Free domainnames registrar
 

Freenom is giving away free domainnames in the extentions .tk (which has been free for many years), .ga, .ml, .cf and .gq

Seems nice, but I wonder if there's any catch. Generally if it's free, there are some conditions to be met, for example .tk free domains used to expire if the site didn't generate enough traffic...

Sorry for bringing back an old thread, but in addition to free .tk and free African domainnames, this company also advertises extremely cheap "common" extentions.

What you get: https://www.freenom.com/en/pricechart.html + https://www.freenom.com/en/freeandpaiddomains.html

What you pay: https://www.freenom.com/en/pricechart.html

.com : €7.90 for new domain or renewal
.net : € 6.33 for new domain or renewal
.eu : €4.30 new domain, €4.05 renewal
.nl : €3.70 for new domain or renewal
.art : €8.98 for new domain or renewal

I don't see any extentions such as .co.uk, .us, .de, etc but then this registrar is based in the Netherlands.

However...
Not sure what to think/believe of this. If the pricing above were true, it'd be a bargain compared to most registrars. Especially those prices for .eu and .nl!


The free domain extentions they offer are .tk, .ml, .ga, .gq and .cf ; it is unclear to me if you just renew annually as with a paid domain, or whether additional requirements (eg minimum number of visitors per month) exist.

I wouldn't opt for a .tk or .ml domain for a serious site. I'm happy to pay and own several .com domains. However, for a temporary site or side project, those free extentions can come in handy.

An .eu domain for such low price is hard to resist though :eek:

Yes, the deals are still on.

When reading the FAQ on the registry of .ML (www.point.ml) there is no reference there that you need X visitors per month or so, like .TK demands. They say it is "free forever", and all you need to do is renew the domain in time (which is also free).

The FAQ about .CF, .GA and .GQ domains is less specific although it doesn't state having a certain number of hits per month is necessary. Seems to be a requirement for .TK only.
But the FAQ on .ML is by far the clearest.

The paid domains such as the very cheap .NL and .EU domains that Freenom offers confuses me due to that quote "This Domain Price Chart is only available in English and should be used as reference only. Actual pricing may vary and can be retrieved on a per domain name basis at My Freenom or with the Freenom API"

Anyways, if you want a shorter URL for your social media profiles but don't want to pay for it, or if you have a website that you consider a side project in which you don't want to invest money, then Freenom offers some nice options.

May be nice, but not cheap.See this page:
.
For "their price varies" read 3 figure amounts.

Freenom gets some pretty bad online reviews. Do some Googling before deciding on them. You may get what you pay for in this case. Domains are so reasonable anyway that for anything other than experimentation it is worth paying. One thing I have found is that oddball TLDs can sometimes be a huge spam flag, meaning all of your mail is lost. I once tried a .xyz domain and mail sent from it was hopeless. Never got there.

I very much agree with that.

I would rely on a free domain only for experimenting or for side-projects I'm not taking very seriously, such as a temporary blog or so.

For any serious website, I'm all for paying for domains (I have several, and happily pay for them)

Of course, an oddball extention can after a while be taken seriously. In theory extentions such as .tv or .to are also just extentions of tiny island nations, but they are widely used and taken seriously by everyone. To lesser extent the same goes for the likes of .nu and .cc (although those are sometimes associated with spamming as well, but they're still widely used). African nations still have a lot of growing potential online, so there is no reason why an extention such as .ml or .ga should remain an oddity. Of course, the future will show if giving domains away for free was the right strategy for them to develop internet presence for their country.