Greetings, fellow bargain hunter! If you’re reading this right now, then I’m assuming that you love a good deal just as much as I do.
Since you seem like a kind person, I’m happy to help you save some money on your next domain name (activate good internet karma 🍄🔉).
I bought my first domain more than a decade ago, and I stayed with my initial registrar probably way longer than I should have. Recently, after they hiked my prices yet again, I decided that I had had enough. Thus began my quest to find the truly best domain deals out there.
Ultimately, I found a registrar that fit my needs perfectly – I’ll share that later – but in the process, I also came across several other options that were excellent choices for other needs. I figured, since I already put in all that time and effort, why not share it with others who could benefit from it?
What you have before you are the fruits of my labor. It’s my personal list of some great domain registrars offering the best prices on the market. I wanted to find companies offering domains that will actually stay on the cheap end throughout the whole lifespan of your domain, and not just in the first year. I’ve researched dozens of companies to compile this final list, plus spent countless hours in the calculator app to figure out the real cost of owning a “cheap” domain.
Quick summary on .com prices
The .com is the most popular domain extension of them all. You’re most likely looking for cheap .com(s). Here’s a quick summary of where to get them cheaply (sorted by 1-year price):
Registrar | 1 year | 2 years | 3 years | 10 years |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bluehost | 💰 | $19.99 | $39.98 | $179.91 |
Namecheap | $19.96 | $33.94 | $131.80 | |
Sav | $7.95 | 💰 $17.71 | $27.47 | $95.79 |
Cloudflare | $9.15 | $18.30 | 💰 $27.45 | 💰 $91.50 |
Dynadot | $20.38 | $30.57 | $101.90 | |
Porkbun | $10.37 | $20.74 | $31.11 | $103.70 |
INWX | $16.08 | $32.16 | $48.24 | $160.80 |
💡 Quick conclusion: If you plan on going with a .com then pick Namecheap if you want the domain for a test project, Cloudflare to get it for the long term, and Bluehost if you want to get web hosting alongside.
Cheapest domain registrars in 2024
Without further ado, after searching the four corners of the internet, here are the seven cheapest domain registrars. Learn what makes them stand out, why they made the cut, what are some of the popular domain extensions that they offer, as well as possible reasons why you might want to skip them and consider a different option.
You’ll be surprised, but there’s actually a baseline set by an organization called ICANN. This is the organization that sells all domains at wholesale prices to the individual domain registrars. Then those registrars add their markup and sell the domain to you. They are the middlemen between you and ICANN. So when we discuss cheap domains, it’s not so much about a specific dollar amount, but more about the difference between the wholesale ICANN price, and the marked-up registrar price. Sometimes you will also see promotional prices that are lower than the wholesale price. Registrars intentionally take a loss on these in the hopes that they’ll make it up later. However, you can take advantage of this if you play it smart. I’ll explain this more in the domain buying strategies section.
Cloudflare Registrar
Best for
- The lowest possible price over the long-term.
- Number of TLDs offered: ~350
- Registration / renewal for .com: $9.15 / $9.15
- Free domain privacy: ✅
- Hosting offered: Does not offer traditional web hosting, but the Cloudflare Pages service lets you deploy static sites
Cloudflare is a very versatile company that offers lots of different services to internet users, with one of those services being domain name registration. I chose to feature it first for a very compelling reason, and it has to do with their mark-up. I purposely stated that most – but not all – registrars mark up the wholesale ICANN prices of domains. That’s because Cloudflare is a notable exception to this.
You read that correctly. Cloudflare sells domains at cost, which means that if you choose to buy a domain from them, you will get the cheapest possible long-term price for every available TLD
that they sell.In practice, because Cloudflare does not mark up their prices, they don’t offer promotional discounts either. What you see is what you get – whether it’s your first year with them, or your tenth year. If you’re a true red-blooded bargain hunter then you might not appreciate that, but the flip side is that you don’t need to remember anything or make any adjustments to your budget starting in year two. The price is the price and that’s it.
