8 Best: Web Hosting With Free Domain (Feb. 2024)

The best web hosting with free domain offers the lowest prices for unlimited websites, email accounts, and databases on shared servers. A free domain with a shared hosting plan allows users to log in with instant activation.

The cost of a domain name varies by registrar and TLD extension but averages $10 to $12 per year. Web hosting plans with a free domain offer can be a great way to publish a blog or eCommerce store at a low annual cost.

Here, we’ll discuss the best web hosting companies with free domain offers for new users.

We have screened the companies below to include those that offer only the best web hosting plans with free domain on sign-up. These offers do not include options for Windows servers, VPS plans, or dedicated servers, but many offer similar packages and perks.

You may need to upgrade your hosting package from the lowest-priced tier to unlock the free domain, but never fear! These hosts represent some of the best deals around.

1&1 IONOS manages more than 22 million domains for customers around the world, representing a global powerhouse with unbeatable value.

All four of the web host’s shared hosting plans come with one year of a free domain registration with one of the most popular domain extensions.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at 1&1 IONOS:

• Recommended Plan: Plus Plan
• Features: Unlimited websites, databases, storage, and bandwidth with a free domain.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $17.00 per year (.com) + $15.00 privacy protection
• Price: $1.00 per month (12-month plan)

In addition to dedicated time with a personal consultant, 1&1 IONOS gets new customers started with automatic daily backups, speedy servers, and their own control panel for domain name, email address, FTP, and file management.

Use a standard domain for the free offer at 1&1 IONOS and host unlimited websites at the cheapest rates available online.

Bluehost has one of the most complete web hosting packages for support of unlimited websites with a free domain on sign-up. The company offers a managed cPanel platform with multiple design and development tools for WordPress.

Enjoy a free site builder, AI-driven templates, and a Cloudflare CDN plan. A free domain name is included for one year on Bluehost hosting plans.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at Bluehost:

• Recommended Plan: Basic Plan
• Features: Unlimited websites and SSD storage with free SSL + CDN integration.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $12.99 per year (.com) + $11.88 privacy protection
• Price: $1.00 per month (12-month plan)

The renewal price is higher than the registration price for domain names purchased at Bluehost.

The listed renewal price for .com and .net extensions is $12.99 and the .org cost is $9.99 per year. The initial discount registration cost on these domains vary from $9.99 to $14.99 per year.

Hostinger is a budget host with the lowest prices in the industry on shared hosting plans. The Premium Web Hosting offer at Hostinger includes a free domain name, support for 100 websites, MySQL database options, and unlimited bandwidth.

The cost of a .com domain is $9.99 to register and $13.99 per year to renew. The company offers deals on other extensions.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at Hostinger:

• Recommended Plan: Premium Shared Hosting
• Features: Up to 100 websites with 100 GB SSD storage + unlimited bandwidth.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $13.99 per year (.com) + WHOIS privacy included
• Price: $2.99 per month (48-month plan)

Web publishers can order .xyz, .website, .site, .online, .tech, or .store extensions for $0.99 per year at Hostinger. The price for renewal varies per extension but domains can be registered for three years to lock in the lowest prices. Hostinger has the most competitive prices on domains.

InMotion Hosting offers one of the best high-performance environments at the cost of a budget hosting plan. The company’s Launch plan includes unlimited websites and NVMe SSD storage capacity.

UltraStack servers operate at 6x better speeds than other options with NGINX reverse-proxy caching. Free SSL certificates, Google Workspace, and a security suite are included in the plan.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at InMotion Hosting:

• Recommended Plan: Launch Plan
• Features: Unlimited websites on cPanel with UltraStack Servers + NVMe SSD storage.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $17.99 per year (.com) + domain privacy included
• Price: $4.99 per month (24-month plan)

InMotion Hosting gives customers the choice of .com, .net, .org, .us, .biz, or .info. domain registrations. The cost of renewal for each domain extension is $17.99 per year. Like most hosting plans, the free domain offer is only good for the first year on a new account.

HostGator is one of the oldest and most trusted brands in web hosting. The best deal at HostGator is their Baby Plan which supports unlimited websites with a shared LAMP runtime environment including cPanel.

Developers can use Softaculous to install more than 400 open-source scripts with MySQL database and PHP. The Baby Plan costs $3.50 per month.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at HostGator:

• Recommended Plan: Baby Plan
• Features: Unlimited websites, unmetered bandwidth, and free SSL certificates.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $18.99 per year (.com) + domain privacy included
• Price: $3.50 per month (36-month plan)

Domain name extensions renew at $15 to $45 at HostGator. The price of renewal on .com domains is $18.99 per year.

