After ICANN86, is price still the main factor when choosing a domain registrar?

[NiceNIC]

After following ICANN86 in Seville, I have been thinking about how much the role of a domain registrar has changed.

For many years, a lot of people chose a registrar mainly by price, especially the first-year registration price. Price still matters, of course. For domain investors, agencies, resellers, and anyone managing many domains, even a small difference can add up. But I am not sure price should be the only factor anymore.

With more TLD options, more brand protection concerns, and more businesses treating domains as long-term digital assets, registrar choice now affects more than just registration cost. It can also affect renewal reliability, DNS management, account security, abuse handling, API access, TLD coverage, and how easy it is to manage domains over time.

So I am curious how others see this today. When you choose a domain registrar, what matters most to you?
Price, renewal cost, support, DNS stability, API access, TLD coverage, account security, or long-term trust?

 

[seemly]

Why are you curious? To what end?

Do you know the demographic of the members of this forum?

 

[NiceNIC]

Why are you curious? To what end?

Do you know the demographic of the members of this forum?

I’m not trying to run a survey or push one answer here. I’m still learning how this community looks at registrar choice, especially since this forum seems more domain-investor and UK-market focused than a general business audience.

 

[seemly]

My point is that many (most?) of the members here don't need 3rd-party registrars.

 

[Hook]

Most members here are catching domains, and have their own TAGs, thus do not need a registrar.