Additional features
- Automatic domain renewal
- DNSSEC
- Two-factor authentication
- Domain locking
- Developer-friendly API
At this point, you might be thinking to yourself that this all sounds amazing and why should you even continue reading the rest of the article? Cloudflare it is, right? Well, as I said, I put it at the top of the list for a reason, but that doesn’t make it completely flawless. Every registrar is going to have some downsides.
Why you might want to skip Cloudflare
One potential drawback with Cloudflare is that they force you to use their nameservers
if you register a domain with them. This limits your flexibility and choice, and it essentially locks you into their ecosystem.The ripple effects from that include not being able to access specialized DNS features, certain pricing models, or simpler management options that other providers might offer.
To be fair, Cloudflare does have strong security and performance – even on their free tier. However, it still might not align with your specific needs if you’re after functionalities or integrations that are simply not available with Cloudflare.
A sample of TLDs offered by Cloudflare
Before we move on, I wanted to quickly share with you a rundown of some popular extensions and their prices – just in case you’re thinking about any of these for your own site.
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .info | .store | .club | .online |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration + Renewal | $9.15 | $9.95 | $10.11 | $14.78 | $40.18 | $12.18 | $25.18 |
TLD | .io | .uk | .dev | .esq | .biz | .co | .xyz |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration + Renewal | $45.00 | $4.94 | $10.18 | $20.18 | $15.18 | $24.00 | $10.18 |
Porkbun
Best for
- Promotional pricing on select TLDs and close to at-cost renewal pricing across a wide range of TLDs.
- Number of TLDs offered: ~550
- Registration / renewal for .com: $6.99 / $10.37
- Insanely good promo: .bio is only $3.33 in the first year
- Free domain privacy: ✅
- Payment methods: credit cards, Alipay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, cryptocurrency, bank account
- Hosting offered: I wouldn’t buy it
If I didn’t tell you that this was a registrar and you were going by the name only, then it’s highly unlikely that you would ever guess that this quirky company not only sells domains, but sells them at ridiculously low prices. Maybe not at cost, but in a lot of cases, not too far from it. The difference is that unlike Cloudflare, they also have a lot of aggressively competitive pricing for both first year signups and multi-year registrations.
For many TLDs, Porkbun actually has the lowest intro prices in the entire industry. In some cases, you’ll be charged only a dollar or two in your first year! This translates into potentially paying an overall lower average per-year price for quite a few years (compared to Cloudflare’s at-cost pricing) before Cloudflare starts pulling ahead as the cheaper option.
By then, you might not even care because the price difference for many TLDs won’t be that large and you might like other aspects of Porkbun’s services.
Additional features
- URL forwarder
- Free Cloudflare DNS (yup, the Cloudflare we just talked about)
- Domain auctions
- API access
Why you might want to skip Porkbun
If you’re not that comfortable navigating your way around a domain management user interface, dealing with nameservers or other technical issues that come up from time to time, then Porkbun’s limited support might have you looking elsewhere. The same can be said if you live outside the U.S. Pacific time zone.
You can reach them via phone, email or live chat – that part is good – but unlike some other registrars, they do not have 24/7 service. That part is not so good. To be more specific, their team calls it a day at 5pm, Pacific Time everyday, with varying start hours between weekdays and weekends. If you’re outside of that time zone and you need support, then you might find yourself having to touch base at weird hours of the night or just resorting to email only.
A sample of TLDs offered by Porkbun
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .info | .photography | .club | .online |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $6.99 | $3.51 | $6.60 | $3.07 | $8.22 | $2.04 | $1.94 |
Renewal | $10.37 | $12.50 | $10.72 | $18.52 | $24.18 | $12.85 | $26.24 |
TLD | .io | .uk | .dev | .ai | .biz | .co | .fitness |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $37.38 | $5.66 | $10.79 | $72.40 | $2.04 | $24.00 | $5.13 |
Renewal | $40.47* | $5.66 | $10.79 | $72.40 | $15.94 | $37.99 | $26.24 |
Namecheap
Best for
- Namecheap is great if you want to start your project on a budget and get not only a cheap domain but also dependable cheap hosting in one place.
