Domain

Actually, no, you will be just fine without paying for the domain. Well, as long as you are fine using the IP address of your website. For example, did you know that instead of typing www.google.com in your browser, you can type 216.58.209.46 and the browser will take you to the google.com website (here, try it: http://216.58.209.46)? Now, can you imagine telling your friends/customers/boss that they can access your website by simply typing those 10 difficult to remember digits in their browser? Don't worry, neither can I. That's why you should register a domain name. It will connect the IP address of your server to the domain name that can be typed in the browser.

A good domain name is something that is easy to remember and share with others. But finding a good domain that is still available is difficult.

There isn't much difference between different domain registrars (services that allow you to `buy` a domain), so basically your main criteria would be the price. Some companies will offer you additional services, like cheap hosting (which is usually some kind of Virtual Private Server, so you will be better off if you get a cloud hosting instead) or cheaper SSL certificates (although, you can get a free SSL certificate thanks to the amazing Let's encrypt project), bundles of domains (buy .com, get .org and .net cheaper), etc.

If you know beforehand for how long you will need the domain, you can often benefit from discounts: some companies will offer you a very cheap domain for the first year and some other might give you a discount when buying a domain for a couple of years in advance.

Apart from that, the main difference in the price will depend on which domain extension you choose (so called TLD or gTLD). .com will be more expensive than .info or .net, because .com is the most common domain extension. For some people, especially less tech-savvy, the .com domains are the Internet and they might be surprised if your domain name is NOT ending with .com. So make sure you know what you are doing when choosing a different name. On the other hand, a custom domain name might be a nice way to distinguish yourself - if you are building a website for pizzeria, then a .pizza domain might actually be a good idea.

When it comes to what type of domain you should choose - in 99% of cases you will be fine with .com. It's a standard for most websites and it will allow you to avoid any kind of confusion (people will pay more attention to the website's name, not the extension, when they try to remember it, so they might automatically assume that it ends with .com). However, in some cases getting a custom domain extension might help you to distinguish yourself from others: .pizza for a pizzeria or .museum for a museum can have a very good effect.

When it comes to which company you should choose - not always cheaper is better. Some companies will offer you a cheap first year but then next years will be quite expensive and moving your domain to a different company will be a hassle. If you want to validate an idea for a project, then it's fine to choose anything cheap like 1&1 IONOS. If your project is successful after a year, you probably can afford to pay more or move the domain. If it isn't - well then you probably don't need that domain anymore. If you know that you want to keep the domain for longer, I would use the Namecheap - they have good prices and very good reviews. Namesilo is a compromise between the other two companies - they are slightly cheaper than Namecheap, have better reviews than 1&1 IONOS, but their interface could be better.

Another popular solution is Google Domains. It's slightly more expensive than Namecheap or Namesilo, but if you are using other products from Google, it might be more convenient for you. Unfortunately, as of 25.10.2019, Google Domains is only available in 15 countries.