{
  "_meta": {
    "description": "Per-registrar agent profile: a single machine-readable record combining this registrar's identity, editorial category scores, Agent Readiness Index sub-scores, API-access facts, transfer/switch mechanics, and pricing-verification status. It composes data already published on this site and introduces no new facts. Sections not yet covered by a source dataset are null with a coverage note rather than guessed. Every section names the source it is composed from.",
    "site": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com",
    "profile_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/registrars/godaddy/",
    "methodology_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/methodology/",
    "generated_for": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrars/godaddy.json",
    "last_updated": "2026-09-29",
    "disclosure": "Best-Domain-Registrars.com is operated within Just (Just Done LLC). Every registrar is scored by the same published methodology on the same evidence."
  },
  "registrar": {
    "id": "godaddy",
    "name": "GoDaddy",
    "slug": "godaddy",
    "website": "https://www.godaddy.com",
    "headquarters": "Tempe, Arizona, United States",
    "founded": 1997,
    "icann_accredited": true,
    "wikipedia_url": "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GoDaddy",
    "best_for": [
      "Bundled services",
      "Phone support",
      "Large TLD selection"
    ],
    "not_ideal_for": [
      "Cheap renewals",
      "Paid WHOIS privacy upsell"
    ],
    "whois_privacy": "Free on most TLDs (Domains by Proxy)",
    "two_factor_authentication": "TOTP and SMS",
    "api_available": true,
    "bulk_tools": true,
    "last_checked": "2026-06-26",
    "last_reviewed": "2026-06-26",
    "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrars.json"
  },
  "editorial_scores": {
    "scale": "0–10, higher is better; overall is weighted per /methodology/",
    "overall": 7.1,
    "why_overall": "Huge TLD selection and strong phone support, but renewal pricing, aggressive upsells, and a February 2026 TOS change that reclassified 21M personal users as Business Customers, stripping EU consumer protections and raising arbitration fees from $200 to $2,300+, weigh significantly on the score.",
    "categories": {
      "pricing": 6.5,
      "renewal": 6,
      "pricing_transparency": 5,
      "whois_privacy": 8,
      "dns": 7.5,
      "security": 8,
      "support": 9,
      "transfer": 8,
      "tld_coverage": 9.5,
      "developer": 7.5,
      "beginner_ux": 7.5
    },
    "last_updated": "2026-06-26",
    "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrar-scores.json"
  },
  "agent_readiness": {
    "covered": true,
    "scale": "Sub-scores 0-10; overall 0-100 (weighted).",
    "methodology_version": "0.1",
    "basis": "v0.1 is a public-signal assessment. Sub-scores are derived from each registrar's published API documentation, pricing pages, and security/privacy policies as cited per registrar. They are an interpretation of those facts, not a fabricated rating, and they are NOT yet the result of an end-to-end live agent test (search -> register -> configure DNS). Independent live testing is a planned v0.2 upgrade. Any criterion we could not verify from a public source is recorded as null (unknown), not guessed.",
    "rank": 4,
    "overall": 60.4,
    "overall_recomputed": 60.4,
    "summary": "One of two registrars in the set with an official MCP server: a read-only domain search/availability tool that needs no API key, which is a real agent-interface signal (NameSilo's official MCP, added this update, is a broader read/write management interface). The Domains API is full-featured with an OTE sandbox, but production access is gated (availability endpoints require accounts with 50+ domains since May 2024), and pricing carries upsells. Delegation and safety are standard, not agent-native.",
    "best_for": [
      "Agent-driven domain search and availability checks (official MCP)",
      "Largest TLD catalog",
      "Phone support"
    ],
    "not_ideal_for": [
      "Small accounts needing full production API access",
      "Lowest renewal pricing",
      "Upsell-free checkout"
    ],
    "criteria": [
      {
        "id": "api_coverage",
        "name": "API coverage",
        "weight": 18,
        "score": 6.5,
        "note": "Broad Domains/DNS/availability API, but production access is gated (availability endpoints require 50+ domains since 2024-05-01), reducing real-world agent usability for small accounts."
      },
      {
        "id": "auth_delegation",
        "name": "Authentication & delegation",
        "weight": 14,
        "score": 4,
        "note": "API key + secret (sso-key); no OAuth, no scoped tokens."
      },
      {
        "id": "agent_safety",
        "name": "Agent safety",
        "weight": 12,
        "score": 3,
        "note": "2FA on the account; no domain-specific audit API, approval flow, spend limit, or rollback."
      },
      {
        "id": "developer_experience",
        "name": "Developer experience",
        "weight": 12,
        "score": 6.5,
        "note": "Strong docs, an OTE sandbox (api.ote-godaddy.com), and documented rate limits; no domain webhooks, and production gating adds friction."