- Number of TLDs offered: ~550
- Registration / renewal for .com: $5.98 (promo) / $15.88
- Insanely good promo: .online is only $0.98 in the first year
- Free domain privacy: ✅
- Hosting offered: shared, managed WordPress, VPS
Okay, so admittedly, Namecheap has a soft spot in my heart. The reason has to do with what I mentioned in the intro about what inspired this whole article you’re reading in the first place: my quest to find a good, cheap registrar. In the end, I went with Namecheap, and the customer service I received throughout the transfer process (and even since then) was stellar. It was through a combination of live chat and email, and the professionals that work over there impressed the heck out of me. So right off the bat, based on my own personal experience, I can vouch for their support team (but insert generic disclaimer anyway: past performance does not guarantee future results).
Beyond that, they have some really great promo pricing and their renewal rates are competitive as well – though probably slightly less than Porkbun for many TLDs.
However, if you’re looking beyond saving a dollar or two and also need a company that’s stacked with a serious suite of website building tools and hosting horsepower, then Namecheap blows Porkbun out the water. Porkbun has some simple shared hosting plans that are fine for very basic websites, but Namecheap offers managed WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated servers, and more. I can also personally vouch for how easy the interface is to navigate. Overall, I’ve been very pleased with them and I don’t plan on leaving anytime soon.
Additional features
- Domain auctions
- Cheap email hosting (starting from $11.88 per year)
- Free DNS and Premium DNS (starting from $4.88 per year)
- Free CDN and Supersonic CDN (starting from $8.88 per month)
- Free branding tools (logo maker, font generator, etc)
- Access to the Stencil graphic design tool
Why you might want to skip Namecheap
Namecheap has a unique drawback in that they only support IPv4 addresses, and not IPv6. If that sounds like internet gibberish to you, then in all likelihood this isn’t going to affect you. As of right now, most internet users and networks still support IPv4, and dual-stack networks, which support both IPv4 and IPv6. This ensures that websites are accessible regardless of the IP version they use.
That’s the good news.
However, for those running or planning to launch sites that demand robust performance and global reach, such as ecommerce platforms or content-heavy sites, the lack of IPv6 support could hinder accessibility and speed as the internet is gradually embracing IPv6. To summarize this in a simple way, being stuck with IPv4 is not necessarily a huge issue at the moment, but it could gradually become one, particularly for bigger, more resource heavy sites with higher security and performance requirements.
A sample of TLDs offered by Namecheap
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .info | .blog | .club | .online |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $5.98* | $4.68 | $7.48 | $3.48 | $2.98 | $1.98 | $0.98 |
Renewal | $15.88 | $15.98 | $14.98 | $23.98 | $25.98 | $16.98 | $25.48 |
TLD | .io | .uk | .de | .ai | .biz | .co | .cheap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $44.98 | $6.98 | $6.98 | $79.98 | $5.98 | $24.00 | $5.98 |
Renewal | $48.98 | $9.48 | $8.98 | $89.98 | $20.98 | $37.99 | $31.98 |
Sav
Best for
- Good promo deals on select TLDs, an easy to navigate domain buying experience.
- Number of TLDs offered: ~500
- Registration / renewal for .com: $7.95 / $9.76
- Insanely good promo: .shop is only $0.99 in the first year
- Free domain privacy: ✅
Sav is another great low-cost option that has some excellent promo pricing on various TLDs, and fairly low markups on their renewals. It also has arguably the easiest website to navigate. This is because aside from their website builder and a knowledge base section, everything else on the site is centered around their domain services. If you don’t like getting bombarded with lots of options, extra features, and on-site advertisements, then you will appreciate this simplicity.
Another standout feature is Sav’s no-fee backordering. Domain backordering is a service you can use to acquire a domain name that’s currently registered by someone else, but you’re interested in securing for yourself. If the current registration expires and is not renewed, your backorder attempts to register the domain on your behalf before anyone else can snatch it up. If your backorder is successful, Sav will only charge you the normal registration cost that you’d pay if the domain was never registered to begin with.
