Is it safe to use a registrar I've never heard of?

Spaceship is run by the same company as Namecheap, one of the world's largest registrars, and is accredited by ICANN (the body that oversees all domain registration). Porkbun is likewise ICANN-accredited. Your domain is exactly as much yours at a small registrar as at GoDaddy.

Can I move a domain I already own at GoDaddy?

Yes. Domain transfers are a standard, protected process: you unlock the domain, get a transfer code, and the new registrar pulls it over — usually for the price of a one-year renewal (which gets added to your domain). Sites keep working during the transfer.

Why is GoDaddy so much more expensive?

Marketing. GoDaddy spends heavily on ads and Super Bowl spots, and its business model leans on teaser first-year pricing, checkout upsells, and high renewal rates that most customers never re-examine.

Should a Canadian business get .ca or .com?

If you serve Canadian customers, .ca is a strong signal — CIRA research says Canadians click .ca results measurably more. If you might expand internationally, register both (about CA$28 or US$19 a year total at fair registrars) and point one at the other.

Which registrars actually bill in Canadian dollars?

CanSpace bills exclusively in CAD. Spaceship and GoDaddy let you pay in CAD or USD. Porkbun and Namecheap bill in USD only — the price is still fair, but your card statement will show a converted amount plus any foreign-transaction fee your bank charges. Prices marked ≈ on this page are our conversions of USD-only prices.

Do these prices include sales tax?

No — like all the registrars' own listed prices, these are pre-tax. It matters when comparing: Canadian companies like CanSpace must add your provincial GST/HST at checkout (13% in Ontario), while US-based registrars like Spaceship and Porkbun charged us no Canadian sales tax. Always compare the checkout total, not the sticker price.

Comparison · Domains

The GoDaddy tax: what a domain should cost

A domain name is a commodity. Every registrar sells you the exact same thing — the only differences are the price, the renewal price, and how hard they try to upsell you at checkout. Here's the same .com at the most popular registrar and at the ones we actually recommend.

.com prices, side by side

.com domain prices by registrar
Registrar	First year	Renewal / yr	Privacy	The catch
SpaceshipScout's pick Free WHOIS privacy. Bills in CAD or USD. Sister company of Namecheap.	CA$12.75US$8.88	CA$14.30US$9.98	✓ Free	—
Porkbun Same price to register and renew — no surprises. Bills in USD.	≈CA$15.51US$11.08	≈CA$15.51US$11.08	✓ Free	—
Namecheap	≈CA$9.51US$6.79	≈CA$20.69US$14.78	✓ Free	⚠ First-year price is promotional; renewal is more than double.
CanSpace Canadian company, bills in CAD only. Their free privacy applies to .ca domains, not .com.	CA$19.99≈US$14.28	CA$20.99≈US$14.99	Extra / upsell	⚠ WHOIS privacy ("ID Protection") costs C$4.99/yr extra on .com — free at Spaceship and Porkbun. With privacy plus sales tax, renewal is about C$29.36/yr all-in (verified at checkout).
GoDaddy Renewal is more than double Spaceship's in either currency, every year, forever.	CA$0.01US$0.01	CA$32.99US$22.99	Extra / upsell	⚠ That 1¢ price requires buying 3 years upfront — years 2 and 3 are billed at the full renewal rate, so checkout is about US$46 / C$66.

Prices last verified 2026-07-20Renewal price is what you'll actually pay every year — judge registrars by that, not the year-one teaser.

That "Privacy" column matters more than it looks

When you register a domain, your name, email, and phone number go into a public directory called WHOIS — and scammers harvest it within days. That's where the fake "your domain is expiring" letters, the "we noticed issues with your website" calls, and the endless SEO spam come from. Spaceship and Porkbun include WHOIS privacy free, which keeps your real contact details out of the public record from day one — so the phone stays quiet. GoDaddy treats hiding your own information as an upsell, and CanSpace charges C$4.99/yr for it on .com domains ("ID Protection" at checkout — their privacy is only free on .ca, where CIRA bakes it in).

The 5-year receipt

First-year teasers are noise. Here's one .com held for five years — the way you'll actually own it:

Spaceship · 5 years

CA$69.95US$48.80

GoDaddy · 5 years

CA$131.97US$91.97

Same domain. Same DNS. Same everything. The difference is roughly a nice dinner out, every five years, forever — and that's just one domain. Run your own numbers →

.ca prices for Canadian businesses 🍁

A .ca tells Canadian customers you're local — and CIRA (the Canadian non-profit that runs .ca) reinvests registration funds into community internet projects. Requirements: you need a Canadian presence (citizen, resident, or registered Canadian business) to register one.

