Perhaps The main problem with free and open source software is financing. That is why many opted for a dual model, Offer the software for free download and some type of additional payment service. As part of this model, WordPress is now trying to get at least part of Google Domains customers.
If you don't know what WordPress is, I'll tell you what allows you to read this article right now. It is a content management system, that is, a software that allows one to dedicate themselves to writing content without having to write HTML or CSS code for the layout.
Why is WordPress going for Google Domains customers?
In the early days of the Internet, if you wanted to have a website you had to write code, and you had to write it for every page. There were programs like Microsoft Frontpage or Macromedia Dreamweaver that let you automate things, but you still had to create content and layout for each page.
This wasn't a major problem on pages that didn't change much over time, but, as blogs became more popular, a system was needed to speed up the publication of content. On the one hand, content managers appeared that you could host on your own web server and on the other, platforms that provided the software and hosting.
WordPress is both, from the WordPress.org page you can download the content manager. Meanwhile, Automattic, the commercial arm of the project, has a platform for hosting blogs and web pages, domain registration, and a marketplace for templates and plugins.
Google Domains was Google's domain registration service, We say it was because on June 15, 2023 Squareespace agreed to acquire it. Squareespace is one of Automattic's competitors in the website building platform and hosting market.
The proposal
The proposal what they do from the WordPress.com platform for the first million customers who opt for the transfer, it means not only paying the cost of the transfer, but also extending the registration for another year. Not satisfied with this, they up the ante and ensure that the renewal cost will be the same or lower than what they paid with Google for the 400 top-level domains that are part of their catalog. They also plan to offer the same courtesy to their existing customers.
Of course it will only be possible if there is no increase in wholesale costs.
Other advantages of the offer are:
- DNS speed faster than Google, GoDaddy and DigitalOcean.
- Privalry: Except for certain countries, the protection of the data of the owner of a domain is included in the cost.
Is the offer worth it?
Again I want to emphasize the difference between WordPress.org (The content manager) and WordPress.com (The construction and hosting platform). For my taste WordPress.org is becoming more and more bloatware forcing to install plugins (often redundant) every time you install a new theme and leaving the best features for paid plugins. And, the cost of paid themes and plugins are insane.
On the other hand, WordPress.com is the best web hosting platform I have used in my life. Impeccable operation, excellent technical support and everything you need to have a corporate website or professional blog running smoothly. Only the deranged Argentine economy and the growing value of the dollar made him abandon it.
My advice is that unless you have some other service associated with Google Domains such as Google Workspace, take advantage of the proposal. You will be collaborating with one of the best open source projects and you will get a great service at the best cost.
And yes, I know I'm contradicting myself, but just because WordPress.org isn't working for me right now doesn't mean that it isn't the ideal tool for other people. In fact, Linux owes much of its spread to it.