---
title: Gandi
slug: gandi
url: "https://toolweight.com/options/gandi"
homepage: "https://www.gandi.net/en"
categories: domain-registrars, domain-api-providers
last_verified: 2026-07-23
license: CC-BY-4.0
---

# Gandi

> European registrar with huge TLD breadth and post-2023 premium pricing.

Gandi sells more TLDs than almost anyone and offers genuine registry lock on the extensions that support it, plus a mature API and a long-standing no-nonsense brand. That brand took real damage in 2023 when new ownership repriced the catalogue upward and removed the free mailbox bundled for two decades. It is now a specialist choice for coverage and control rather than a value one.

## Identity

|  |  |
| --- | --- |
| Name | Gandi |
| Company | Total Webhosting Solutions |
| One-liner | European registrar with huge TLD breadth and post-2023 premium pricing. |
| Site | https://www.gandi.net/en |
| Docs | https://api.gandi.net/docs/ |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Open source | No |
| Brand | https://toolweight.com/vendors/Gandi |
| Compared in | 2 |

## Where it is compared

### [Domain registrars](https://toolweight.com/compare/domain-registrars)
Ranked **#9 of 15** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Free WHOIS privacy | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-06-30 | https://www.gandi.net/en/domain | Included on TLDs where redaction is permitted. |
| DNSSEC | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-06-30 | https://docs.gandi.net/en/domain_names/advanced_users/dnssec.html | - |
| DNS hosting | anycast-global | Vendor-claimed | 2026-06-30 | https://docs.gandi.net/en/domain_names/domain_name_management/livedns.html | Gandi LiveDNS runs on an anycast network. |
| Email forwarding | ◐ | Community-reported | - | - | Forwarding remains, but the free mailboxes bundled for two decades were withdrawn in 2023. |
| Bulk management | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| TLDs offered | 750 TLDs | Inferred | - | - | Approximate; among the broadest catalogues in the category. |
| Public API | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Support quality | 2 | Community-reported | - | - | Ticket-based and slower since the ownership change; paid support tiers exist. |
| .com first year | $24 /yr | Inferred | - | - | Approximate, converted from EUR. |
| .com renewal | $24 /yr | Inferred | - | - | Approximate, converted from EUR; registration and renewal broadly match. |
| Renewal jump | $0 /yr | Inferred | - | - | - |
| At-cost pricing | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Fee transparency | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| .com.au renewal | - | Unknown | - | - | .au may be available through partners; price not confirmed. |
| Transfer-out friction | 2 | Community-reported | - | - | Code retrievable from the dashboard; the process is documented and unobstructed. |
| Auth code delivery | dashboard-plus-email | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Registry lock | ◐ | Vendor-claimed | 2026-06-30 | https://www.gandi.net/en/domain | Offered as a paid option on the TLDs whose registries support it. |
| 2FA methods | totp | Inferred | - | - | - |
| .au accredited | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| Account recovery | 3 | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Domains managed | 2.4 M | Inferred | - | - | Approximate, order-of-magnitude only. |
| Ownership | pe-owned | Inferred | - | - | Total Webhosting Solutions, backed by private capital since 2019. |
| Upsell aggression | 2 | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Ad parking | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Positioning | European breadth and control, at a price it did not used to charge. | Inferred | - | - | - |

**Verdict.** Still the right answer for obscure TLDs and for genuine registry lock, but the 2023 repricing and mailbox withdrawal ended its run as the ethical-value pick. Roughly double Porkbun for the same .com.

