from the public Whois database, within the limits of the present special conditions, which You agree to have read and accepted unconditionally and without any restriction.”

What does the above mean? Does it really hide the necessary details or not? If not, then what details are omitted? Not all customers and techies and can’t understand clearly what it is supposed to convey. Explaining in layman’s terms would be a good way to do it.

Apart from the above confusing legal mumbo jumbo, there are couple of other things that I dislike. One of the catch that really turned me off was that it does NOT hide the name. Secondly, companies are not eligible to use this service. This means companies are forced to reveal the info and thus be vulnerable to spamming.

Read their terms for Whois at: https://www.gandi.net/static/contracts/en/whois/pdf/ObfuscatedWhois_Intl_1.0.pdf
Wiki for whois: http://wiki.gandi.net/en/contacts/privatewhois
For general T & C: https://www.gandi.net/contracts/en/g1/pdf/1.1/2/

I strongly suggest that all of you should go through their Terms to fully understand what they say. They also have special Terms and Conditions applicable for .com registrations. These details are revealed only after you signup for an account. You can read more about those details at: https://www.gandi.net/static/contracts/en/com/pdf/special_conditions_ICANN_2.0.pdf

User Interface (UI)

The UI does looks modern but not appealing. It can be a stressful experience to users who are not used to smaller font. Apart from that, many areas of the website do not offer sufficient contrast to the design and the surrounding text and can cause stress on the eyes of the reader. The website could use a redesign with emphasis on User Experience.

Other Services/Features offered

Domain Privacy
ICANN accredited
Domain Renewals
Domain Transfer
Web Hosting Services (Undisclosed whether Linux or Windows)
SSL Certificates
Payment: Credit Cards (MasterCard, Visa, Amex), PayPal, Wire Transfer (minimum 30 euros), Cheque (minimum 30 euros)

About the Company

In Service from 1999
Support via: Groups, Wiki, Email, Online contact form

Pros

Accepts PayPal and credit cards
Groups, Wiki, Email, Online contact form support available

Cons

Pricing of the domain is more than the industry standard
Charge tax on the total order
Domain Whois Privacy is free but seems to have restrictions
No chat support
No support for phone calls

gandi.net Review Conclusion

I find that they charge more than the current standard prices in the market. All through their website, I noticed many mentions of how they are different and how they follow “no bullshit” system and what not! But I am not really satisfied to the least bit about the Whois privacy offered. In fact, even towards the end of the purchase, I am not sure if it will be included with my order and if it hides all details from spammers or not. From all the info, I gather that the Whois protection will be offered, but only a portion of it. This is unacceptable.