Where money is involved.
WHAT COSTS MONEY
Domain registration and renewal Premium DNS services, optionally Some registrars charge for DNS hosting
WHAT IS FREE
DNS hosting with your hosting account Cloudflare's free tier, which is genuinely capable Most registrars' basic DNS
WHAT PREMIUM DNS OFFERS
Faster global response Higher availability guarantees Advanced routing Better protection against attacks on DNS itself
WHETHER YOU NEED IT
Almost certainly not for a small business site.
The free options are reliable and fast enough.
WHERE MONEY IS BETTER SPENT
Domain renewal, kept current Backups Site performance
WHAT NOT TO PAY FOR
DNS features you cannot name a use for Anything claiming DNS affects search rankings, which it does not beyond availability and speed
THE ONE COST THAT MATTERS
Domain renewal. Losing a domain costs immeasurably more than renewing it.
Auto-renewal, a valid card, and a contact address you can reach.
