This tutorial explains how to get a Free Domain Name and explores the best free Domain Name Providers with comparison and steps to get a free domain name:
The first thing to be made clear is, ‘What is a domain name?’
A domain name is a substitute for your IP address.
An IP address, which is a combination of numbers, is the address of your website and can be used to browse your website online. But the problem with the IP addresses is that they are not so easy to remember for normal human beings.
For example, remembering 69.63.184.142 or 69.63.181.11 is much more difficult and troublesome than remembering www.facebook.com. Facebook is the domain name assigned for a specific IP address.
A domain name is thus the address of a website. It should be such that it represents the idea of your business. For example, www.pearlsandpetals.com is a website for the online booking of flowers for your loved ones.
Table of Contents:
How To Get A Free Domain Name
In order to get a domain name for your website, usually you need to pay some fees. But here we will let you know about some tricks on how to get a free domain name.
These are as follows:
#1) Some Web hosting service providers like Bluehost, iPage, IONOS, etc offer you domain name free for a year, with each hosting plan. So instead of directly buying domain names from these service providers, opt for subscribing for the hosting plan that suits you and thus get a domain absolutely free.
#2) Wix lets you have a free sub-domain, which functions just like other domains. The only difference is that your domain name will be a subdomain of an existing domain. For example, if you get a free domain name from Wix, your web address would be in this form:
yourusername.wixsite.com/yoursiteaddress
So if your username is, say, Love To Dress, and the domain name is, Apparels4everyone, then your site address will be as follows:
#3) Some sites provide free domain names for a year with their Premium Website Building plans. So if you want a domain name and a website builder at the same time, go for the one which offers you a free domain with website building.
#4) You can get an absolutely free domain name from some Domain Registrars, who impose ads on your website in exchange for the free domain that they offer. This is not always a good idea because the ads being put on your website may not be appropriate for your visitors.
#5) Some web service providers like Freenom offer free ccTLD services in which they offer you domains with extensions like .tk, .ml, .ga, which refer to different country codes. Such free website domain providers earn money through ads that they put on your website.
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In this article, we will enlist the best free domain name providers, compare them on the basis of several grounds, give you tips on how to choose the best one for your dream website, and do a thorough study on them so that you can choose the best one to opt for.
Fact Check: According to Verisign, as of Dec 31, 2020, .com is the most common domain extension in the total number of reported domain names.
List of the Best Free Domain Name Providers
Here is the list of popular and free website domain hosting companies:
- Nexcess
- Ultahost
- Squarespace Domains
- MilesWeb
- Fozzy
- iPage
- Name.com
- Hostinger
- IONOS
- Google Domains
- Freenom
- Only Domains
- Wix
- Bluehost
- Domain.com
Comparing Top 5 Free Domain Name Websites
| Tool name | Best for | Benefits | Price | Free domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nexcess | No surge in price after first year of domain registration | Easy set-up, WHOIS Privacy, excellent support | .Com: $15/year .Net: $20/year .ORG: $16/year | Free with the hosting plan |
| Ultahost | Quick domain registration | •Instant set-up •24/7 support •Affordable prices | .COM: $13, .ORG: $15.50, .NET: $16 | Free with hosting plan |
| Squarespace Domains | Easy registration and included benefits | Domain Forwarding, Email Forwarding, Bulk Email Management | .Com: $12/year .ORG: $12/year .NET: $14/year. | First domain free with your Squarespace website subscription. |
| MilesWeb | Finding an appropriate domain name | Affordable rates, 24/7 support, Transfer domain name when switching hosting provider | .Com: $13.5 .Net: $17 .ORG: $17 | Free with hosting plan. |
| Fozzy | Different Web Hosting Services | DDoS Protection, Free domain name testing | .com: $11.5 annual fee. .org: $12.7 in annual fee | No (Only free name testing) |
| iPage | Free features with affordable web hosting plans | •Free domain and much more with each hosting plan. •Hosting at nominal prices. | Domain is free with each plan, which start at $1.99 per month | Offers free domain with paid hosting |
| Name.com | Resellers or bulk buyers | •Affordable prices. •Free SSL certificate and WHOIS privacy. | com: $9.99/year .in: $7.99/year | Free domain with yearly hosting plans |
| Hostinger | Domain privacy and affordable prices | •Wide variety of features. •Relatively lower prices. | .com: $8.99/year .live: $3.50/year | Free domain with hosting plans |
| IONOS | Free domain with the hosting plans | •Wide range of features. •Affordable hosting plans with free domain. | .com, .net, .org available at $1 for the first year | Free domain for a year with each hosting plan |
| Google Domains | Authenticity and reliability | •24/7 support. •Email forwarding, 2 step verification, privacy protection included with the domain. | Start at $9 per year | No(Free hosting for 90 days) |
Free website domain name providers review:
#1) Nexcess
Best for No surge in price after first year of domain registration
Nexcess offers you an easy-to-use online domain registrar where you can easily search for your ideal domain name and purchase it at an affordable price. Each domain name comes with assured WHOIS privacy to secure your site from hackers and similar harmful entities online. You can also count on Nexcess’s team to register and configure the domain at your behest.
