Anyone transfered uk domain to Cloudflare - cheap renewals?

Considering moving my uk domain to Cloudflare due to the at cost domain renewals.

Has anyone moved to Cloudflare?

Was the transfer trouble free?

Are their any gotchas?

I believe you can't set nameservers you have to use Cloudflares DNS - is that still the case?

So this means if you have existing hosting it will not work as you can't set the domain to use the host provider nameservers?

Thanks

In reply to a post by think26872:

So this means if you have existing hosting it will not work as you can't set the domain to use the host provider nameservers?

Why would you need to use the host provider's name servers? As long as you can edit the DNS it doesn't matter where it is.

In reply to a post by kasg:

Why would you need to use the host provider's name servers? As long as you can edit the DNS it doesn't matter where it is.

I always thought these were necessary to get any existing cPanel paid for hosting and email to work and more importantly be supported?

If you can't set the name servers how will the existing hosting and email work?

I guess I could ask my provider for the DNS entries but doesn't that mean if the provider migrates or changes server or configuration the DNS pointers will stop working and potentially end up with emails being delivered to the wrong IP address etc? I also suspect there is going to be at least 20 DNS entries to maintain? I can't see how that will be supported as the DNS will not longer be in my providers control.

Thanks

I've never had a problem with it, in fact for my current web hosting, for most of the sites I am not using their default name servers, partly because I couldn't get their mail forwarding to work properly. Why would you need to ask your current provider for the DNS entries? Can't you see and edit them yourself? Yes, you have to keep your eye on changes the provider might do, but mine always notifies me of such things in advance.

Edit: Ironically I have just received such a notification of a server migration, at 21:23 today!

Edited by kasg (Sat 03-Sep-22 21:28:27)

I will see if DNS entries are listed in cPanel somewhere.

Do uk domains transfer ok to Cloudflare?

Was the process smooth?

Thanks

Yes, DNS entries will be in cPanel. Sorry, I have no idea about Cloudfare, i have never used it.

In reply to a post by kasg:

Yes, you have to keep your eye on changes the provider might do, but mine always notifies me of such things in advance.

I've had hosting providers change the IP address of servers without prior notification. Their assumption is that all customers are using their own name servers so they assume updating their local DNS entries is sufficient.

In reply to a post by Oliver341:

In reply to a post by kasg:

Yes, you have to keep your eye on changes the provider might do, but mine always notifies me of such things in advance.

I've had hosting providers change the IP address of servers without prior notification. Their assumption is that all customers are using their own name servers so they assume updating their local DNS entries is sufficient.

Well I'm glad mine does, all went very smoothly yesterday. They even notified me today of a 10-minute outage, which they didn't have to as I wouldn't have noticed it.

In reply to a post by think26872:

Considering moving my uk domain to Cloudflare due to the at cost domain renewals.

Has anyone moved to Cloudflare?

Was the transfer trouble free?

Are their any gotchas?

I believe you can't set nameservers you have to use Cloudflares DNS - is that still the case?

So this means if you have existing hosting it will not work as you can't set the domain to use the host provider nameservers?

Thanks

I’ve transferred a handful of domains for myself and customers as I’ve used CloudFlare for years now and are now using R2 for object storage and have no qualms in exploring their other products going forward.

The process is straightforward and the renewals are essentially at near-cost prices, and your registration is automatically WHOIS protected.

You will need to use CloudFlare for DNS however and in the same account.

In reply to a post by think26872:

Considering moving my uk domain to Cloudflare due to the at cost domain renewals.

How much is 'at cost'? You can register a uk domain in the UK for a fiver. https://purely.domains
Set the DNS with them or another provider.

I think Cloudflare charge around £3.75 (probably excluding VAT so £4.50 including VAT).

If Purely is £5 including VAT it is probably not bad especially if you can set your own name servers. If VAT needs adding £6 is 33% more than Cloudflare cost.

Purely probably have proper support unlike Cloudflare though.

Thanks for the information I had never heard of Purely but I will consider them even though they may not be the cheapest.

In reply to a post by think26872:

Thanks for the information I had never heard of Purely but I will consider them even though they may not be the cheapest.

They probably are +vat, I can reclaim so still a fiver! You'll need to add any currency fees from you bank for paying $. But for the small difference I'd always go for a UK or EU firm.

Can confirm Purley do have decent support and You ca set wahtever DNS you want. Been using them a couple of years for a dozen or so domains (inc dot coms but they're not such a bargain) and they've been good, no problems..

I'll bookmark them for next time!