A lot of people misleadingly think Epik to be only a web development company.
And yes, you would not find too many forums discussing Epik details.
Epik, does this name sound familiar?
Chances are you must have bumped across this name while reviewing about web hosts or domain registrar or website builder.
So here I go.
I will un-shield few basic details about Epik before I get any further.
Epik is primarily a domain registrar which also provides other website development capabilities.
It was first started in 2009.
Epik also referred to as “Swiss Bank of Domains” is the largest domain name lease management provider across the globe.
It’s the bunch of services include domain registration, hosting, a domain marketplace, and web development services.
All of this makes it a one-stop shop for complete web presence.
So how good is Epik?
To answer this, I would just say that Epik has its own set of positives and negatives.
Interestingly Epik has a whole array of features which allows you to work around domain management and relevant services.
Let’s get into this in more details.
Overall: The Cons
One of the main eye-catching points is- Epik’s claim to provide domains forever.
So here Epik renews it year on year for you while there is a lump sum amount you pay during domain registration.
In most cases, users are never sure of how long they would use the domain.
As per the pricing, unless you intend to choose the same domain for over 15 years, the lifetime plan is not much benefit.
Another factor to be considered is their lack of discounts in case you chose a longer duration plan.
So basically, you choose a 1-year plan or a 10-year, you would have constant pricing with no discounts.
In most cases, domain registrars allow you to choose a .tm TLD only if you choose a 10-year plan.
Epik allows a 1-year plan as well. This is something that made me feel a bit skeptical and thinks if this has some hidden terms to it.
Well, let me admit, I didn’t find any hidden terms, though this is something that one should be careful about.
More around pricing, for instance, if you choose a .tm for 10 years in Epik, this is more expensive as compared to several other competitors.
So yeah, if budget is a constraint then a bit of comparison does help!!
Overall: The Pros
Now that I have accomplished the most difficult task of revealing the downsides in Epik, I am glad to start with the good stuff.
This, kind of makes me nervous since I do not know where do I start this from.
Well, that gives you the hint. There are a lot of goodies available in Epik.
To give you a preview, it is feature-rich, versatile and allows you to monetize.
That’s exciting, isn’t it?
Let me provide more details about each of this.
1. Domain Management:
Epik is an all in one place where you get all the services related to domain management.
Like most registrars, Epik provides a consolidated search option with advanced search capabilities. This makes your domain search less cumbersome.
What’s more, you can also place a backorder. You can choose from a list of top-level TLDs or gTLDs (generic TLDs).
The list of supported TLDs is exhaustive and it is unlikely that you may not find your suitable match. Each of these can be chosen for 1 year or up to 10 years.
Epik offers lifetime domains. In most cases, the domains can be also chosen for a lifetime which is great. You just don’t have to be bothered about renewing it.
Epik makes domain management easier. You can upload all your domain names in csv or excel format and Epik does the rest for you.
What’s more? Epik provides a free WHOIS service.
2. Additional Services:
While I have spoken about domain registration, let me tell you this is not the only thing Epik does. It provides a wide spectrum of services.
Epik provides shared web hosting. The basic plan starts at $9.99/month. This includes cPanel and a support to multiple programming languages.
Epik provides a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
The shared hosting is covered with analytics stats, e-commerce support, advanced programming module support, and several other useful features.
Apart from shared hosting, it also supports dedicated servers.
Along with these hosting, Epik also supports email hosting.
However, email hosting is not part of the plan and can be selected at separate pricing of $3.99/month, which provides up to 10 email accounts.
Well, there is more to this with their Site builder. Again, this is at a separate pricing and starts at $7.95/month.
The Site builder has a 30-day risk free trial, customizable drag and drop features along with extensive on-page SEO support.
So grossly Epik provides most of the popular hosting features that are provided by its competitors.
3. Marketplace:
A marketplace is one of the distinctive features available in Epik. Something that makes it more intuitive is the ability to allow customers to monetize on domains.
You can access their Marketplace portal for free. This allows to sell or lease domains.
To put this across in a more simplified way, Marketplace facilitates your domain trading. This is more simplified and you can also promote your brand with no middleman.
Using the Marketplace is not only simple but is also SEO friendly.
You can create your domain portfolio and get it indexed by popular search engines. This improves your ranking and hence the worth of your portfolio increases.
Exploring Epik’s Marketplace would be the right place to start with.
And yes, it also provides support for social media tools to promote your portfolio.
With your own brand, you can customize and choose a professional design which can have custom tabs, search options, and many more exciting features.
Here you can bargain domains and there are multiple innovative ways to trade domain. Also includes a domain Escrow.
While this seems to be a trading platform, Epik also ensures this is 100% secure and provides regular upgrades.
The upgrades are for security patches as well as more enhanced features.
4. Transfer:
A transfer is probably something that exists in all popular web hosting platforms and domain registrars.
So here is why Epik’s transfer needs a mention. You can bulk transfer domains to your portfolio.
All of this is managed within the Epik portal.
Epik also allows a seamless transfer to other registrars as well as allows you to check the transfer status.
5. Pricing:
You do end up having an advantage if you choose a lifetime domain. Here is where you would think Epik to be affordable.
Epik additional services like hosting are not the cheapest in the market.
However, are still competent pricing models.
Most of the domain relevant services are inclusive and domain management is simpler.
This is something where you do not have to end up spending additional money.
You can create your marketplace portfolio for free and that is what makes Epik a differentiator when it comes to domain trading.
6. Security:
Epik’s marketplace portfolios are made secure. You can use Anonymize.com with Epik to ensure domain privacy.
In case of Epik hosting, you have SSL which can be opted at a separate pricing.
The Epik transactions can be carried out using Epik escrow which ensures secure trading between buyers and sellers.
Epik provides its users with an option to enable 2 Factor Authentication for their account.
By default, this is not enabled, but can be enabled from the settings of the account.
7. Ease of Usage:
Starting to use Epik is straight forward. Most of the features are self-explanatory.
Its intuitive interface makes domain management simple even for first time users.
Once you log in to your account, all the features can be easily navigated.
It is unlikely that you would have to search for any feature.
Be its domain registration, search, domain management or marketplace, everything is just simplified to the core and you can start exploring from the very beginning.
Epik does provide a lot of versatile web development services, however at no point does this seem excruciatingly confusing.
8. Customer Support:
Epik does well when it comes to customer support. I just like the way they have a completely dedicated support center.
Here is a place where you can get every detail around their services as well as domain.
This does contain a lot of jargons explained in detail.
A perfect place to start before you try and explore their services.
There is more to this. You would also find a few video demos displaying the usage of its services.
They also supports with a live chat option, toll-free number, and email.
To explore this further I tried their live chat option.
The chat started immediately with a very negligible wait time.
The customer support representative was quick to provide relevant information.
Overall, Epik has a great customer support and is one of the key strengths of Epik.
Do I recommend Epik?
Now, this is a close call between what is your requirement and what do you expect.
Epik provides a plethora of domain registration services.
It’s informative and at the same time covers everything relevant to domains.
More beneficial if you are looking for a long-term plan.
Having said this, I would like to highlight that though Epik has other additional services, to choose it or not purely depends on your requirement.
In most cases, you would find alternate hosting services at more affordable pricing.
Finally, if you want to monetize on domains, then yes Epik is by and large the most suitable choice.
No doubts about it!!
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