Additional features
- Free CDN
- Free DNS
- Domain forwarding
- Email forwarding
- Domain auctions
Why you might want to skip Sav
Sav’s main drawback is that if you’re looking for a one-stop shop solution for your domain and your hosting, then you’ll be forced into using their website builder. I took a look at the Sav knowledge base to learn more about it, and in fairness, based on what I saw there, it does appear to be fairly robust. It’s got all sorts of widgets that run the gambit from ecommerce to contact forms to security features and more. Most things you’d expect from a good site builder are there, and it even has a “developer mode” where you can tweak your HTML and CSS.
If you have absolutely zero website building experience where you’ll be faced with a learning curve regardless of which content management system (CMS) or website builder you go with, then in theory you could start with this. However, if you’re already comfortable with (or want to use) WordPress or Joomla or some other option, then you’ll need to find hosting elsewhere.
A sample of TLDs offered by Sav
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .info | .blog | .club | .online |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $7.95 | $12.12 | $7.38 | $2.78 | $3.30 | $3.82 | $2.26 |
Renewal | $9.76 | $12.12 | $10.15 | $18.38 | $21.88 | $12.54 | $26.88 |
TLD | .io | .uk | .me | .consulting | .biz | .co | .cheap |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $32.95 | $5.88 | $6.00 | $14.22 | $4.86 | $24.00 | $5.38 |
Renewal | $38.95 | $5.88 | $15.72 | $31.08 | $15.63 | $37.99 | $23.87 |
Dynadot
Best for
- Competitive intro pricing for a real domain-focused buyer who wants every possible domain-related feature.
- Number of TLDs offered: ~700
- Registration / renewal for .com: $10.19 / $10.19
- Insanely good promo: .net is only $3.49 in the first year
- Free domain privacy: ✅
- Payment methods: credit cards, Alipay, Apple Pay, Union Pay, PayPal, Skrill
Dynadot is a true laser-focused registrar with virtually all of their various services focused on different aspects of the domain business. In my opinion, they also provide what is arguably the widest breadth of aggressively competitive promo pricing.
If you quickly skip down to the TLD chart and look at those registration costs, you can see that most of them are under $10, with quite a lot even under $5. Even though this table is only a small sample that I put together, when you go on their website, you’ll find that the sample is very representative of their overall pricing. To add to that, their renewals aren’t outrageously marked up compared to the baseline ICANN prices.
Overall, you’re going to find a very nice selection of domain extensions here, and for many of them, if you take the average cost of your first two years, there’s probably no better deal elsewhere. Again, I said many, not all. It all comes down to your TLD so if you’re really hungry for the best bargain out there, you’ll need to shop around, and I’d say that there’s no better place to begin than on Dynadot’s website.
Additional features
- Multiple domain auction types (expired, user, backorder, last chance, registry expired, and more)
- Internationalized domain names (IDNs) available for purchase
- Domain name appraisal tools
- AI generated domain search
- Domain locking
- Two-factor authorization and other security features
Why you might want to skip Dynadot
The downside to Dynadot is the same as Sav: your only option to build a website with them is to sign up for either their free website builder plan or their $20 per year plan. You can look at that price and either say to yourself “what a great deal!” or wonder “how good can this thing be for only $1.67 per month?“. The camp you fall into will largely depend on your needs and on your own personal preferences.
If you have no website building experience and you only want to build a simple blog or site, then you might lean towards the great deal side. If you do have some website building experience and have used WordPress or other more advanced tools before, then you’ll likely be using Dynadot for your domains only. I’ll also add that from looking at the features, the Sav website builder has a lot more to offer.
