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Ask HN: Which is the cheapest TLD for 10 years?

29 points by poloolop ↗ HN
Which is the cheapest TLD, to purchase for 5/10 years period. Personal use only. Namecheap is giving some TLDs at $27 for 5 years. Need to know if I can get some domain for ~10 years for a lower price.

26 comments

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ggm
Out of interest, is it the absolute amount of coin, or your desire to drive a bargain? because $27 is $5 per year, which I estimate you will afford by digging around the sofa for loose change.

You don't need to know this. You want to know this. You will spend more money in opportunity cost finding out.

iotscale
I guess that depends on how many you want to buy. I can't come up with a reason why one would buy many domains with an obscure TLD, especially for private use but that doesn't mean that there isn't one.
epanchin
In the USA perhaps.

OP is from India, where median wage is ~$2 a day.

Saving $5 would equate to 2.5 days effort per domain.

mchannon
dot.tk has a melange of different free domains.

Hard to beat free.

dewey
If it's still available in 10 years is the other question though.
takluyver
FWIW, it has lasted more than 10 years already - I remember people getting .tk domains when I was at school.
pmlnr
It's a country tld, those tend to stay around.
dewey
I know, but there are still countries that stop offering them for free, keep them online or start charging.
sshine
It's the TLD of the archipelago of Tokelau. They have a population of 1.400, their energy company provides 24-hour electricity "on special occasions", and they outsourced the TLD to a company I'd be ashamed to call a professional registrar. So country is a little guarantee.
icebraining
Eh, seems to be basically an autonomous region of New Zealand, much like Gibraltar is of the UK. I'd bet it's pretty stable.
slezyr
IIRC that TLD well known for hijacking domains after they become popular.
znpy
That's fair: it is (at least, it was last time I checked) clearly stated that free domains are merely "lended" and you have no sort of right on that domain.

OTOH, you have full rights on domains you buy.

icebraining
.ovh is 1.2€ (first year) + 3.6€/year (renewal price), so about $42/decade.
jameskegel
Interesting. I'm curious how that TLD was conceived. Surely it's for the host, right?
detaro
If I remember right it started out as a gag before the new gTLDs were a thing, and they then decided it'd be good marketing to make it real.
tombowditch
Keep an eye on Porkbun - I got a .party for 10 years for about $8 back along - a bargain!
pmlnr
I paid ~100$ for a .eu for 10 years recently, so I don't consider that the cheapest option.
b3lvedere
.trade domains are super cheap. I think i paid $8 for 5 years.
znpy
I paid my .tk ~60€ for 9 years. Renewed until 2024.
observer12
Namecheap and others have sales on tlds from time to time. There are sites that will aggregate the prices and tlds https://tld-list.com/ is one. I know the last domains I bought were only a couple of dollars for 5 years.
[deleted]
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[dead] 2562554354
.onion, it's FREE and with no renewal fees!!

No static ip required, encription and authentication built in and no need to expose ports on your router. Tor browser is great (it's just firefox) and available for all OS's (inc android). I'm running gitlab and a sftp server on an old laptop at home so I'm not even shelling out for server fees. Tor's is fantastic for devs!

5635373554
get an onion address its FREE (and no renewals), and great for personal use. I put a comment with more details but it was blocked so I'm trying to avoid keywords here. I'm running a gitlab and a sftp server on an old laptop at home (no server fees) which I can access anywhere in the world without dealing with static ip's or changing router settings.