this post was submitted on 14 Jul 2024
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PSA: GoDaddy gated their own API. DDNS users warned (loudwhisper.me)
submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/selfhosted
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GoDaddy really lived up to its bad reputation and recently changed their API rules. The rules are simple: either you own 10 (or 50) domains, you pay $20/month, or you don't get the API. I personally didn't get any communication, and this broke my DDNS setup. I am clearly not the only one judging from what I found online. A company this big gating an API behind such a steep price... So I will repeat what many people said before me (being right): don't. use. GoDaddy.

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[–] [email protected] 36 points 5 months ago (2 children)

NameCheap

WOW! I did not know that. I just checked and after a little search:

We have certain requirements for activation to prevent system abuse. In order to have API enabled, your account should meet one of the following requirements:

- have at least 20 domains under your account;
- have at least $50 on your account balance;
- have at least $50 spent within the last 2 years

$50 in last 2 years is not much, but for those who renew for many years, it is still stupid.

Ironically, Namecheap is what the people in https://github.com/navilg/godaddy-ddns/issues/32 migrated to!

I really wish that domain registration was done in a different way, but even in current scenario, gutting features for such a basic service to extract a few bucks and risking losing customers...?

[–] [email protected] 9 points 5 months ago (1 children)

These are ancient holdovers. Nowadays DNS hosting with API is a dime a dozen. You may have to pay for it occasionally but it's not going to be even close to $20/mo.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 5 months ago (1 children)

$20/month for a service that anyway is low traffic (especially for hobbyists) is a completely insane price. Even more insane is that their cheapest subscription still doesn't offer any API access. I agree anyway, but are these staying in business just because they have a consolidated market share? Do they have access to more TLDs? I don't know, I am genuinely confused. I have absolutely no reason whatsoever to even think of using GoDaddy again.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I like the way Bunny.net does paid DNS, 20M monthly queries for $1 and $0.1/M after that. With an API included, ofc. Now that's the kind of pricing I can get into as a self-hoster, not $20/mo.

GoDaddy advertises a lot, basically. So whenever a person who's never owned a domain before searches for "get a new domain" they're gonna get GoDaddy, NameCheap and (ironically) Google Domains as the top results. That's pretty much all there is to it.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

Yep, I like bunny in fact. It didn't have all the features I needed back then, but it's a very good product, I heard very good things.

I also agree about the pricing. I ended up not using desec.io, but if I did, I would have probably set a 1-2 Euros recurring donation, as I feel that's a totally acceptable price.

As for why people use GoDaddy well... I feel personally attacked as that's exactly how I ended up there, when I didn't know better.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 5 months ago (2 children)

That can't be right. I only had two domains (one now) and I've been using the API just fine. And basically any purchase will clear those dollar amounts.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 5 months ago

I found it on their FAQ.

Yes, it is generally less restrictive, but... I have 4 domains, and now I have renewed all of them for the maximum amount. They will all expire after 2033. So unless I decide to add more domains (which is unlikely), I won't spend a cent in the next ~9 years. I wonder if they really enforce it as it is written or they consider still the renewal an expense "split" over the duration.

Still, I really don't understand. You can - and should - have proper rate limits on the API. You have API keys that uniquely identify the source, what is "the abuse" they are trying to prevent this way...?

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (2 children)

Doesn’t their API also require you to allow-list IPs, making it basically useless for dynamic DNS?

From https://www.namecheap.com/support/api/intro/ under “Whitelisting IP.”

[–] [email protected] 2 points 5 months ago

That's a very interesting gotcha. They don't seem to support address ranges either. Unless once you add the whitelist the requests still work from any address (their documentation is ambiguous). This is even more confusing.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 months ago

Not sure. Personally I only use it for Let's Encrypt DNS challenges.