Features:
- WHOIS Privacy
- Intuitive Search text-box
- Hosting service offered
- Infrastructure firewall protection
Verdict: Nexcess offers you a great platform to not only find the ideal domain name for your site but also bolster it with an excellent hosting service. It earns a spot on this list for its stable price, which remains the same even after the first year has expired.
Price:
- .ORG – $16/year
- .Com – $15/year
- .Net – $20/year
#2) Ultahost
Best for Quick domain registration
Ultahost is a platform you can use to find your website a suitable domain name. The platform offers you .ORG, .NET, .COM and several other domain names at a very reasonable rate. The registration and verification for a domain name on this platform takes no more than 3 minutes. You can get the domain name for free if you are subscribed to Ultahost’s hosting plans.
Features:
- Instant Set-up
- Free SSL Certificates
- Free with hosting plan
- 24/7 set-up
Verdict: If you want to find you website a suitable domain name at reasonable prices, then Ultahost is the platform for you. The registration and verification is over within 3 minutes and you are offered round-the-clock support.
Price:
- .COM: $13
- .ORG: $15.50
- .NET: $16
#3) Squarespace Domains
Best for Easy registration and included benefits
Squarespace sets itself apart from other domain registrars online by offering added benefits with a domain purchase. With the purchase of each domain, you are guaranteed WHOIS privacy and a free SSL/TLS certificate that automatically updates itself. You can rely on Squarespace’s dashboard to manage multiple domain names at once.
Features:
- Domain Forwarding
- Email Forwarding
- Bulk Email Management
- Two Factor Authentication
Verdict: If you want to buy a domain name from an ICANN-accredited registrar online, then Squarespace is your best option. It is easy to use, secure, and suggests domain names that can purchased for an affordable price.
Price:
- .Com: $12/year
- .ORG: $12/year
- .NET: $14/year.
#4) MilesWeb
Best for Finding an appropriate domain name.
MilesWeb is a web hosting platform that you can use to find the right domain name for your business or website. MilesWeb presents you with a wide range of domain extensions to choose from, all of which are available at affordable rates. These domains are free with a hosting plan from MilesWeb.
Features:
- Intuitive search bar to find domain name
- Transfer existing domain name
- 24/7 customer support
- Domain name available for free with hosting plan
Verdict: MilesWeb makes it considerably simple to find a domain name that is appropriate for you. There are a plethora of domain extensions for you to choose from at very affordable rates.
Price: Price for domains are as follows:
- .Com: $13.5
- .Net: $17
- .ORG: $17
#5) Fozzy
Best for Different Web Hosting Services.
Fozzy is a platform you can use to test new domain names, register one, and transfer your existing domain name as well. The process is very simple and you’ll be able to get all sorts of domain name in .com, .org, .net, etc. at a very reasonable annual fee.
Features:
- Anti-DDoS Service
- Quick Domain Registration
- Shared, WordPress, and Windows Hosting
- Dedicated Server
How to Get a Free Domain with Fozzy:
- Test your Domain Name
- Choose your Domain Type
- Select any add-on service you like
- Add billing information
- Check out
Verdict: If you are looking for quick domain registration along with other key features that come with building a website or online store, then Fozzy is perhaps for you.
Price:
- .Com – $11.5 annual fee.