The .host extension is most expensive with renewal costs at $45 per year. The .org and .net extensions renew at $17.99 per year with bargains on other deals.

GoDaddy has one of the best all-around web publishing solutions for small business owners. The Deluxe and Ultimate plans support unlimited websites with options for MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, while the Economy plan offers the best deal.

The advantages of cPanel servers provided by GoDaddy with managed security, choice of data center, fast SSD storage options, and a free domain name on signup.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at GoDaddy:

• Recommended Plan: Economy Plan
• Features: Unlimited websites, database, storage, bandwidth, and email accounts.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $21.96 per year (.com) + $9.99 domain privacy
• Price: $8.99 per month (36-month plan)

The Economy plan at GoDaddy guarantees 25 GB of storage, cPanel administration, and readily available customer support.

The package includes two free Microsoft 365 mailboxes for the first year, increasing your online venture’s productivity capabilities.

DreamHost offers hundreds of domain name extensions for registration and a free domain with its signature hosting plan. The company is popular for high-value WordPress hosting, even earning a coveted recommendation from the content management system’s dev team at Automattic.

The DreamHost plans include unlimited domains with database, PHP, and storage for script installation.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at DreamHost:

• Recommended Plan: Shared Starter Plan
• Features: Unlimited websites, email addresses, storage, and unmetered bandwidth.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $17.99 per year (.com) + free privacy protection
• Price: $2.59 per month (36-month plan)

The cost of a .com domain is $7.99 per year to register and $17.99 to renew at DreamHost, but domain privacy protection is included for free for the life of your account.

To transfer domain names, DreamHost offers a free migration service and SSL. Be sure to take advantage of their legendary customer support.

Hostwinds includes an offer for a free domain name for the first year or the use of specific DNS settings with a registrar for a custom domain.

The normal cost of a new .com registration on the site is $15.79 per year. Hostwinds offers shared, business, cloud, and reseller hosting. The company supports unlimited domain names, bandwidth, and SSD storage on the Ultimate plan.

Best Shared Hosting Plan with Free Domain Name at Hostwinds:

• Recommended Plan: Ultimate Plan
• Features: Unlimited bandwidth, disk space, and domains with cPanel + Softaculous.
• Domain Renewal Rate: $15.79 per year (.com) + $5 per year for Domain ID privacy
• Price: $9.74 per month (24-month plan)

Hostwinds has dedicated many of its resources to developing a Cloud Server platform with payment billed on an hourly basis like Google Compute Engine. These plans are a good option for Docker development requirements, but you will need to configure your domain with DNS.

The budget web hosting sector is highly competitive with thousands of companies offering products built with cPanel, WHMCS, and shared Linux servers.

“One of the ways that web hosting brands distinguish their services is by offering a suite of bonus offers that include a free domain name registration on new accounts.”

The free domain offer applies to .com, .net, .org, .info, and other TLD extensions with the first year of service provided for free by the web host. The value of these offers varies between $9.99 to $19.99 per year depending on renewal fees.

Best Features in Free Domain Web Hosting Plans:

• Unlimited Domains: Web development with open-source MySQL and PHP scripts.
• cPanel Administration: Configure server settings and manage email, FTP, etc.
• Free SSL Certificates: Let’s Encrypt, AutoSSL, and PositiveSSL are top choices.
• SSD Storage: For 20x faster web server speeds in I/O transfer request processing.

Domain name pricing also varies between registrar companies. A .com registration at GoDaddy costs $11.99 for the first year and renews at $18.99 per year.

The same domain name only costs $7.98 to register at NameCheap with annual renewals priced at $13.98.

Buying and managing domain names at a registrar requires the use of DNS settings that connect global routing for your site to a shared or dedicated IP address at the web host.

The use of a free domain offer bypasses the registrar costs and establishes the root user of a cPanel account.

If you’re searching for a web hosting company, there’s no doubt you will encounter offers for free website hosting. A free web host may offer a no-cost trial period, or always-free hosting — be sure to read the fine print.

An always-free hosting service will come with all kinds of limitations, such as a non-custom domain name, limited resources, and ads.

If you want to stay within a certain budget, we strongly advise you to pick a cheap web hosting provider instead. For a low cost, your cheap hosting service will provide you with perks such as unlimited storage, an email account, a free SSL certificate, and a free domain name for one year.

The pricing of domain names varies across different registrars and web hosts. The largest registrars are GoDaddy, NameCheap, Tucows, and NetworkSolutions. For resellers, Enom is the most commonly used domain name registrar.

