If you want the domain name Cars.com, that’ll cost you a whopping $892 million. But fortunately, most other domain names are incredibly affordable. In fact, you can even get a free domain name trial with hosting when you sign up for a one-year plan.
The web hosts I’ve reviewed include a free top-level domain when you purchase select hosting plans. Note that these web hosts don’t explicitly offer free trials for domain names, but the hosting packages come with free domain names when you sign a one-year contract at minimum. Let’s dive in.
1. IONOS: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
Hosting packages at IONOS are incredibly cheap. This is one of those hosts that leave you wondering if there’s a catch. The truth is, there isn’t.
The free domain is the cherry on top. But, the real dessert here is the PCI-compliant hosting, daily backups, a free SSL certificate, and nine gigabytes of memory for the base shared hosting plan.
- Web hosting from $1/mo with a free domain & SSL included
- Free domain privacy protection included with every domain
- 500+ domain extensions with an AI domain name generator
- 99.9% uptime, daily backups, and free website migration
- Personal consultant assigned after every order
- Get started on IONOS now.
Christina Lewis
While many popular hosts reserve free domain registrations for its higher-tie plans, IONOS gives every customer the perk — along with free domain privacy, email inbox, and SSL certificate. Trust your site with a company that hosts more than 12 million…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
$17.00/Year Domain Renewal
PCI stands for Payment Card Industry, a security standard mandated by credit card companies to ensure safe credit card transactions. Being PCI-compliant makes IONOS the perfect fit for an online business.
The last thing you want is an expensive lawsuit or a bad reputation, even before you begin making the big bucks. And with more than 2,200 cyberattacks taking place daily, it’s better to be safe than sorry.
2. Hostinger: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
The free domain isn’t the only offer you’ll appreciate at Hostinger. This host is incredibly generous with its other hosting add-ons.
Who would turn down at least 100 gigabytes of SSD storage, unlimited free SSL certificates, and up to 100 free email accounts? Not me, that’s for sure.
- Best overall value: The most complete domain + hosting bundle at this price
- .com domains from $0.01 for the first year
- 300+ domain extensions with an AI domain name generator
- Free WHOIS privacy protection included with every domain
- ICANN-accredited registrar with 7 million domains registered
- Free domain included with most hosting plans
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Sead Fadilpasic
Don’t be turned off by Hostinger’s remarkably low prices. The company’s insanely low pricing model extends to domain name services, as well as its premium support and impressive list of features.
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 30 days | 20 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
$13.99/Year Domain Renewal
The powerful features aside, there’s something about this host that makes it stand out. Maybe it’s because I’m a sucker for neat designs and minimalism in general.
That’s what I got at Hostinger: a clean user interface, a powerful site builder, a proprietary control panel (or hPanel, as it’s called), a generous email hosting deal, and lots of AI-powered tools for SEO and user behavior tracking.
3. HostArmada: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
The free domain aside, HostArmada has many other free features that add value to your website. It’s not just a bunch of junk your website is better off without.
I’m talking about free site optimization, SSL certificates, and consultation with a web hosting professional. Even better, HostArmada is a cloud hosting provider, which means you can scale your website or application with the click of a button.
- Cloud-based NVMe SSD servers across 11 global data centers
- 7 daily backups, free SSL, and Imunify360 WAF protection
- Free cPanel, Softaculous 1-click installs, and website migration
- 45-day money-back guarantee — longer than most hosts
- 24/7/365 support via phone, chat, and tickets
- Get started on HostArmada now.
Christina Lewis
HostArmada boasts 11 cloud-based shared hosting data centers across an impressive global network spanning four continents: North America, Europe, Asia, and Australia.Its server redundancy and website optimization features allow customers to run stable and…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 45 days | 15 GB NVMe SSD | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
$12.47/Year Domain Renewal
If you didn’t know, cloud hosting is the future of web hosting based on recent market share reports. While it’s not really a new concept in this industry, this type of hosting has become more accessible to individuals and small businesses in recent years.
Decades ago, Fortune 500 companies like Amazon and Google were the primary cloud hosting providers. Today, with smaller companies like HostArmada coming into the picture, any website owner can dream of a trip to the cloud.
4. HostGator: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
The free domain offer at HostGator applies to three plans only: Cloud, WordPress, and HostGator Shared. To activate your free domain, you must sign a long-term contract, usually between 12 to 36 months.
You’ll also get a free SSL certificate for the first year. That’s a decent offer by any standard, given that some hosts will charge you extra for this certificate.
- Web hosting with a free domain, free SSL, and Cloudflare CDN
- Free domain locking and auto-renewals on all plans
- Unmetered bandwidth with WAF and DDoS protection
- One-click installs for WordPress, Joomla, Drupal, and more
- 24/7/365 support via phone, chat, and knowledge base
- Get started on HostGator now.
Lynn Cadet
Always getting high marks across the board, HostGator is an easy choice for a trustworthy domain registrar. HostGator makes the registration process easy while still helping you expand your online presence with more technical solutions.