- .ORG – $12.7 in annual fee
#6) iPage
Best for free features with affordable web hosting plans.
iPage is a free Domain registration platform on which you can get your desired domain name free with the hosting plans that they offer. iPage offers you SSL certification, 24/7 support, guarantees 99.9% uptime, and much more.
Features:
- Free domain for one year. With each hosting plan, web hosting is necessary for your site to show up on the Internet.
- iPage website builder lets you create your dream website.
- The web hosting plan also offers you free professional email, website builder, and more.
- WordPress hosting that offers SSL certification, unlimited database, bandwidth, and much more.
How to get a free domain name with iPage:
- Choose the web hosting plan according to your need (each plan provides a free domain for a year)
- Choose a domain
- Select add-on services if required
- Provide billing information
- Check out
Verdict: This free website domain provider is affordable and provides features suitable for a scalable business. The users complain about the servers being slow. Customer service is reported to be nice.
Price:
- Web hosting plans start at $1.99 per month (Domain registration is free for one year with the plan)
- Dedicated hosting plans start at $151.99 per month (One-year free Domain)
#7) Name.com
Best for providing free domains with hosting plans, and other discounts are given from time to time.
Name.com is a service provider for the free domain name and host facility for your website. You can get free domain names with hosting plans if you are a new user. They offer several discounts so that you can buy domains at relatively cheaper prices.
Features:
- SSL certification, WHOIS privacy for maintaining privacy and security of your personal information.
- Lets you transfer your domains to Name.com and give you free domain renewal, SSL certificate, and WHOIS privacy with it.
- Web hosting, WordPress hosting, Cloud hosting plans, that offer free domains for new users
- You can build your website with the help of templates created by the Domain provider.
- Get a professional email for your business
How to get a free domain with Name.com:
- Select a hosting plan
- Select a domain
- Select add-on features
- Create your account
- Give billing information
- Check out
*They also offer several promo codes and physical gift cards at their events and conferences, which can be used to get a discount or even a free domain name.
Verdict: The users of the Domain service provider claim that the customer service they experienced is not very nice but the domains can be bought at affordable prices which is a plus point.
Price: Prices for the most popular domain extensions are as follows:
| Domains | Price per year (For new registration) |
| .com | $9.99 |
| .in | $7.99 |
| .org | $9.99 |
#8) Hostinger
Best for domain privacy and affordable prices.
Hostinger provides web services including website hosting, domain registration, website building tools, professional email, and building online stores. You can get a free domain name for one year with an annual Premium or Business web hosting plan.
Features:
- You can buy a domain name or transfer your domain to Hostinger.
- Protects your personal information from spammers who want to get access to your information through WHOIS.
- Web hosting services, online store, professional email, and website building tools for your online business.
- cPanel hosting to make your experience easy and speedy.
How to get a free domain with Hostinger:
- Select a yearly Premium or Business web hosting plan
- Create your account
- Pay your bill
- Select your desired domain name
Verdict: Hostinger is no doubt one of the best free domain name providers in the industry. The users applaud the wide variety of features offered. The prices are also relatively cheaper than other hosts. The only drawback is a lack of a 24/7 customer support system.
Price: Prices for the most popular domain extensions are as follows:
| Domains | Prices per year |
|---|---|
| .com | $8.99 |
| .xyz | $0.99 |
| .live | $3.50 |
#9) IONOS
Best for free domain with the hosting plans.
IONOS offers you free domain name registration with its hosting plans, gives SSL certificates, professional email accounts with your domain name, and guarantees 99.9% uptime.
Features:
- Free domain registration with each hosting plan. Lets you buy single domains or in bulk.
- Hosting plans that offer up to unlimited storage and databases.
- SEO tools and Google Ads management service, to make your business grow.
- Lets you build your website and online store with the help of templates.
How to get a free domain with IONOS:
- Select your required hosting/website building/email plan (each offers a free domain for a year)
- Select your desired domain name
- Select add-on services
- Create an account and check out
Verdict: IONOS is a highly recommended hosting services provider with almost all the features needed for an online business. The customer service and prices are the reason that IONOS is one of the best free domain name providers.
Price:
- .com, .net, .org available at $1 for the first year.
- Transfer your domain without any fees
#10) Google Domains
Best for authenticity and reliability.
