Depends on how they build it.

If pass PageSpeed Insight, everything is optimized and properly done in best practice, then RM 3,500 is a very fair price.

If failed PSI and it's just template work, then the market price for this kind of work is around 2k.

Just stating 'hosting plan from ServerFreak' is too vague. Is it Shared Hosting or VPS, does it inclusive of remote backup, how many PHP workers are available, normal SSD or NVMe, who handles all the maintenance, etc.

PM link or post here and I help you evaluate how much it should cost

Nope, in fact it's one of the worse, given free I also won't use.

Oversell, impose too many limitations on hardware resources and inodes, customer support cacat, bad security practice, ransom domain and much more.

Basically, avoid all hosts under EIG. Go google 'EIG' and you'll know what I mean.

To migrate out from GoDaddy or other EIG host, make sure you do it weeks or even months before expiry. A lot of time they purposely drag on releasing the domain lock so that you fail to migrate on time, and then they will ask for extortion to release/upgrade/get back your domain.

Also, they had multiple major breaches these few years so remember to change all your credentials in Godaddy. If you reusing the credentials on other sites then remember to change them as well. Read more here: https://arstechnica.com/information-technol...s-and-accounts/

Domain Registrar:
Best value for money, at-cost pricing: CloudFlare, Google
For niche TLD that not available in CF/Google: Namecheap, Porkbun
For local TLD: BigDomain, iChoose

Hosting:
If the budget is less than RM1k a year, then you're stuck with Shared Hosting. Local can opt for ServerFreak, SG/US can try FastComet(Linode), both swift supports and not ended up replying with canned messages nor taichi here and there. Enough for low-traffic or brochure sites.

If have some budget but don't want self-manage, then can try Premium Managed Hosting such as Kinsta(GoogleCloud) and Rocket.net. Starts at RM 1k+/yr for the most basic plan. Great for small to medium dynamic sites.

If want the best bang for the buck and don't mind getting your hand dirty with server management, can try WordPress Server Control Panels such as RunCloud(Local), CloudWays(India) and GridPane(USA). Then pair it with Vultr High-Frequency, DigitalOcean Premium AMD, Hetzner, GoogleCloud. Fast and you have everything in control. Note that unlike conventional Control Panel such as cPanel/DirectAdmin/Plesk, these modern CP don't support email hosting, you have to go for professional email providers such as Google Workplace ~RM 25/mth per mailbox. Not ideal for single site.

Quite easy if you are familiar with it, but it does take some time and much back and forth involved. Similar to gov application work

> Make sure your GoDaddy domain is at least 3 weeks away from expiration. The longer the better.

> Register a free CloudFlare(CF) account

> Add your existing domain in CF

> CF will pull all your existing GoDaddy DNS Records. Review, if clueless about it then just import all without touching anything

> Login GoDaddy, change both GoDaddy Nameserver(nsXX.godaddy.com / nsXXX.domaincontrol.com) to CF DNS(xxxx.ns.cloudflare.com)

> Wait for GoDaddy to update the DNS to CF, normally 24-48 hours propagation time.

> Verify your NS is successfully pointed to CF @ whatsmydns.net

> Login to GoDaddy to unlock the domain and get a transfer auth code from GoDaddy

> Go CF, at left panel > Domain Registration > Transfer Domains > Choose your domain > Confirm > Insert the code you get from GoDaddy > Review and pay

> GoDaddy might intentionally slow down the transfer process here. Failed at auth step etc. Then you need to request from GoDaddy again and redo the above steps. That's why needs at least 3 weeks away from expiry.

> GoDaddy/Domain Registrar will send you a transfer confirmation email in a week or so. Remember to look out for it, in both your inbox and spam folder. Follow the instructions in that email. Normally it will just ask you to do nothing to proceed with the transfer process.

> You will receive an email from CF Registrar if the transfer is successful, normally it will take a few days.

> You can start tweaking the DNS records in CF now.

> Note that now you only transfer the domain, your site/server is still under GoDaddy. GoDaddy's Domain, SSL, SiteBuilder etc all not needed anymore, make sure it is disabled from renewal.
->> If want to stay with GoDaddy Server Hosting, then nothing else you need to do.
->> If you want to change Server Hosting as well, then purchase a new plan with new hosting and then point your DNS records to the new server IP. Then update CNAME, MX, SPF and DMARC records as needed. This step can get help from new hosting support. Normally free of charge.

Just had a domain renewed under CloudFlare registrar hours ago. Here's the pricing for .com TLD.

This post has been edited by laobeh: Apr 10 2023, 03:14 PM