2017 RANKING & REVIEWS
TOP RANKING FREE DOMAIN HOSTING SERVICES
What Is Free Domain Registration?
There can be some confusion surrounding domain names, and it’s important to differentiate terms before exploring the specific best free website domain registration services and the best places to get a free domain name as well as free domain name hosting.
First, domain names are used to identify IP addresses.
Award Emblem: Top 6 Best Free Domain Registration Services
Domain names are used as part of URLS to identify particular web pages, and every domain has a suffix associated with it. The suffix identifies which top level domain it’s part of, and there’s only a limited number of these suffixes. Some of the most common examples include .com, .gov, .edu, and .org.
Domain registration, or free domain name registration, refers to the process of registering a domain name. There are registrars, which are what’s ranked on this list of free domain registration options, that help companies and individuals register a domain name with an extension.
Companies, including free domain name registration services, must have the authority to register domain names.
The following is a ranking of some of the best free website domain and free domain hosting options available, as well as specific details of what they offer.
See Also: Best Domain Name Registrars | Ranking | Most Popular Sites for Domain Name Registration
AdvisoryHQ’s List of the Top 6 Best Free Domain Registration Services
List is sorted alphabetically (click any of the domain names below to go directly to the detailed review section for that free domain name registration service):
Top 6 Best Free Website Domain Registration Services | Brief Comparison
Free Domain Name Registration | Key Feature | Key Benefit |
| 1and1.com | Regularly has free domain options available | 24/7 customer support and free SSL certificate come with each domain order |
| AwardSpace | Free domain registration available with paid hosting | Free website builder is available to customers of Award Space |
| Freedomain.pro | Always free co.nr domains | Comes with a free short URL and free URL redirection |
| Freenom | Uses AnyCast Cloud technology for stability and performance | Freenom offers a combination of free domain name options and website building tools |
| Freeware Domains | In exchange for adding advertising to their site, users get free premium domains, including .com extensions | The service will also help users find free domain hosting |
| Wix.com | Users can get a free domain with a Premium Plan | Once you have a free domain, you can create a site with the Wix drag-and-drop builder |
Domain Registration vs. Web Hosting
If you’re setting up a website for the first time, it can be easy to get the lines between domain name registration and hosting confused.
The domain name, whether you get it from a free website domain registrar or not, refers to the name of your site. You can get a free domain name, or you might pay annually.
Web hosting, on the other hand, including free domain hosting, refers to what needs to happen for your website to actually be shown online. Files are uploaded to a server, and these are hosted at a hosting company. In some cases, services that offer free domain registration may also offer free domain hosting, or you may pay for one or both of these services.
A lot of people may prefer to register their domain and having hosting done by the same service, for convenience and ease of setup.
After you’ve registered your domain, whether you get a free domain name or you pay for one, you’re given login details, and these need to be given to your web developer if you’re having someone set your site up.
If you have a free domain or you pay for a domain with one service and host it somewhere else, you’ll need to log in to your register and modify your DNS. By changing the DNS, you’re letting your domain registrar know your URL will be hosted by someone else.
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Detailed Review – Top Ranking Free Domain Registration Services
Below, please find the detailed review of each of the top free domain name registration services. We have highlighted some of the factors that allowed these free website domain providers to score so well in our selection ranking.
1and1.com Review
1and1.com is a domain name registration and web hosting provider. Solutions and services are available in 10 countries around the world, which include the U.S., Germany, Spain, and Great Britain.
Key Features and Menu Items Offered by This Pick for One of the Top Free Website Domain Registration Services
The following are some key things to know about getting a free domain name from 1&1.
Domain Checker
1&1 makes it easy for users to not only check and see if a domain is available but also if it’s free. They can enter a domain name they’re interested in into the quick checker located on the 1&1 website, and within seconds they’ll be shown whether it’s available and whether it’s a free website domain name.
The custom domain checker lets users see what domain names will attract people to their website as well.
Free Domain Options
In almost all cases, 1&1 doesn’t have .com free domain options available, but there are a wide variety of other options that tend to work well for users. 1&1 tends to regularly offer a pretty wide variety of options that are free.