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 100 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
$19.99/Year Domain Renewal
The only catch is I wouldn’t recommend HostGator if you want to host multiple websites under one hosting account. The shared hosting plan, for example, will only take in a maximum of three websites. And remember that each SSL certificate comes at a small fee when the hosting plan renews a year later.
To avoid the extra charges for additional SSL certificates, Hostinger is the best alternative. This host will renew all of your SSL certificates for free.
5. ScalaHosting: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
At some point, you’ll want to scale your website vertically. You shouldn’t have to migrate to a new host to do that. The mere thought of the domain transfer process, let alone migrating a whole website, gives me chills. Transferring an existing domain or website is not fun. A simple mistake can jeopardize the process, especially if you do not have proper customer support.
Scalability is one of the many unique traits ScalaHosting brings to the table. Rest assured, when it’s time to expand (or even contract) your business, this hosting service will do it for you internally with zero downtime.
- Rated 4.9/5 on Trustpilot with 2,000+ reviews
- Turbo-fast NVMe SSD storage on all plans
- 1-click WordPress install with free migration & guided setup
- Daily backups, free SSL, and AI-powered security (SShield)
- Price lock guarantee — your rate never increases
- Get started on ScalaHosting now.
Laura Bernheim
In a budget web hosting market that’s fiercely competitive, ScalaHosting stands out by delivering a premium hosting experience that surpasses most. This premium experience includes all-SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, databases, and email accounts — to go…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| Anytime | 10 GB NVMe SSD | FREE (1 year) | 6 minutes |
$16.95/Year Domain Renewal
Like HostArmada, ScalaHosting offers cloud hosting services. When traffic increases unexpectedly, the host will expand its hardware to accommodate the growth. The reverse happens when traffic drops.
Cloud hosting also offers a stable hosting environment thanks to load-balancing technology. In simpler terms, load balancing is when a separate server takes excess load off the primary server to improve performance.
6. Bluehost: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
Bluehost commands respect in the web hosting sphere. That’s partly because of its rich history and, of course, its reliable, affordable, and stable web hosting services.
Some of its top clients include the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Maryland, GNC Consulting, and The Hill Group. Mind you, these are not ordinary businesses — they are respected institutions, agencies, and organizations.
- Web hosting with a free domain and free SSL included
- AI domain name generator plus domain lock and auto-renewal
- WordPress.org recommended host with 1-click WordPress setup and install
- Domain privacy protection and free website migration
- 24/7 expert support via phone, chat, and knowledge base
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Sead Fadilpasic
Bluehost offers all the freebies you need to get started with domain hosting. The company includes a free domain or transfer, plus unlimited bandwidth and storage. With 24/7 support and up to $200 in PPC credits, Bluehost offers excellent, reliable domain…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 30 days | 10 GB NVMe SSD | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
$19.99/Year Domain Renewal
I bought my first domain at Bluehost seven years ago while still learning how to build websites with WordPress. Today, Bluehost is a WordPress-approved host, an accolade only a handful of web hosting companies have earned.
If you choose this managed WordPress hosting provider for your next web project, remember that the one-year domain only applies to its shared hosting plans. For VPS hosting or dedicated server hosting, you’ll need to purchase a domain.
7. GoDaddy: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
There’s no way the world’s largest domain registrar would miss a spot on this list. It’s an unwritten rule; one does not simply talk about domain name registration without mentioning GoDaddy.
Similarly, this host doesn’t need any introduction. Rumor has it that if you’re keen enough, you’ll likely bump into a GoDaddy commercial at least once daily.
- World’s largest domain registrar, trusted by 20M+ customers around the world
- Web hosting with a free domain, SSL, and email included
- NVMe storage, unmetered bandwidth, and 99.9% uptime
- Automatic daily backups and free website migration included
- Award-winning 24/7 support via phone and chat
- Get started on GoDaddy now.
Lynn Cadet
We’d be remiss not to include GoDaddy on this list of the top domain name hosting providers. Perhaps the most well-known name in the domain space, GoDaddy is widely recognized as the world’s top registration services company, and the low-cost…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 30 days | 25 GB – 100 GB | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
$22.17/Year Domain Renewal
This domain registrar has pumped millions of dollars into its marketing campaigns in recent years. These include major sporting events such as the Super Bowl, National Hockey League, US Open Golf, and even NASCAR.
The results are in the public domain. Today, GoDaddy boasts the title of the world’s largest domain registrar, with more than 84 million domains under its belt. Of those, the Arizona-based company hosts about 20 million websites.
8. InMotion Hosting: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
As with other hosts, the free domain at InMotion falls under shared hosting plans only. To activate your free domain name, look for the Launch, Power, or Pro plans. The Core plan won’t give you a free domain, but it still has lots of other perks you don’t easily come across in a base shared hosting plan.
Even if you need a paid domain, at the very least, you’ll get 10 free email addresses, free SSL certificates, and up to 100 gigabytes of SSD storage. That’s on top of the 99.99% uptime guarantee, 24/7 support from humans, a content-rich knowledge base, a free website builder for WordPress, and a suite of security and marketing tools.
- Web hosting with free domain, free SSL, and unmetered bandwidth included
- NVMe SSD storage with up to 20x faster load times on all plans
- 1-click installs for WordPress and 400+ apps, free migration
- Independently owned since 2001
- 90-day money-back guarantee and 24/7 human support
- Get started on InMotion Hosting now.
