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Gandi review: strong security and country domains, expensive renewals

Gandi supports security keys, includes DNSSEC and privacy, and covers hundreds of country domains. Since 2023 renewals cost far more. Who should use it.

Updated 30 October 2026 · 3 min read

Verdict: good if you need country-code domains or EU-based service; pricey for a plain .com. Gandi's security is solid and its TLD list is long. Since its 2023 merger, renewal prices are well above the first year, and free mailboxes are gone.

We review registrars from one angle: how well they protect a business's domains. We have no affiliate relationship with any registrar. Facts were checked on 30 October 2026.

At a glance

Gandi
.com price (US list, before tax) $11.00 first year, $38.38 a year to renew, $11.00 transfer, $55.00 restore
WHOIS privacy free, on by default
Two-factor sign-in authenticator app (TOTP) or security key (WebAuthn/FIDO2)
DNSSEC included with Gandi LiveDNS
DNS free LiveDNS (anycast)
Email 10,000 forwarding addresses included; mailboxes are paid
API REST API with expiring personal access tokens
Registry lock no published self-service offer

Price changes since 2023

Gandi joined Total Webhosting Solutions in early 2023, forming the group now called Your.Online. New prices took effect on 13 July 2023, and the free mailboxes that came with every domain stopped working on 30 November 2023. Forwarding stayed free. For a .com, the renewal is now more than three times the first-year price, so long-held domains cost noticeably more than at the registrars above.

Security

  • Security keys (WebAuthn, including YubiKey and Touch ID) or an authenticator app protect the account.
  • Privacy is on by default, though Gandi still shows region, country, an anonymised email address and, for individuals, sometimes the name.
  • DNSSEC is included with its LiveDNS service.
  • API tokens expire, which limits the damage from a leaked one.

Incident history

  • January 2020: a storage failure in Gandi's Luxembourg data centre permanently lost data for a few hundred hosting customers.
  • March 2025: a storage incident disrupted email and other services.

Neither affected domain ownership, but both are a reminder to keep backups and not to run email and domains through a single provider without a plan B.

Where it's still the right choice

Gandi covers several hundred TLDs, including many country codes that cheaper registrars don't sell, and it's based in the EU. If you need a portfolio across many countries in one place, that convenience can be worth the higher renewals.

Compared with the others

See the best domain registrar for security.

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