Domains are too expensive
I have let, say, 50 domains go down the drain over the years, many with actual, working apps attached to them.
They're just too expensive to maintain. You might get the first year for $3.99, but the second year is $17.99/yr or so.
So i was thinking, is there any way around this?
I always felt that for my app to be real in any significant way, it would have to live on its own domain.
But maybe I'm finally coming to the realization that this is just not possible.
So, right now I would have at least 20 apps deployed - some would be more informational in nature, and most would be full-fledged apps of some type or another - usually custom-built. Sites to track bad drivers, lyrics/meanings, learning apps/flashcards/languages, political organizing, you name it - but I can't afford rolling domain costs -- $50 here, $17 there, another $34 in three weeks, etc.
What do other people do? Just not deploy? Or sign multi-year domain deals? Or just host them all under a single domain, like myapp1.mydomain.com, myapp2.mydomain.com, etc.? Or hope that the .org domains don't go to $100/yr? Or....?
You have built 20 apps and they don't even cover their domain registration fees.
And now your main concern is finding how to reduce the domain registration fees, instead of finding better app ideas?? Seriously...
why so offended?
maybe making money is not everyone's purpose in life?
It's great if you want to provide free apps, but you didn't mention that at all in your original post...
And even if you provide free apps, you could monetize them in other ways like ads, affiliates, donations, etc.
If you refuse to monetize your apps in any way out of principle, and cannot afford to pay the domain registration fees from your own pocket, then your problem is kind of self-inflicted, don't you think?
i still don't understand your extremely negative reaction to someone saying they wanted to save some money.
i'm guessing you're offended that there are apps in the world that don't make money, so they should not exist?
I already answered you: "It's great if you want to provide free apps".
Stop making ridiculous claims about what I think.
Apps that provide value generally generate revenue. Money is the fuel that runs the world and you don't need to be greedy to make something self-sustaining. Domains are ~12 bucks a year through namecheap. 12 bucks in revenue a year should be sustainable even if you want to be a non-profit. Take some donations or place a tiny affiliate link somewhere.
so you're against wikipedia and every other site in existence that does not generate revenue?
Never said that but nice try putting words in my mouth. Wikipedia is both valuable and also DOES generate revenues in excess of 100m (although probably not profit)
Non profit != no revenue
I have to agree with @HenriNext 100%.
Maybe not the most diplomatic way of saying it, but I'm sure you agree that if someone can't afford the cost of fuel, that person doesn't deserve to drive.
Profit doesn't have to be your main objective but every owner has the responsibility of making sure revenues are greater than costs, because otherwise, you obviously lose the privilege of giving people free rides.
But this doesn't mean you have to completely change your value system. You simply need to take a more balanced and sustainable approach. 20 apps with $0 revenue is unreasonable and not well balanced. A balance would be something like two apps that generate enough revenue to cover the domain reg fees of the other 18 apps with no revenue. That would be reasonable.
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Well, domains are pretty cheap. Having lots of them is what's expensive.
I don't know of any discounts for renting domains in bulk, you could try creating a brand and launching all subdomains under that brand, like lyrics.atlrox.com , bad-drivers.atlrox.com, etc.
Also, keep in mind that domains are not free, and owning/renting a lot of "not-free" things will end up being costly, unless those things are actually bringing revenue back.
If you use Cloudflare (cloudflare.com) they are a domain registrar for existing domains (don't think you can buy through them yet). But once you've bought the domain you can then transfer it to cloudflare (only certain TLDs are supported currently though) and they charge you the renewal at the wholesale price, no markup or anything. I can't remember the exact figures but for my .com domain 123-reg wanted £25 to renew but through cloudflare I think its only around £5. Plus if the domain is through cloudflare you also get the extra protection and benefits of their service.
If you want more info on the registrar side of things you can visit https://www.cloudflare.com/products/registrar/
I haven't had issues with prices increasing with Google domains. That said, if they aren't turning a profit then you might be better off using subdomains (e.g. myapp1.mydomain.com).
yeah, this might be my only route, and maybe it could end up being a plus -- regarding branding, etc. -- all apps living under a single domain.
or, instead of subdomains, just use regular URL paths, like Zoho does, e.g.:
hmmmm....
You could always host on free services like firebase or heroku. My only other suggest would be to on 1 major domain and subdomain per app.
I have maybe 20 domains or so. One of them costs $40/year, but on average, they're costing me closer to $10/year. Even in the case of the $40/year domain, that's just $3.33 / month—less than the cost of many trivial things I buy more than once a month without thinking, but let's compare it renting a movie on a streaming service.
If I don't have enough money for all my things, I ask myself which things I want most—the movie, the fancy coffee, the kindle book, the domain, etc, and choose. At least in my experience, the cost of domains is still low enough that I keep them. That's because I'm generally either using them for something productive or I believe the names are good enough to reserve that option in the future.
The better long-term option I'd consider (especially since you're here on IH), would be how to increase your income. Maybe you could consider keeping your domain registrations to a specific budget until you're earning enough to cover them!
Well, I used also to buy tons of domains, thinking I'll use them because I have a great idea, but finally, I didn't develop the idea, so I lost money.
I would say that maybe, you can buy domains with real extension (.com, ...), not extension (.xyz,.site,...). And to buy a domain only when you finish the developement
Also, if you are using a domain, where the cost is 13$/y, but the site itself didn't bring (directly or not-directly) this amount, just focus os something else.
In fact, even I own 50+ domain, I don't complain about the price because I rentabilise them, but that's true that, when we think, paying a domain is expensive because there is nothing behind this pricing. No support, no service, nothin technology, nothing. Only a company that own the right of the tld and to deliver domain. But that's the business and the rule of the game
i think the root of the problem is that it costs about $10/yr to run a $0.01/yr service.
sounds like Verisign has a government-backed monopoly that keeps the price insanely high.
it'd be nice if we could tackle these various monopolies/oligopolies: domain name registration, phone, etc.
Well, I wouldn't be break monopolies, I'm not an anarchist :)
Those companies provide many jobs to people
I'm willing to pay this 10$/y, but as you said, because the real cost for them is extremely low, they can provide a service. For example, SSL, fast DNS, DDOS protection,....
breaking up monopolies and oligopolies would create jobs - not sure if 1.25x, 2x, etc.
and, of course, be great for startups.
well, a startup that can't afford 10$ won't go elsewhere...
i'm sure there are zillions of startups that have already proved that wrong.
It all depends upon the way you want to present your app. If it is commercial, you have to focus on the branding, in such cases, you have no other option but to get a domain name... Otherwise, you sure can go ahead with a subdomain and its perfectly alright!
And, how come you pay so much for domain renewal? I usually pay $10-12 for domain renewal and I have about 25 domain names!!
Here's one of my detailed posts on how to find a perfect domain name if you are interested
https://topitguy.com/pick-perfect-domain-name-business/
I pay $12 a year per domain.
They’re only expensive if you have too many, and none are paying for themselves.
It is usually pretty clear when you are buying what the year 2 cost is and it is normally the novelty domains that offer introductory costs. So i think you either abandon the domain or just pay up.
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