Google is perhaps the name that is known to everyone. Google Domains is a Domain name provider, which offers you more than 300 Domain endings at reasonable prices and website building tools for free. You also get features for email forwarding, domain transfer, and growing your business through online ads.
Features:
- Lets you choose from alternatives if your first choice for your domain name is not available.
- More than 300 domain endings to choose from, so that you can get a stylish domain name.
- Professional email addresses, more than 100 email aliases, come free with your domain.
- Additional features including website building tools, professional emails, and online ads to grow your business with Google.
Verdict: With Google domains come other features handy, like G-suite, Google Docs, professional email, etc. They offer you free privacy protection and more. Google domains is highly recommended by its users.
Price: Prices for the most popular Domains are as follows:
| Domain | Price per year |
| .com | $12 |
| .net | $12 |
| .org | $12 |
#11) Freenom
Best for free domains.
Freenom is a free domain name provider that lets you register your desired domain name for free. The platform can be used for reselling purposes, WHOIS lookup, and more.
Features:
- Provides absolutely free domain names based on availability.
- Some domain names (Common dictionary words) are considered as ‘Special’ thus are not available for free.
- You do not have the rights to transfer the free domains but can transfer the domains that you have purchased.
- Lets you set up a reseller account and start your reselling business.
- Freenom World: It ensures safer and faster DNS lookup.
How to get a free domain with Freenom
- Go to REGISTER A NEW DOMAIN
- Select a domain name with a .tk/ .ml/ .ga/ .cf/ .gq domain extension. These are regional domain extensions and are available for free.
- Verify your email and check out.
Verdict: The users of Freenom complain about issues with the free domains. They claim that as soon as your website becomes famous and grabs more traffic, the service provider instantly snatches your domain from you and charges you money to buy it again. That’s a really big issue if you want to have a website for your business.
It has also been reported that the paid domains do not have such issues and are available at affordable prices.
Price: Prices for the most popular Domain extensions are as follows:
| Domains | Prices per year |
|---|---|
| .com | $8.38 |
| .net | $6.71 |
| .org | $9.58 |
#12) Only Domains
Best for website security and website building tools.
Only Domains is a domain name provider, who lets you register, transfer or renew domains, build your website on your own, provides website security through SSL certification, professional email, and much more.
Features:
- Lets you register, transfer, renew domains. You can choose the perfect domain for your website from the Only Domains marketplace.
- WordPress hosting which is suitable for building a website for blogs, online store, etc.
- Website builder lets you build your own website, even through your mobile or tablet.
- SSL certification and free WHOIS lookup.
Verdict: The customer support services are reported to be very bad sometimes. The affordable prices are a plus point.
Price: Prices for the most popular Domain extensions are as follows:
| Domains | Price per year |
|---|---|
| .com | $8.99 |
| .ac | $49.99 |
| .co | $29.99 |
#13) Wix
Best for being an all-in-one solution for your online business.
Wix is an all-in-one solution for your business to grow online. This platform offers you free domain names, professional email accounts, website-building tools, and much more.
Features:
- Free domain name for a year, with your Yearly Premium Hosting plans.
- Free web hosting with Website Builder.
- Offers you customized professional email accounts using your domain name, lets you design your own logo, and provides a personalized SEO plan to increase visitors to your website.
- Generates names for your business on the basis of certain information that you give about your business. You can thus choose a name from the suggestions and get the domain name.
Verdict: The users appreciate the website-building tools offered by Wix. The cheaper prices are also a plus point, and make Wix a highly recommended platform for online businesses.
How to get a free domain with Wix
- Search for your desired domain name
- Select “Create a website and get a free domain”
- Create your website
- Get your domain
- Choose a plan
- Complete your purchase and check out.
You can also get a sub-domain with Wix by following these steps:
- On the website of Wix, select “Start Now”, under the heading- Create a Website.
- Select “Get Started” and sign up
- Create a new site by giving information about your business or the purpose of your site and the name of your business
- Your website gets created in this form:-
yourusername.wixsite.com/yoursiteaddress
You can link this site to your domain name whenever you want.
Price:
- Web hosting plans start from $14 per month, each plan provides a free domain for a year.
- Domains’ prices start from $12 per year.
#14) Bluehost
Best for website building tools.