Most web hosting companies will offer middleman services from a larger registrar.

ICANN, the internet authority regulating the domain name system, has approved the expansion of TLDs available for registration to hundreds of new extensions like .shop, .club, .xyz, .live, .site, .store, and .me.

Price Estimates for Domain Names by Extension:

• .com: Register at $9.99 to $12.99 per year, renew at $17.99 to $19.99.
• .net: Priced in the same tier as .com and .org at most web hosting companies.
• .org: Register at $9.99 per year at GoDaddy, renew at $20.99 per year.
• .info: The cost is $3.98 per year at NameCheap, $4.99 per year at GoDaddy.
• .ai: Pay $66.98 for one year at NameCheap, $125 for two years at GoDaddy.
• .io: Register for $35.98 per year at NameCheap, $59.99 per year at GoDaddy.

Most free domain offers on shared web hosting plans will support the registration of .com, .net, .org, and .info domains, as well as most other budget extensions.

“There is quite a wide variance between the web hosting brands in the total number of domain extensions supported.”

It makes the most sense to manage domain names through DNS settings. The price is usually better to register a domain name at a registrar, and maintaining intellectual property through brand identity is more secure using a third party for domains.

A free domain will become the root user account in cPanel, which then becomes the basis of the addressing for add-on domains and public_html routing. It is also used for email addresses and site logins.

Free web hosting is not usually available with a free domain offer but can be found where your registered domains are routed through custom DNS settings. Free web hosting normally includes subdomain support only with a custom user name.

A website builder plan requires a paid upgrade for custom domain name use.

“Most web publishers should avoid free hosting platforms based on site builders in favor of shared hosting with CMS sites like WordPress.”

The best hosting option for a free domain offer is a shared hosting plan from a service provider like A2 Hosting, AccuWeb Hosting, or Liquid Web.

Dedicated hosting services are best for multidomain publishing requirements or high-traffic single sites. Google Cloud hosting and other public cloud platforms do not provide free domain offers.

Managed VPS hosting with cPanel is a cheap web hosting solution compared to a dedicated server with a free domain from the web host and a free SSL certificate. Search for free domain offers on managed VPS plans.

Main Aspects to Consider with Free Domain Hosting Plans:

• Renewal Cost: Look for plans with the lowest renewal costs on domain registration.
• Vendor Lock-In: Move code and domains from host to host using DNS settings.
• WHOIS Privacy: A free domain privacy service compares to costs of $10+ per year.
• Brand Identity: Maintain domains on a third-party registrar for better IP control.

Google Sites is a site builder platform that now allows a custom domain to be used as a hosting option. Google Cloud hosting can be expensive compared to A2 Hosting, AccuWeb Hosting, and Liquid Web.

A site builder plan at GoDaddy, Wix, Weebly and other hosting provider companies will not support a custom domain name on a free plan. The best web hosting service for a free domain offer is a WordPress host with a shared hosting plan that runs cPanel admin.

Google Domain Name Servers will work with all web hosting services. Managed WordPress hosting with a free domain is the easiest way to get online with a new site quickly.

You need a free SSL certificate, free website development tools, and a site builder on cheap web hosting plans to get the best web hosting services with a free domain.

Choose Google Sites for the best free web hosting with a site builder over WordPress host services for a more simple and easy-to-use solution. Otherwise, prepare to invest in web development services for your site.

The best web hosting providers include a free domain offer on shared, VPS hosting, dedicated server, and reseller hosting plans as part of a suite of bonus offers.

A free domain offer is most common on shared hosting platforms with Linux or Windows servers. The cost of the free domain can be discounted on the total price of the annual hosting plan.

“A free domain offer is best when you need to launch a new website and do not have an address for the project.”

A free domain offer is ready immediately for self-publishers to sign in and begin building a new site.

Best Reasons to Choose a Free Domain Hosting Plan:

• Launch a New Site: When you need to launch a new site, a free domain saves money.
• Discount Prices: Free offers that bill at excessive rates of renewal are not discounts.
• Low-Cost Websites: Budget cPanel hosting with a free domain are the best deals.
• Development Support: Use your root domain for staging, testing, and sandboxes.

The easiest way to get started with a free domain is to build a new website using WordPress. On cPanel plans, developers can use the Softaculous script installer to access over 400 open source solutions for website construction.

The web host provides MySQL database and PHP runtime support for the code. Open-source scripts allow publishers to launch eCommerce, social networking, blog, forum, wiki, and gallery sites easily.