.ca domain prices by registrar
Registrar	First year	Renewal / yr	Privacy	The catch
SpaceshipScout's pick Same price to register and renew. Bills in CAD or USD. No sales tax charged at checkout.	CA$13.09US$9.32	CA$13.09US$9.32	✓ Free	—
CanSpace Canadian company, bills in CAD only, CIRA-certified registrar.	CA$11.99≈US$8.56	CA$12.99≈US$9.28	✓ Free	⚠ Canadian company, so your provincial sales tax is added at checkout — with Ontario HST the renewal is C$14.68/yr all-in, more than Spaceship.
Porkbun Frequently on sale below these regular prices. Bills in USD.	≈CA$15.57US$11.12	≈CA$16.11US$11.51	✓ Free	—
GoDaddy	CA$0.01≈US$0.01	CA$21.99≈US$15.71	Extra / upsell	⚠ That 1¢ price requires buying 3 years upfront — years 2 and 3 are billed at the full C$21.99, so checkout is about C$44.

Prices last verified 2026-07-20Renewal price is what you'll actually pay every year — judge registrars by that, not the year-one teaser.

Honest note on the top two rows: CanSpace — a Canadian, CIRA-certified registrar that bills only in CAD — has the lower sticker renewal, and we earn nothing recommending them. But being Canadian, they must add your provincial sales tax at checkout: with Ontario's 13% HST, that C$12.99 renewal is really C$14.68/yr all-in. When we placed a real order at Spaceship, no Canadian sales tax was charged — the C$13.09 you see is what your card is billed. So Spaceship works out cheaper all-in, and one account there also holds your .com (where the gap is much bigger — CanSpace's .com renews at C$20.99 plus C$4.99 for privacy plus tax, about C$29 all-in, versus Spaceship's C$14.30 with privacy free) and your email. CanSpace remains a solid choice if keeping it 100% Canadian is worth about a dollar a year to you.

Watch for these at checkout

⚠Multi-year pre-pays hiding in "promos." A 1¢ domain that requires 3 years upfront at full renewal price isn't a 1¢ domain — it's ~$46 at the till.
⚠Paid WHOIS privacy. Hiding your home address from the public domain registry should be free (it is at Spaceship, Porkbun, and Namecheap). GoDaddy sells it back to you.
⚠Pre-checked add-ons. Email trials, "site builders," SSL certificates you don't need (hosting like Cloudflare Pages includes HTTPS free). Uncheck everything.

Common questions

Is it safe to use a registrar I've never heard of?: Spaceship is run by the same company as Namecheap, one of the world's largest registrars, and is accredited by ICANN (the body that oversees all domain registration). Porkbun is likewise ICANN-accredited. Your domain is exactly as much yours at a small registrar as at GoDaddy.
Can I move a domain I already own at GoDaddy?: Yes. Domain transfers are a standard, protected process: you unlock the domain, get a transfer code, and the new registrar pulls it over — usually for the price of a one-year renewal (which gets added to your domain). Sites keep working during the transfer.
Why is GoDaddy so much more expensive?: Marketing. GoDaddy spends heavily on ads and Super Bowl spots, and its business model leans on teaser first-year pricing, checkout upsells, and high renewal rates that most customers never re-examine.
Should a Canadian business get .ca or .com?: If you serve Canadian customers, .ca is a strong signal — CIRA research says Canadians click .ca results measurably more. If you might expand internationally, register both (about CA$28 or US$19 a year total at fair registrars) and point one at the other.
Which registrars actually bill in Canadian dollars?: CanSpace bills exclusively in CAD. Spaceship and GoDaddy let you pay in CAD or USD. Porkbun and Namecheap bill in USD only — the price is still fair, but your card statement will show a converted amount plus any foreign-transaction fee your bank charges. Prices marked ≈ on this page are our conversions of USD-only prices.
Do these prices include sales tax?: No — like all the registrars' own listed prices, these are pre-tax. It matters when comparing: Canadian companies like CanSpace must add your provincial GST/HST at checkout (13% in Ontario), while US-based registrars like Spaceship and Porkbun charged us no Canadian sales tax. Always compare the checkout total, not the sticker price.