When Squarespace bought Google Domains, $12 flat pricing vanished. Standard renewals jumped to $20/year or higher. Here are the best modern replacements for former Google Domains users seeking clean interfaces and fair pricing.
The sunset of developer-favorite flat pricing
For nearly a decade, Google Domains was the default recommendation for developers and small businesses. It offered a quiet, uncluttered user interface, flat $12.00 annual pricing for .com domains, free WHOIS privacy, and one-click Google Workspace integration.
Following the Squarespace acquisition, domain owners saw renewal notices jump from $12 to $20 or more per year. For individuals with small portfolios of 5 to 10 domains, annual renewal costs almost doubled overnight.
Best overall replacement: Porkbun
Porkbun is by far the most popular migration target for former Google Domains customers. Renewal pricing is roughly half of Squarespace: around $10.45/year for .com with the mandatory $0.18 ICANN fee included.
Porkbun also replicates the beloved features of Google Domains: permanent free WHOIS privacy, DNSSEC support, and free email forwarding to your Gmail address.
Best modern cockpit: Spaceship
Spaceship offers a fast, modular administrative interface reminiscent of modern cloud dashboards. If you appreciated the Google Cloud or Firebase aesthetics of Google Domains, Spaceship feels right at home.
Spaceship also delivers the lowest entry prices on .com and .org, with no hidden renewal markups and straightforward domain management tools.
Best for developers: Cloudflare Registrar
If you already route your DNS traffic through Cloudflare or run workers on their edge network, migrating your domains to Cloudflare Registrar is a natural choice.
Cloudflare charges pure wholesale at-cost pricing ($9.77 wholesale + $0.18 ICANN = $9.95 for .com). The only constraint is the requirement to use Cloudflare nameservers.
Questions this article answers
Why did Google Domains shut down?
In June 2023, Google made the controversial decision to sell Google Domains and its portfolio of over 10 million domains to website builder Squarespace to focus on core AI and cloud businesses.
Did prices increase after transferring to Squarespace?
Yes. While Squarespace honored Google Domains pricing for the first 12 months, subsequent renewals on standard .com, .org, and .net extensions increased from $12/year to $20/year or higher.
Which alternative feels most like Google Domains?
Porkbun and Spaceship offer the closest user experience: modern, lightweight dashboards with zero aggressive upsells, free DNS management, and built-in free WHOIS privacy.