A sample of TLDs offered by Dynadot
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .info | .blog | .club | .online |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $10.19 | $3.49 | $7.88 | $3.85 | $3.99 | $4.49 | $2.99 |
Renewal | $10.19 | $12.50 | $10.50 | $18.99 | $22.99 | $12.88 | $28.50 |
TLD | .io | .uk | .me | .store | .tech | .co | .pro |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $36.99 | $6.50 | $7.99 | $2.99 | $6.99 | $24.00 | $3.85 |
Renewal | $39.99 | $6.50 | $15.50 | $45.99 | $43.99 | $37.99 | $18.99 |
INWX
Best for
- Rare TLDs that aren’t available elsewhere, with a wide selection of ccTLDs.
- Number of TLDs offered: ~2,000
- Registration / renewal for .com: $16.08 / $16.08
- Insanely good promo: .site is only $1.20 in the first year
- Free domain privacy: ✅
- Payment methods: credit cards, Alipay, Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, Union Pay, Link, bank account
INWX is a German registrar with a massive quantity of available TLDs that towers above what’s offered by most other registrars. That availability also equals convenience because chances are if there’s a TLD out there you want, then INWX almost certainly has it.
What it doesn’t necessarily have, is the cheapest renewal prices compared to the other options on this list. This is particularly true for the more common extensions like .com and .net – but it made the list anyway because it has some really attractive promotional pricing on a whole lot of niche TLDs. When you take into account that some of those TLDs you might not even be able to find elsewhere, then we can say that INWX brings a lot of value to the market.
One particular area that INWX really shines in, is in the
department. If your business has some sort of geographical ties to it and you’re on the hunt for a domain to reflect that location, then not only will you almost certainly find it here, but there’s a decent chance you might find it discounted for the first year.Additional features
- Local presence or Trustee service for ccTLDs that require it
- Nameservers at 50 different locations worldwide
- Free Anycast DNS
- Two-factor authentication with Mobile TAN
- API access
Why you might want to skip INWX
This one is very straightforward. If you’re trying to buy a .com, .net, .org, or some other classic TLD, then the markups are way too high here. You’re better off with one of the other registrars on the list.
Also, similar to Porkbun, INWX does not offer 24/7 customer support. They have set business hours in the Switzerland time zone and they respond via email within one business day. Not exactly ideal if you need something right away or if you’re outside of their time zone.
A sample of TLDs offered by INWX
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .sale | .church | .today |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $16.08 | $17.40 | $14.29 | $6.55 | $13.10 | $3.02 |
Renewal | $16.08 | $17.40 | $14.29 | $48.60 | $54.00 | $34.80 |
TLD | .de | .asia | .eu | .au | .pl | .nyc |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $2.90 | $16.03 | $10.20 | $25.16 | $22.80 | $39.36 |
Renewal | $4.00 | $16.03 | $10.20 | $25.16 | $22.80 | $39.36 |
Bluehost
Best for
- An all-in-one solution (hosting + domain + website software installed).
- Number of TLDs offered: ~300
- Registration / renewal for .com: $12.99 (or $0 w/ hosting) / $21.99
- Insanely good promo: free domain name for the first year if you sign up for a hosting plan
- Free domain privacy: ❌ (paid add-on)
- Hosting offered: shared, managed WordPress, VPS, dedicated, cloud
Let’s state the obvious right away:
Bluehost is not primarily a domain registrar. It is a hosting company that also offers domain registration services as a side product for its customers. Sure, you can use it solely for registering a domain, but it’s far from being the cheapest option on the market. In the strictest sense, it doesn’t belong on a list of cheapest domain registrars – so then why is it on this list then?
Because it has an absolutely killer promo that can save you a lot of cash in the short term. I already mentioned it above, but the promo is that if you purchase any web hosting package with Bluehost, they will give you a free domain name to go along with it for your first year. For the record, Bluehost is not the only hosting company that has this type of offer, but the reason I chose to feature them, is because the price of the hosting itself is also heavily discounted. So your overall cost to get a website up and running is going to be lower than arguably any other combination out there.
Additional features
- Domain forwarding
- Auto-renewal
- Domain locking
Why you might want to skip Bluehost
If you truly want a cheap domain for the long term and don’t want to go through the hassle of transferring your domain name to a cheaper registrar as your initial promo period is winding down, then Bluehost is not the move for you. As someone who’s transferred domain names before, I don’t find the process too difficult, but everyone is different.
