For this blog I needed two new domains, thijsbroenink.com and thijsbroenink.nl. Having a few domains at TransIP already, I wondered if there isn’t a registrar that offers the same services as TransIP for a lower price. After some searching, https://versio.nl came up as competitor.

Until recently I always registered my domains at https://transip.nl. They offer a nice simple customer panel with great support for a reasonable price: a .nl domain costs €3,99 first year and €7,49 each year after.

Versio offers .nl domains for €3,24 first year, and €3,99 for each following year. They offer .com domains for €8,49 first year, and €8,99 each next year. TransIP indeed seems the more expensive one for long term: TransIP costs €3,99 (€7,49 next year) for .nl, and €7,99 (€9,99 next year) for .com. By transferring all my domains over from TransIP to Versio I could really save some bucks.

However, versio.nl isn’t as cheap as they tell you.

1. Their prices are without 21% taxes (btw). After selecting my .nl and .com domain, the price suddenly went up with 4 euros.
2. They charge you for each paying method. iDeal is the most common way to pay in web shops in the Netherlands, but they charge you an extra 1 euro for this. Same thing for Paypal, credit card and all other payment methods.
3. I chose for Paypal as it had the lowest price with 80 cents. The Paypal login form said at the bottom: “You won’t directly confirm your order; you can check your order at the webshop’s website before placing it”. Well, not with Versio. I logged in and instantly payed them and registered my domains. No time for second thoughts.
4. This one surprised me the most: I registered both .nl and .com domains at the same time, yet my .com domain suspends one month earlier than my .nl domain! Apparently each .com domain you register at Versio is only for 11 months, not for a full year.
   I asked Versio for a comment and they said it it’s their cancel-period, they need to know if it will be extended a month before experiation to discuss with their supplier.

So folks, what do we learn here? If you go for Versio, be sure you know what kind of company you’re dealing with so you don’t get disappointed. Despite all above, .nl domains are still cheap there; just remember taxes and transaction costs are not included in the price.

For .com domains: do not register them at Versio. You won’t pay for a full year but for 11 months, and with €8,99 they are definitely not the cheapest. A better choice would be https://transip.nl: they offer .com for €7,99 (€9,99 next year) for a full year.

Oh, and if you are considering their hosting plans: make sure you read this first.

Now let’s hope they won’t suspend my domains…