Another possibility to get a free domain with 1&1 is to sign up for a hosting package. While 1&1 doesn’t offer free domain hosting, if you do sign up for a hosting package, you can then register a .com domain for free.
Other Domain Options
In addition to often offering completely free domain name registration options, 1&1 also offers very low-cost domain registration for .com sites and other popular extensions. For example, for the first year of registration with a .com, the price can be as low as $0.99 a year.
Included with all domains from 1&1, whether it’s a free domain or not, are:
- 1 email account
- For each individual domain order, you get a free SSL certificate
- Unlimited subdomains
- Advanced DNS management
- 24/7 customer support
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Award Space Review
Award Space is a site that sells domains, offers reseller hosting, and provides a number of free products and services as well.
Key Features of This Selection for a Top Free Domain Name Registration Service
Benefits and features of Award Space in terms of being a place for free domain name and hosting are detailed below.
Free Domain Name
Award Space does offer free website domain name options, as well as free domain name transfers, but in order to take advantage of free domain registration, users have to sign up for a paid web hosting plan. If the user chooses the Web Pro Plus plan, they get one free domain for life.
With the Max Pack Plus hosting plan, users get two free domains for life.
Special features that come with free domain registration and transfers from Award Space include a web-integrated control panel interface, full DNS management, and complete WHOIS control.
Free Domain Hosting
Award Space doesn’t just offer free domain registration. This company also features free domain hosting. Users can sign up for free domain hosting with their email address, and while it is limited in some of the available features compared to paid hosting packages, it’s a good way to try out these services and see if they’ll work for your needs.
Users can take advantage of free domain hosting to put their site online, and this option is without obligations, making it great for new site managers who want to start quickly and easily.
Free Website Builder
Another free option available from Award Space, in addition to free domain registration and free domain hosting, is a free website builder.
Called the Zacky Website Builder, this software is designed for anyone from beginners to experts to create a site quickly and easily, regardless of whether or not they have technical expertise. It features a back-end administration panel, and it’s free with all shared hosting plans, including free domain hosting.
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FreeDomain.pro Review
FreeDomain.pro is a service that offers free domain names and free subdomains with .co.nr extensions. You can use this service to get a free domain quickly and easily.
Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of This as a Top Place to Get a Free Domain Name
Below are specifics of using FreeDomain.pro to get a free domain name.
Free and No Ads
With FreeDomain.pro, users get a free domain name regardless of where it’s hosted. Also, the company doesn’t place any ads on the user’s website.
The user simply sets up a free URL redirection with URL masking, and then forwards it to their actual website URL. It’s easy to use, and while it is a free domain name and free domain registration, it looks like a paid domain name.
The benefits include being able to have your website look professional without a paid domain name, and this service can be useful if you have a long web address that’s hard to remember.
Features
Features that you get when you have a best free domain from FreeDomain.pro include:
- Free short URL
- Free URL redirection
- Free URL cloaking
- Free path forwarding
- Favicon Support
- No banners and no popups
Support for Other Free Web Services
In addition to being able to get a free domain, co.nr also supports other free web services. One of these is Biz.ly, which is one of the oldest free domain hosting services available. Also supported are many other free subdomain services and other best free domain name sites.
Other free items that are available to users of this best free domain service include access to Free Host EU and Free ASP Hosting.
Freenom Review
Freenom is a company that was the first free domain provider. The objective of Freenom is to help people get online and also to help developing countries improve their digital economy, so it has a unique concept behind it compared to other providers of free domain registration and free domain hosting.
Image Source: Freenom
Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of This as One of the Top Free Domain Name Registration Services
Below are some benefits that come with getting a free website domain name from Freenom.
Features of Free Domain Registration
When you get a free domain from Freenom, you also have access to other features, which include:
- Free, unlimited renewals
- No payments
- Registrant acts as a user of the domain name, rather than a licensee
- It works like any other domain name, and you can use URL forwarding as well as free Freenom DNS service or your own DNS
- Available TLDs include .TK, .ML, .GA, and .CF
Performance
Freenom uses anyCast Cloud technology. This helps this best free domain service provide the utmost in stability and performance with all managed domains.