Free themes, modules, and plugins are used to expand website functionality with extensible script platforms. ASP.NET developers on Windows servers can also receive a free domain name on shared plans for new site building.

Free web hosting platforms like Weebly, Wix, WordPress, and GoDaddy are based around site builder software with subdomain support. Free plans generally require the use of a subdomain address like mysite.wordpress.com instead of a custom domain name.

“The use of a registered domain name on free hosting accounts requires the purchase of the domain in advance.”

Use the DNS settings for routing on these plans in the same manner as subscription services. If you already have a domain name registered, service providers like AtSpace, FreeHosting.com, AwardSpace, and FreeHostia have the best support for custom domains on free hosting plans.

Recommended Free Hosting with Custom Domain Name Support:

• AtSpace: 1 GB disk space, 5 GB monthly bandwidth, and 30 MB database storage.
• FreeHosting.com: Free domain with PHP, MySQL, email, FTP, and SSL certificates.
• AwardSpace: 1 GB storage, 5 GB bandwidth, MySQL, and options for PHP 5/7.
• FreeHostia: 5 domain names with 250 MB storage and 6 GB monthly bandwidth.

Most web hosting companies will only offer a free domain name if you sign up for an annual or multiyear contract with payment in advance. This is the best way to get the lowest prices and discounts on shared web hosting plans.

A free domain offer usually comes as part of a package with other bonus services like Google and Bing Ad credits, developer tools, offsite backups, or security upgrades.

Look for cPanel hosting plans with support for unlimited websites, databases, email addresses, storage, and bandwidth for the best deals. A free domain offer allows web publishers to host websites as low as $.99 per month on shared hosting platforms.

There is no standardized formula across web hosting platforms that offer managed WordPress hosting. Some companies provide free themes, developer tools like WP-CLI, preinstallation of scripts, and a sandbox environment for staging or testing changes.

Other companies offer NGINX or LiteSpeed servers for high performance with Varnish Cache and Redis installed for better web page caching.

Web application firewall (WAF) support, anti-virus scanning of site files, and DDoS protection are other valuable WordPress hosting features. Companies that offer these options on a managed WordPress platform are recommended.

Key Features of the Best Managed WordPress Hosting Plans:

• Free Themes: Look for Managed WordPress plans with free theme offers for design.
• Security Tools: Web Application Firewalls (WAFs), anti-virus, and DDoS protection.
• Developer Utilities: Command-line tools like WP-CLI, Git, SSH connections, etc.
• Advanced Caching: Platforms with pre-installed Varnish Cache and NGINX solutions.
• CDN Integration: A free Cloudflare CDN account will offer the fastest page load speeds.

Most shared web hosting platforms on Linux and Windows servers will provide runtime support for WordPress with MySQL and PHP. Shared hosting plans with cPanel and Softaculous allow developers to install WordPress along with 400+ other open-source scripts for site building.

“It is more common to find support for unlimited domain names with WordPress on shared hosting plans.”

Managed WordPress platforms more commonly limit support to a lower number of websites. Most web publishers will get the best value from a combination of a shared hosting plan and managed WordPress tools. Use dedicated hosting solutions for high-traffic websites.

A free domain name offer on a web hosting plan is one of the best ways to save money and receive an additional discount on the cost of annual services.

This is particularly useful for multidomain publishers using shared hosting to support unlimited domain names. These plans offer unmetered storage and bandwidth for web development at costs averaging $4.95 to $6.95 per month.

You can host a single domain name for as low as $.99 per month at cheap cPanel hosting companies that include a free domain name registration as part of the deal at signup.

If you are launching a new website or blog, a free domain name allows you to get started immediately on a shared hosting platform.

Script installers like Softaculous and Fantastico include hundreds of open source solutions for blogs, eCommerce stores, wikis, forums, CRMs, and other website design requirements. You don’t need a reseller account to host unlimited domain names cheaply on a shared hosting plan.

Linux and Windows servers are priced similarly within a range of a few dollars per month difference. Run PHP or ASP.NET scripts with MySQL/MSSQL database support, SSD storage, and a free domain on shared hosting plans.

The value of a free domain offer is $9.99 to $12.99 per month depending on the extension and registrar. Most companies discount the first year of registration and charge more for renewals.

There are advantages to managing your own domain names independently at a third-party registrar company to avoid vendor lock-in or domain transfer issues when changing web hosts.

Make use of the free domain offer when you need to launch a new website or broaden your brand identity with a new TLD extension. The best shared hosting plans offer free domain registration as part of a broader suite of free tools for web development, SEO, and marketing.