Dave McQuilling
Looking for leading-edge technology and fully reliable support? InMotion may be the host for you because the company’s domain hosting includes a free domain name registration, zero-downtime website transfers, and your choice of datacenter, with free…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 90 days | 100 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD/NVMe | Select Plans | 5 minutes |
$19.99/Year Domain Renewal
What’s really special about InMotion is that it offers so much for so little money. Take the Launch plan as an example. It can host up to 25 websites and comes with unlimited NVMe SSD storage, unlimited bandwidth, unlimited email addresses, and up to six times UltraStack speed and performance.
With such powerful resources at your disposal, InMotion works best for users with resource-demanding websites. The same applies if you’re an agency or web developer working on multiple websites. You can host everything under one roof here at InMotion, one of the best reseller hosting providers I know.
9. DreamHost: 1-Year Free Domain Name Trial
DreamHost has a vast catalog of domain extensions that go beyond .com. Whatever domain you register with this host, you’ll also get unlimited subdomains, all for free, and a single-page domain management platform to edit DNS records, set up domain forwarding, and more.
This WordPress-approved host also runs free domain promotions every once in a while. In January 2023, for example, it announced a free .online domain offer valid for a limited time. In July of the same year, it also announced a similar promotion for .site domains.
- Web hosting with a free domain and handcrafted website
- Free domain privacy protection for life included
- 350+ domain extensions with flexible auto-renewal and locking options
- NVMe SSD storage, unmetered bandwidth, and 100% uptime
- ICANN accredited with 24/7 award-winning support
- Get started on DreamHost now.
Christina Lewis
Choose from among more than 350 domain extensions, which DreamHost highlights based on trends, sales, and newness. Every domain name comes with flexible autorenewals, locking and forwarding options, along with simplified DNS management tools and custom…
Go to full review »| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
| 30 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
$19.99/Year Domain Renewal
Regarding its WordPress endorsement, trust DreamHost to provide a stable, reliable, and affordable hosting platform for your WordPress website. And because you already have an excellent host in DreamHost, the next thing you need is the perfect domain name to complete the equation.
Of note is that the free domain registration offer only applies to Shared Starter, Shared Unlimited, VPS, and DreamPress hosting plans. Also, to qualify, you must sign up for a one-year contract or longer.
What Is a Domain Name?
A domain name is what browsers use to access your website. It’s like your website’s street address.
The name usually has two or more sections, separated by dots. The first section represents the chosen domain name. It can also include the hosting company’s name or a subdomain.
The last section is the domain extension. As mentioned, .com, net., and .org are some of the most popular domain extensions.
Can I Get a Free Domain Name and Free Hosting?
Yes, that’s possible, but only if you use free hosting providers like InfinityFree, Netlify, and 000webhost. However, I wouldn’t recommend this option because web hosting infrastructure costs a lot of money to acquire and maintain.
Don’t expect a free host to invest in state-of-the-art hosting infrastructure. Likewise, you shouldn’t expect them to provide secure, stable, and reliable hosting environments.
In addition, the free domain name you get will be a subdomain instead of a top-level domain. Subdomains are fine for students and test websites but aren’t suitable for professional use.
Cheap Domain Registration Hosts >>
How Do I Get a 100% Free Domain Name?
The best option is to sign up for a web hosting plan with a provider that offers a free domain. Hostinger, IONOS, HostArmada, and Bluehost are good examples of such hosts.
Note that the free offer usually lasts a year, after which the host will charge you a small fee to renew the domain. A free host is also an option, but that could mean sacrificing your website’s stability and reliability. It’s never worth it at the end of the day.
How Do I Get a Free Domain Name and Hosting for a Lifetime?
GoogieHost offers free domains forever if you choose one of its premium hosting plans. But you’ll have to deal with spammy ads, limited hardware (about one gigabyte of SSD storage), and slow servers.
FreeDomains.cc runs a similar offer; you’ll get a free domain, which you can renew countless times, year after year, for free. Its hosting plan, on the other hand, auto-renews every month at a fee, and yet the resources aren’t half as good as what some cheap hosting providers with free domains, such as Hostinger, Bluehost, and IONOS, offer.
Can I Get a Free Domain Name for Testing?
Sites like GetFreeDomain.Name and Freenom claim to offer free domains, but they’re never reliable. Freenom, for example, halted domain registrations after being sued by Meta for allegedly creating a haven for spammers and phishers.
The safest and most reliable way to get a free domain is by signing up for a cheap premium domain host like Hostinger or IONOS. You’ll get a free custom domain for the first year. With the free domain registration, you can create different subdomains and use them to test your website or applications for a whole year.
Avoid the Domain Bait-and-Switch With A Paid Hosting Plan
Opting for a free temporary domain name is not a great idea. It may seem tempting but remember to think twice when the deal is too good to be true. If you don’t believe me, this Reddit thread should convince you.
Getting a free domain at a premium host is another story. The best part? The domain is yours to keep for 12 months — or even longer if you decide to renew it.
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