It also has security partners including Twitter, Internet Identity, Kaspersky and more than 40 others. This guarantees users get the advantages of the best anti-abuse technology, so these free domains are always safe and secure.
Backed by Top Venture Capital Firms
Freenom is a great resource to get a free domain name, and they are supported by some of the leading venture capital firms. For example, the company recently closed $3 million in Series A funding from investors led by Kima Ventures.
Kima Ventures is the most active angel investment firm in the world.
With this venture capital funding, Freenom plans to expand top level domain management and their AnyCast Cloud network.
FreeWare Domains Review
FreeWare Domains is a site that offers the opportunity to get a free domain name, including .com, .net, and .org options.
Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of This as One of the Top Free Domain Name Registration Services
Particular reasons FreeWare Domains is included in this ranking of the best free domain name and hosting services are detailed below.
Free Domain Name Generator
A unique tool available through FreeWare Domains is the Domain Name Generator. Users can use this search tool to help them if they want to create a domain portfolio, or are simply trying to come up with a strong domain name for their blog or business.
Features of the free website domain generator include the option to enter multiple choices for words to make up the ideal domain name, a thesaurus, and an advanced domain name search tool.
Top-Quality Extensions
This is the only free website domain provider on this ranking that exclusively offers .com, .net, and .org domain names for free. There is the requirement that you have a website before applying for a domain, however. They also offer other extensions such as .EU and .info in some circumstances.
FreeWare Domains can also help customers find free domain name hosting if necessary, with no ads, which is offered by their third-party providers.
How It’s Free
People might wonder how FreeWare Domains can provide the best free domain options including .com and .org. According to this free website domain company, they ask their users to add a text link to the FreeWare Domains site on their own website and links to two other sites. It doesn’t cost anything, and the user just has to add a couple of lines of HTML code.
That advertising is what allows FreeWare Domains to offer free website domain options that are professional.
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Wix Review
Wix is a service that allows users to take advantage of a free website domain name and site builder tools.
Key Factors That Led to Our Ranking of This as One of Best Places to Get a Free Domain
If you need to get a free domain, the following are some of the reasons Wix is included in this ranking of leading free domain name and hosting options.
How to Get a Free Domain
If you want to get a free domain from Wix, you have to sign up for a yearly Premium Plan. Once you do that, you can choose from some of the most popular domain extensions, which include .com, .org, and .net. Wix can also help users get relevant keywords in their free domain, so they’ll appear higher in search results.
Once a user completes their free domain name registration at Wix.com, they can set up custom email addresses that match their free domain.
Domain Guide
Wix is a robust resource not just for free domain name and hosting options, but also for choosing the right domain.
Wix offers users access to a guide on choosing the ideal domain name, since it is the first thing people see when they visit a site and how they remember a site.
Wix features exclusive guidelines and tips for choosing the best domain name, whether you’re setting up a personal site, blog, or business site.
Building a Site
Along with offering a free website domain name when you sign up for services with Wix, they also have the tools that make it simple and easy to build a website, regardless of technical experience or knowledge.
Members can choose from 100s of templates that are fully customizable, and they can personalize them using the drag-and-drop editor. Wix, in addition to free website domain name options, also features the SEO Wizard, and users get a free, mobile-optimized version of their site.
Conclusion—Top 6 Best Free Domain Name and Hosting Services
Whether you’re searching for a free website domain and free domain registration, free domain name hosting, or a combination of a free domain name and hosting, the above list offers excellent options.
Each of the names included in this ranking of the best free domain name and hosting services features not just the ability to get a free domain, but also other features that make it easier to build a successful site.
Image Source: Pexels
Some of the names on this list of free domain name registration services offer a free domain only with paid services, while others are entirely free, without any other purchases.
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Reasonable efforts have been made by AdvisoryHQ to present accurate information, however all info is presented without warranty. Review AdvisoryHQ’s Terms for details. Also review each firm’s site for the most updated data, rates and info.
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