      },
      {
        "id": "agent_interface",
        "name": "Agent-interface readiness",
        "weight": 12,
        "score": 7,
        "note": "Official GoDaddy Domains MCP server (read-only search/availability, no key required). A strong official interface, though read-only; NameSilo's official MCP exposes full read/write management."
      },
      {
        "id": "pricing_transparency",
        "name": "Pricing transparency",
        "weight": 10,
        "score": 6,
        "note": "Public pricing, but promo-heavy with aggressive checkout upsells."
      },
      {
        "id": "dns_infrastructure",
        "name": "DNS & infrastructure",
        "weight": 8,
        "score": 7,
        "note": "Standard managed DNS, premium DNS as an upgrade; DNSSEC supported."
      },
      {
        "id": "privacy_compliance",
        "name": "Privacy & compliance",
        "weight": 6,
        "score": 7.5,
        "note": "Free privacy (Domains by Proxy) on most TLDs; TOTP/SMS 2FA."
      },
      {
        "id": "support_quality",
        "name": "Support quality",
        "weight": 4,
        "score": 9,
        "note": "24/7 phone and chat support."
      },
      {
        "id": "trust_signals",
        "name": "Trust signals",
        "weight": 4,
        "score": 9,
        "note": "ICANN accredited, operating since 1997, largest registrar by volume, public company, public status page."
      }
    ],
    "last_checked": "2026-06-21",
    "sources": [
      "https://developer.godaddy.com/doc/endpoint/domains",
      "https://www.godaddy.com/help/how-do-i-access-domain-related-apis-42424",
      "https://developer.godaddy.com/mcp",
      "https://www.godaddy.com/resources/news/inside-the-godaddy-domains-mcp-server"
    ],
    "report_card_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/agent-readiness-index/godaddy/",
    "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/agent-readiness.json"
  },
  "api_access": {
    "covered": true,
    "tier": "account-gated",
    "tier_label": "Account-gated",
    "api_available": true,
    "auth_model": "API key (key + secret)",
    "scoped_tokens": false,
    "oauth": false,
    "webhooks": false,
    "sandbox": "https://api.ote-godaddy.com",
    "openapi": null,
    "rate_limit": "Documented per endpoint",
    "gating": "Production access to the Availability API requires 50+ domains; the Management and DNS APIs require 1+ domain or a Domain Pro Plan",
    "live_tested": false,
    "docs_url": "https://developer.godaddy.com/doc/endpoint/domains",
    "note": "The only registrar in the set that gates production API access by account size: the domain-Availability API is limited to accounts with 50 or more domains, while Management and DNS need at least one domain or a Domain Pro Plan. An OTE sandbox is available for development.",
    "sources": [
      "https://developer.godaddy.com/doc/endpoint/domains",
      "https://developer.godaddy.com/getstarted"
    ],
    "dataset": {
      "publisher": "Open Domain Data",
      "id": "registrar_api_capabilities",
      "version": "2026.06",
      "last_checked": "2026-06-28",
      "url": "https://opendomaindata.org/datasets/registrar-api-capabilities"
    },
    "page_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/domain-registrar-api-access/"
  },
  "transfer": {
    "covered": true,
    "transfer_in": null,
    "transfer_out": {
      "prep": [
        "Unlock the domain",
        "Turn off Domain Privacy",
        "Fully downgrade Domain Protection to none"
      ],
      "auth_code_steps": [
        "Open your GoDaddy Domain Portfolio and select the domain",
        "Under the Transfer section, choose \"Transfer to Another Registrar\"",
        "Review the transfer checklist, then select \"Continue with transfer\" (verify your identity if Domain Protection is on)",
        "Select \"Click here to see Authorization Code\", then \"Copy to Clipboard\": GoDaddy also emails the code to the registrant address"
      ],
      "doc": "https://www.godaddy.com/help/transfer-my-domain-away-from-godaddy-3560"
    },
    "hub_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/switch/"
  },
  "pricing": {
    "verified": false,
    "status": "blocked_geo_currency",
    "method": "manual_browser_read",
    "summary": "Manual read in a real browser on 2026-08-19 DID load GoDaddy's domain pages and render prices: the July anti-bot finding (403 to plain fetch and to headless) no longer describes the blocker. The remaining blocker is currency: GoDaddy geo-routes to the en-uk market from our location and prices in GBP, while every price on this site is USD. The /en-us/ paths 404 on the UK market and the page offers no region or currency selector, so no USD figure can be read without a US-located session or an authenticated API key. Per the corrections policy we do not convert currencies or use proxies to spoof location, so GoDaddy rows remain sample.",
    "last_verified": null,
    "primary_sources": [
      "https://www.godaddy.com/domains/domain-name-search"
    ],
    "prices_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/registrars/godaddy/#pricing",
    "dataset_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/pricing.csv"
  }
}