Bluehost is one of the best domain name providers in the industry, which is loaded with features that you require for your business of any size. The features offered by Bluehost include web hosting, domain registration to the professional email account, and website building tools.
Features:
- Bluehost offers scalable features, marketing tools for your website.
- Web hosting features with 24/7 customer service, free SSL certificate, malware detection, and much more.
- Domain is free for one year with each hosting plan.
- WooCommerce hosting, which lets you create and sell on your own online store.
How to get a free domain with Bluehost:
- Select the hosting plan that suits you (Each plan offers a free domain for 1 year)
- Find your desired domain name
- Create account
- Select add-on services
- Check out
Verdict: 24/7 customer service, free SSL certificate, a wide variety of features, malware detection are some positive points that make Bluehost a highly recommended Domain name provider.
Price: Prices for the most popular domain extensions are as follows:
| Domains | Price (Per year) |
|---|---|
| .com | $12.99 |
| .net | $14.99 |
| .org | $9.99 |
#15) Domain.com
Best for speed and fancy domain extensions.
Domain.com is a domain name registrar which lets you choose the perfect domain name and extension for your business website. Other features offered by Domain.com include Web hosting services, website building tools, etc.
Features:
- Easy to use website building tools.
- Search for a domain name that perfectly suits your business.
- WHOIS lookup and professional email account.
- Scans your site for any malware and monitors the blacklisting of your website.
- SSL certification.
Verdict: The users of Domain.com appreciate the customer service offered by the Domain name provider. Domain.com is a recommended domain registrar with simple features. The only drawback reported by the users is the lack of cPanel.
Price: Prices for the most popular domain extensions are as follows:
| Domains | Price (Per year) |
|---|---|
| .com | $9.99 |
| .net | $12.99 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a domain in simple words?
A domain is the address of a website. When anyone types a specific domain name in the search URL bar, he instantly gets directed to the web page for which that particular domain name was assigned. For example, when you type www.amazon.com in the search URL bar, you can see the website of Amazon will open.
What are good domain names?
A good domain name is the one which is:
Short
Easy to remember,
Catches people’s attention
Does not contain any symbols like +, &, =, -, etc
Ends with .com; because people are used to typing .com at the end of any website address. They will eventually land upon an error note, if they type a wrong address, so you should always try to get a .com domain extension.
How do I get a free domain name?
There are many options to get a free domain name. You can opt for any one of the following:
– Some service providers like Bluehost, IONOS, Hostinger, etc provide a free domain name with their hosting plans.
– Wix offers you unlimited free sub-domains.
– Freenom offers free domains with regional extensions.
Suggested Reading =>> Best Website Name Generator
Can I transfer my free domain to another registrar?
Yes, you can transfer any domain to another registrar after 60 days of buying or getting it free from a service provider. But keep in mind that most domain registrars charge you some fees for transferring your domain name. You can still opt for this step if you find that you will be getting better service or saving some money in the long run, by doing so.
Is free domain good?
Free domain can be a good option for startups or small businesses who want to save money. But most of the free domain providers impose their own ads on your website. These ads can be inappropriate or distracting for your visitors, which is not good for the growth of your online business.
Is there a list of free domain name extensions?
You can get a domain name with any extension, like .com, .in, .ca, .org etc, absolutely free for one year, from Bluehost, IONOS, Wix, iPage, or Name.com, with their paid web hosting plans. Freenom offers absolutely free domain names for lifetime, with regional extensions like .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf, .gq.
Conclusion
In this article, we compared the best Free Domain Name providers. Based on our detailed study, we can now conclude that the overall best ones are Google Domains, iPage, Name.com, Domain.com, Bluehost, and Wix.
Bluehost and Wix provide some cool features for website building. Domain.com, Only Domains, Freenom, Hostinger, Name.com, and iPage offer domain names at relatively cheaper prices. Google Domains, Wix offers you high website visibility through Google Ads.
For security, some domain service providers like Bluehost, IONOS, and iPage offer free SSL certificates, which is very necessary for a successful online business, because if your website visitors get to see any kind of warning for threat, they would most probably restrain themselves from going ahead.
For a free domain name, you can choose from Bluehost, Wix, iPage, Hostinger, IONOS, or Name.com. These offer free website domains with their hosting or website building plans, whereas Freenom offers some domains with regional TLDs absolutely free for a lifetime.