6mo ago

Recommendations for a good .ca domain host?

So lemmiverse, my https://pxtl.ca domain has officially been booted off of Google Domains (welcome to the Google graveyard, Google Domains) and now has been moved into Squarespace, which is expensive.

Anybody recommend a good cheap .ca TLD domain host? One with a decent API for dynamic DNS so I can keep my home subdomain? I have a couple of pi4 servers in the house that could be tasked with pinging an API endpoint to notify the domain host of my IP.

thanks in advance.

edit: in the end I went with CanSpace as registrar, and I'm using CloudFlare to actually run the nameservers.

The transfer was kind of a PITA because since the domain transferred from Google to Squarespace to Canspace to then being hosted on CF's nameservers (but still on Canspace) the DNSSEC meant that CF couldn't actually get it connected until like 48 hours later. Was quite worried that I'd screwed up somewhere.

13 comments

First off you should realize that the registrar's and domain name servers don't have to be the same. Feel free to use any registrar (ex: namecheap, gandi, etc) and host the domain name server anywhere else.
Secondly, if you want a good API for dynamic updates, I'd recommend looking for something that supports nsupdate, which is bind's built-in update mechanism. It's supported almost everywhere, including by let's encrypt clients like Lego.
- in the end I went with CanSpace as registrar, and I’m using CloudFlare to actually run the nameservers.
  The transfer was kind of a PITA because since the domain transferred from Google to Squarespace to Canspace to then being hosted on CF’s nameservers (but still on Canspace) the DNSSEC meant that CF couldn’t actually get it connected until like 48 hours later. Was quite worried that I’d screwed up somewhere.

Cloudflare is by far the cheapest registrar & host I've used. I'm on their free plan, which can handle almost any load (thousands of requests a week for me personally). The domains are sold at cost, so around $10 for my dot-coms. So $10/yr covers it.
- Unfortunately Cloudflare does not do .ca domains. I imagine this is because there are restrictions on who can own one, so it's probably not worth the trouble for them.
  
  yep, my most heavily-trafficked site is https://bongo.to which Cloudflare doesn't support for registration. so i have the domain registered with Namecheap but hosted still via Cloudflare. Nowadays I'd check out Porkbun also, I've heard good things.

Some (probably most) domain registrars allow to use different nameservers. So for example i use namecheap, since its cheap as domain registrar but cloudflare for DNS, since the API is free and widly supported.

As others have pointed out, CloudFlare doesn't sell .ca domain names due to the ownership restrictions applied by CIRA. I've personally used Web Hosting Canada (WHC.ca) for many years, including their hosting for a while. I also have a couple of domains with Register.ca.
I then use DuckDNS for dynamic updates and the free tier of CloudFlare for security certificates and some simple access rules.

I've been happy with whc.ca for hosting...been using their pro account for years. I generally use canspace.ca for domain registration, and have done so for more than 10 years without issue.
- in the end I went with CanSpace as registrar, and I’m using CloudFlare to actually run the nameservers.
  The transfer was kind of a PITA because since the domain transferred from Google to Squarespace to Canspace to then being hosted on CF’s nameservers (but still on Canspace) the DNSSEC meant that CF couldn’t actually get it connected until like 48 hours later. Was quite worried that I’d screwed up somewhere.
  
  Haha, well I'm glad it worked out in the end. Canspace has been a solid, set-and-forget service for my domains...hopefully you'll find the same!

Hover.com

Back to webnames for you.

I'd suggest using OVH. https://help.ovhcloud.com/csm/en-ie-dns-dynhost?id=kb_article_view&sysparm_article=KB0051641
Depending on your country you may need to use ovh canada

13 comments