On the other hand, if you’re looking for a domain for a short-term (up to one year) project, then Bluehost is perfect. The same is true if you don’t care to pay a higher price after the initial promo period in exchange for good quality hosting and a place to have your domain all in one location.
A sample of TLDs offered by Bluehost
TLD | .com | .net | .org | .biz | .info | .cc |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $12.99 | $14.99 | $9.99 | $9.99 | $11.99 | $24.99 |
Renewal | $21.99 | $22.99 | $20.99 | $26.99 | $31.99 | $29.99 |
TLD | .co | .us | .ca | .co.uk | .shop | .tech |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Registration | $27.99 | $5.99 | $11.99 | $27.99 | $1.99 | $4.99 |
Renewal | $29.99 | $19.99 | $17.99 | $29.99 | $47.99 | $69.99 |
Parting words of wisdom
And there you have it ladies and gents. I hope you found this information useful. If you did, hit me with some final good internet karma 🍄🔉.
My last nugget of knowledge to share with you on this topic, is on how to maximize your savings. You might have already even started brainstorming on this yourself as you were reading through the article, but let me give you a breakdown of what you can do, depending on your goals.
If you enjoyed this read, then check out all of our other domain-related articles, or if you have a question then drop it in the comments below.
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FAQ about getting a cheap domain
Some domain names are cheaper than others based on a variety of factors, including the top-level domain (TLD) you’re seeking, the pricing offered by a particular domain registrar (including renewal fees and special promotions), and competition from domain resellers. TLDs have different pricing structures, with some being more expensive due to popularity or exclusivity. Each registrar sets its own pricing based on their business model and competition. Some registrars also offer discounts or bundle deals to make domains cheaper. Finally, domain resellers can offer domains at lower prices as part of their business strategy.
The cost of domain names can vary depending on the top-level domain (TLD) and the pricing set by different domain registrars. While it’s difficult to determine the absolute cheapest domain name, some TLDs tend to have lower registration fees compared to others. Commonly, generic TLDs like .com, .net, and .org have competitive pricing due to their popularity and wide availability. However, it’s important to compare prices across various registrars, as they may offer different deals, promotions, or discounts on different TLDs at different times.
The base registration fees for domains generally do not increase over time. However, renewal fees may vary, and some registrars will gradually increase them over time. In practice, this means that while your domain name itself might not get more expensive, the cost to renew it might very well trend upward based on your registrar’s renewal pricing structure. Apart from that, some premium domains can have higher initial and renewal costs due to their perceived value. Finally, if purchasing domains on the secondary market, be aware that prices can fluctuate based on demand and negotiation.
To save money when renewing a domain, consider renewing for longer durations to benefit from bulk discounts. This is arguably the most straightforward way to secure the cheapest domain renewal price. Aside from that, you can also look for special renewal promotions or transfer your domain to a registrar with lower renewal prices. Try to find renewal coupons or discount codes available online. Lastly, set up auto-renewal or reminders to avoid additional fees due to domain expiration.
Transferring a domain typically involves a fee, as domain registrars incur costs for processing the transfer. However, some domain registrars may offer promotions or discounts that include either a free domain transfer or a cheap domain transfer as part of their service. It’s worth checking with different registrars to see if they currently have any transfer promotions that waive the transfer fee. Keep in mind that even if the transfer itself is free, you may still need to pay for an additional year of registration during the transfer process.
All the websites and registrars that you mention have problems and in the main are not useable. Cloudflare for example ONLY offers domain registrations at these prices because you MUST be an existing hosting client and use their DNS system exclusively for the nameservers (So you cannot move your domain elsewhere or host your own website).
for NZ the cheapest domain provider is pogotick web services, best prices for registrations and renewals, although if you want full dns management you have to pay extra.
Thank you, Tom, for sharing this additional information! Our readers from NZ will surely find it valuable.