There is "free" and their are some other reasonable alternatives:
- Beware of Free
Many "free" domain registrations come with strings attached, especially the ones where you do not actually control your domain. See below for comments.
- Loss Leader Deals
Some people take advantage of "loss leader" deals, where you transfer your domain to another registrar way below actual cost. Transfer offers for $1 are common . Those companies make their money at renewal time, which can be expensive if you do not pay attention. Some people hop between domain registrars, taking advantage of a different registrar's lowball offer each year. That is too much time and effort for me for a marginal savings. My feeling is that people who keep it up will eventually run into problems with that scheme.
- Low Cost Top Level Domains
Some top level domains are cheap compared with the well-known ".com", ".org", and ".net". Do your own searches and shopping, but I have seen domain registrations for some lesser-known top level domains priced under $5 a year. (Personal note: If you can't afford the difference between $5 a year vs. free for domain registrations, you have much larger issues.)
- Cloudflare
Cloudflare offers domain registrations and renewals at their cost. There are several restrictions. See below for the specifics.
- FreeDNS
FreeDNS offers free subdomains. See below for specifics.
About "Free" Domain Registrations:
Beware of free domain offers. Read the fine print in all of the agreements and terms. Many free offers are set up so that you do not own or have full control over "your" domain. The provider holds "your" domain hostage, coupled to the provider's paid services. It is not really "yours", it is "theirs, on your behalf." The domain is free as long as you are paying for their other services. If you want to move to a different service provider, that is when you find out that you do not own the domain, and gaining control of it may be problematic. Before you sign up, be sure you know who has control, how to transfer it out, and look for stories and reviews by others about their experiences. Look for problems, issues, or maybe, successes.
Cloudflare:
If you are shopping for price, Cloudflare offers domain registrations and renewals at their cost. They have committed to that policy forever. There are strings attached:
- You must use Cloudflare's DNS servers as the authoritative DNS for your domains. (Customers with expensive Cloudflare paid services may use their own DNS, but not typical free customers.)
- Registrations are private only. (Customers with expensive paid services may have a public registration if they so desire.)
- Domains may not be transferred between separate Cloudflare accounts.
Note: Some people object to Cloudflare for various reasons, such as their corporate policies or prior actions. I do not. Beyond that, I will not engage in further discussion on that topic.
Before I transferred my domains to Cloudflare, I was unhappy with one domain registrar. Another domain registrar was good, but expensive. I prefer to keep my domain registration and DNS on separate servers, but was willing to compromise on that for the better price. Since I switched to Cloudflare, there have been no issues. I use Cloudflare only for domain registrations and renewals, nothing else. They offer other hosting-related services, many of them free for basic users.
FreeDNS:
FreeDNS offers free subdomains and give you seven top level domains to choose from. They are all a little "weird" to me, but it doesn't really matter. You choose your own subdomain (e.g., "
EXAMPLE.mooo.com"). To keep your free subdomain, you must login to your FreeDNS account periodically - once every few months. They send an email reminder when it is time to connect to keep your account active. I can personally vouch for the owner, and FreeDNS has been around for a long time.
https://freedns.afraid.org
I have been using their "mooo.com" domain for dynamic DNS back to my home network. Like most residential ISP services, our home network has a dynamic public IP address.
General Comment:
The most important thing for me is retaining control of my domains. Others want them. Some have tried to steal them. Once in a while I get a nasty message from someone, abusing me for how they perceive that I use my domains. They believe I am wasting their potential or squatting the domains. Neither is true. They do not have a clue about how I use my domains, but they want to exploit the domains for themselves.
