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Ask HN: What's the Cheapest TLD?

19 points by SMAAART ↗ HN
I am a domain/microsites junkie. I have an idea, I get a domain, and often I build a mmicrosite for it.

What are the cheapest TLD in the long run (registration + renewals), not interested in the first year deal?

If that matters NameCheap is my registrar, but willing to register somewhere else if I need to.

Thanks in advance.

17 comments

[ 5.8 ms ] story [ 59.9 ms ] thread
kijeda
Some TLDs like .tk (Tokelau) are offered for free.
SMAAART
Not really free in the long run:

> users can take out the .tk domain for free for 12 months, before then having to pay a small subscription fee.

Source: https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/domains/domain-news/the-t...

warrenm
Not exactly - you can renew them for 12 months (or less) at a pop for free "forever"

Or you can register them for multiples of a year (starting at 1 year) for money

collegeburner
freenom has a deserved reputation for seizing domains when they get a lot of traffic so they can run shitty ads and recoup they cost
rschachte
Cloudflare sells TLDs at cost and offer quite a few.
milkoolong
I use porkbun and namesilo. The low cost solution plus trustworthy TLDs are likely (to name some) .cc , .us , .work , .link , .top. FYI, I graduated from namecheap after dozens of domains, and then realizing the base cost + multi-year renewals were slightly higher than alternatives.
schroeding
Also .cyou

Be advised: You will be in a pool of spam domains. Feel free to download the Zone File from ICANN CZDS, it's insanity. Almost all domains are random strings, there is basically no signal, only noise.

jayceedenton
Some great deals on .ru these days! Interestingly, .eu, .de and .uk also very cheap, however if you prefer to avoid implying your microsites relate to a specific geography, I guess .top, .cc, .one, .xyz may be better.
stop50
I pay 5€ for my regular .de domain. 1.92€ for my domain i got during an rebate action.
throwaway2a02
.ml, .tk, .ga. All free. (With a catch, I remember some reporting their TLD getting taken over once they crossed a certain traffic treshold).
tomklein
Freenom has free TLDs (.tk, .cf, ….)

The cheapest over time will be .de with as less as 4€ a year depending on the registrar. The cheapest first year domain used to be .xyz with 0.99$ at Namecheap

ouxiez
initial cheapest monthly price would be .xyz with namecheap
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