### [Domain APIs](https://toolweight.com/compare/domain-api-providers)
Ranked **#2 of 15** on default weights.
| Field | Value | Confidence | Verified | Source | Note |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Spend to first call | $0  up front | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-23 | https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/ | Personal access tokens are created free from the account; the sandbox uses a separate free account. |
| Sandbox / OTE | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-23 | https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/ | - |
| Reseller contract | ○ | Inferred | - | - | A separate reseller tier exists with better pricing, but the standard API is open. |
| Min prepaid balance | $0  float | Inferred | - | - | - |
| ICANN accredited | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| API auth | bearer-token | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-23 | https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/ | Personal access tokens with scoped permissions replaced the older API keys. |
| TLDs offered | 750  TLDs | Inferred | - | - | - |
| .au support | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | AU extensions appear in the catalogue, but eligibility handling in the API is not clearly documented. |
| Register endpoint | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Bulk availability | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | Availability takes one name and expands it across extensions rather than accepting a list. |
| Suggestion API | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Transfer in/out | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| DNS record API | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-23 | https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/ | LiveDNS supports per-record CRUD and zone snapshots. |
| EPP code via API | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Auto-renew control | ● | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Webhooks / events | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Contact model | reusable-handles | Inferred | - | - | Organisation and contact objects can be reused across domains via sharing IDs. |
| Privacy via API | free-and-default | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Rate limit | - | Unknown | - | - | - |
| Pricing basis | retail | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Renewal price in API | ● | Vendor-claimed | 2026-07-23 | https://api.gandi.net/docs/domains/ | The billing price endpoint quotes per process, so renewal is separable from creation. |
| .com renewal | $24 /yr | Inferred | - | - | Approximate, and among the highest here after the 2023 restructuring. |
| MCP server | ○ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Machine-readable spec | ◐ | Inferred | - | - | - |
| API since | 2007 | Inferred | - | - | - |
| Positioning | European registrar with a genuinely modern REST API and premium pricing to match. | Inferred | - | - | - |

**Verdict.** The nicest REST surface of the European registrars, scoped tokens, a real sandbox, LiveDNS, separable renewal pricing. The 2023 price rises under new ownership put .com renewals near the top of this table, which undoes a lot of that goodwill at volume.

## Alternatives

- [Dynadot](https://toolweight.com/options/dynadot), Domainer-oriented registrar with strong bulk tools and a built-in marketplace.
- [GoDaddy](https://toolweight.com/options/godaddy), The default registrar for people who have never compared registrars.
- [Namecheap](https://toolweight.com/options/namecheap), The mainstream cheap registrar: heavy first-year discounts, higher renewals.
- [NameSilo](https://toolweight.com/options/namesilo), Flat renewals, free privacy and portfolio tooling for people holding hundreds.
- [Netim](https://toolweight.com/options/netim), French registrar with unusually deep ccTLD coverage and corporate controls.
- [Porkbun](https://toolweight.com/options/porkbun), Near-cost pricing with free privacy, SSL and forwarding, and a clean exit.
- [Synergy Wholesale](https://toolweight.com/options/synergy-wholesale), Australian wholesale registrar, near-cost .au if you can open an account.
- [Cloudflare Registrar](https://toolweight.com/options/cloudflare-registrar), At-cost registration bolted to Cloudflare DNS, no markup, ever.
- [Crazy Domains](https://toolweight.com/options/crazy-domains), Australian bait pricing: single-digit first year, then several times that.
- [Direct EPP (own accreditation)](https://toolweight.com/options/direct-epp), Become the registrar: ICANN accreditation plus an EPP client per registry
- [Hexonet](https://toolweight.com/options/hexonet), Wholesale platform with 1,000+ TLDs, bulk checks and a free OT&E on signup
- [Hover](https://toolweight.com/options/hover), Expensive, calm and upsell-free, with the best phone support in the category.

## Licence and attribution

Data from toolweight (https://toolweight.com), licensed CC-BY-4.0.

- Licence: [CC-BY-4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)
- Canonical HTML: https://toolweight.com/options/gandi
- Machine-readable: https://toolweight.com/options/gandi.md · https://toolweight.com/api/v1 · https://toolweight.com/mcp
- toolweight takes no affiliate revenue and sells no placements. Corrections: https://toolweight.com/suggest