Quick answer
What is the difference between a nominee and WHOIS privacy?
Nominee vs WHOIS privacy comes down to one field: the registrant. With WHOIS privacy you stay the registrant and only the public record is masked. With a nominee, a company holds the domain for you. NomineeName uses DomaineGoat LLC as nominee on every domain, as of 19 October 2026, with a .com at $12.99/year, paid in crypto.
The four models in one line each
| WHOIS privacy | You are the registrant; the public record shows redacted fields or a privacy contact |
|---|---|
| Proxy service (ICANN sense) | The provider is the registrant and licenses the domain to you |
| Nominee registration | A company is the registrant of record; you are the beneficial owner by contract |
| Trustee / local presence | A provider lends a local address so you meet a residence rule |
| NomineeName model | Nominee, on every domain, included in the price |
| Facts about other services | From their public pages, checked 19 October 2026 |
What do privacy, proxy, nominee and trustee mean?
- WHOIS privacy (privacy service)
You are the Registered Name Holder. The public WHOIS or RDAP record shows a substitute contact or redacted fields. The registrar still holds your real details, and so does the registry when it keeps contact data (not the thin .com and .net registries).
- Proxy service
In ICANN's Specification on Privacy and Proxy Registrations, the provider is the Registered Name Holder and licenses use of the domain to its customer. Retail brands do not always follow this vocabulary.
- Nominee registration
A company is the registrant of record and holds the domain for a customer, who is the beneficial owner under a written agreement. It is a proxy in ICANN's sense, sold as the default rather than an option.
- Trustee or local presence service
A provider supplies a local address or contact so a non-resident can meet a registry's residence rule. It answers an eligibility problem, not a privacy one.
Who appears in WHOIS, and what does each service say about the holder?
Names you often see in WHOIS and RDAP records, with what each provider's own page says. Only published facts are listed. The full table is in the registrant-of-record index.
| Name shown in WHOIS | Registrar | Entity country | What it is, per its page | Price per its page |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NomineeName (DomaineGoat LLC) | Our ICANN-accredited registrar partner, shown in RDAP | Panama | Nominee: the company is registrant of record on every domain; the customer is beneficial owner | Included in the domain price |
| Domains By Proxy, LLC | GoDaddy | United States | Its partner's details replace the customer's in WHOIS; GoDaddy's help page says the domain stays the customer's | Free, per GoDaddy |
| Withheld for Privacy ehf | Namecheap | Iceland | Privacy service that replaced WhoisGuard on 17 March 2021; customer data stays with Namecheap | Free, per Namecheap |
| PrivacyGuardian.org llc | NameSilo | United States | Privacy service with a unique email address per domain and a relay form | Free, per NameSilo |
| Contact Privacy Inc. | Tucows / OpenSRS / Hover | Canada | Private registration service; discloses on subpoena or warrant from listed countries | Free, per Tucows |
| Private by Design, LLC | Porkbun | United States | Published as registrant in public WHOIS; not offered on .us, .de, .uk, .ca or .au | Free, per Porkbun |
Facts checked on ; each competitor price carries its own date
Competitor details come from the pages listed under Sources, as of 19 October 2026, and may have changed since.
Who is responsible for the domain in each model?
The registrant is. With WHOIS privacy, that is you, so legal letters and disputes aim at you once your identity is revealed. With a nominee or proxy, it is the provider.
ICANN's 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement makes this explicit in section 3.7.7.3. A holder who licenses a domain to someone else stays the Registered Name Holder. How NomineeName handles that duty is set out on beneficial ownership.
When is free WHOIS privacy enough?
When the public record is your only concern. Free privacy suits you if:
- the domain is a gTLD such as .com or .net, where personal data is redacted anyway;
- you are fine with your registrar holding your name, address and phone;
- you want to be the legal holder yourself, with nothing in between.
In that case, a mainstream registrar with free privacy does the job. A nominee adds a layer you may not need.
When does a nominee make more sense than privacy?
When your details should not reach the registrar or the registry at all. Typical reasons:
- ccTLDs with address rules: .de, .uk, .ch or .nl registries file a postal address, and many registrars do not sell privacy there. Porkbun's page, for one, lists .de and .uk among the extensions without its privacy service.
- Requests for data: a request reaches the registrant. With a nominee, that is a company with a published disclosure policy.
- A portfolio or a project before launch: one company name on every record.
NomineeName is a nominee domain registration service from Panama: every domain is registered in the name of DomaineGoat LLC by default, so the registration record and WHOIS show the company, never you — no ID, no KYC, paid in crypto.
What changes in a UDRP trademark dispute?
The complaint names the registrant. Under a privacy service, the provider usually confirms the underlying customer to the dispute provider, and the case goes on in the customer's name.
Under a nominee, the registrant is our company, and the provider receives the company's details. We tell you the same business day the dispute provider contacts us, and you can defend the case. Be aware that panels often name both the service and the beneficial owner in the published decision. Details: UDRP and nominee domains.
What does a trustee service do that a nominee does not?
A trustee solves eligibility. Some registries, such as .eu or .fr, accept only holders with an EU or EEA tie. A trustee lends a local address so a foreign customer can register. You often remain the holder on paper.
A nominee solves visibility: the holder changes. We do not sell trustee services, and our company is not eligible for those registries. That is why .eu, .fr, .it and .ca are on extensions we cannot hold.
Privacy vs nominee: questions
Is Domains By Proxy a nominee service?
Domains By Proxy, LLC puts its details in WHOIS for GoDaddy customers. GoDaddy's help page, checked 19 October 2026, says the domain remains the customer's. By that description, the customer keeps the title, as with a privacy service. Check their current terms for the exact wording.
Is Withheld for Privacy the registrant of my Namecheap domain?
Namecheap describes Withheld for Privacy ehf, based in Iceland, as its privacy service since 17 March 2021. Its page says the service does not receive the customer's data, which stays with Namecheap. The customer remains the holder.
Which model hides me best from the registry?
A nominee or proxy, because the registrant record holds the provider's details. WHOIS privacy only changes what the public sees. With NomineeName, the registrant record names DomaineGoat LLC on all 129 extensions we sell; registries that keep contact data file the company, and the thin .com and .net registries file no contact data at all.
Does a nominee cost more than WHOIS privacy?
Not here. Many registrars give privacy away, and NomineeName includes the nominee registration in each price: a .com is $12.99/year. Only the optional Domain protection costs extra, at $29 per year per domain.
Is Njalla a nominee service?
Njalla is often cited as an example of a provider that holds domains for its customers. Our side-by-side review, with dated sources on who holds the domain, is on the Njalla alternative page.
Sources (6)
- What is domain privacy? godaddy.com/help/what-is-domain-privacy-41145 — GoDaddy (checked 2026-10-19)
- Domain privacy is changing at Namecheap namecheap.com/blog/domain-privacy-is-changing-at-namecheap — Namecheap (checked 2026-10-19)
- WHOIS Privacy namesilo.com/Support/WHOIS-Privacy — NameSilo (checked 2026-10-19)
- WHOIS use and information tucowsdomains.com/help/whois-use-and-information — Tucows Domains (checked 2026-10-19)
- WHOIS Privacy porkbun.com/products/whois_privacy — Porkbun (checked 2026-10-19)
- 2013 Registrar Accreditation Agreement and Specification on Privacy and Proxy Registrations — ICANN (checked 2026-10-19)
Choose the model where the registry sees a company
Nominee registration on every domain, at the grid price.