| Rank | Provider | Compare | Starting price | Free domain | .com renewal | Action |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Read Review | $2.59/mo | Yes | $16 | Visit Host |
| 2 | 
| Read Review | $3.09/mo | Yes | $13 | Visit Host |
| 3 | 
| Read Review | $2.35/mo | Yes | $19 | Visit Host |
| 4 | 
| Read Review | $6.39/mo | Yes | $17 | Visit Host |
| 5 | 
| Review soon | $1.30/mo | Yes | $13 | Visit Host |
| 6 |  | Read Review | $2.75/mo | Yes | $18 | Visit Host |
Disclosure: if you purchase through any links on this web page, I earn referral fees from partners. These fees do not influence my recommendations.
HostWinds free domain
At HostWinds, you get one free domain for a year on annual-or-longer hosting terms, as long as the regular price of that domain is $25 or less – which includes .com, .net, .org and most other extensions. They also hand out other freebies such as free SSL certificates and website migrations – all on the house.
HostWinds offers an affordable service with unlimited resources and one of the longest money-back guarantees in the hosting industry.
They are also on our list of hosts with the cheapest unlimited-website plans.
Read our HostWinds review for more.
Basic plan highlights:
- Starting price: $2.35/mo.
- Free domain duration: one year
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $19
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: Unlimited
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Control panel: cPanel
- Money-back guarantee: 60 days
- Live chat: 24/7
InMotion free domain
InMotion offers a free domain with all annual or longer hosting plans. This includes the most common extensions such as .com, .net, and .org.
InMotion’s cheapest shared hosting plan starts at $6.39/mo. and allows you to host two websites. All hosting packages come with unlimited storage and bandwidth, along with exceptional support via live chat.
They are somewhat expensive compared to other hosts, but you can get a better deal if you ask – InMotion is on our list of hosts with negotiable prices.
Additionally, they are one of the few hosts with discounts for students.
Read: InMotion shared hosting review.
Basic plan highlights:
- Starting price: $6.39/mo.
- Negotiable prices: yes
- Free domain duration: one year
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $17
- Websites allowed: two
- Storage: unlimited
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Suitable for: ~20,000 visitors per month
- Control panel: cPanel
- Money-back guarantee: 90 days
- Live chat: 24/7
Bluehost free domain
Bluehost is another web hosting with a free domain (including .com, .net, and .org) with their hosting packages.
They offer one of the cheapest hosting plans around. What’s more, Bluehost extends refunds on unused subscription months, so if you decide to cancel after your money-back guarantee expires, you’ll still be able to get a portion of your money back.
Read: Bluehost shared hosting review.
Basic plan highlights:
- Starting price: $2.75/mo.
- Negotiable prices: only on renewals
- Free domain duration: one year
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $18.50
- Websites allowed: one
- Storage: 50 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Control panel: cPanel
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
GoDaddy free domain
At GoDaddy, you’ll get a free domain with any of their WordPress (WP) hosting plans, as long as you buy an annual or longer term. However, if you are interested in their shared hosting packages, note that their cheapest plan does not include a free domain.
GoDaddy’s basic WP plan is competitively priced. Unfortunately, their servers are not as robust as those at HostWinds or InMotion, so expect more frequent website load-time spikes.
Basic WordPress plan highlights:
- Starting price: $5.99/mo.
- Free domain duration: one year
- Websites allowed: one
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $18
- Storage: 10 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Control panel: cPanel
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
AccuWeb free domain
You’ll get a free .com, .org, or .net domain with all of AccuWeb’s hosting plans.
AccuWeb offers student discounts, and they sell one of the cheapest single-website hosting packages on the market.
They even allow unlimited websites on their cheapest shared hosting plan, and the 500 GB of monthly bandwidth will be enough to serve between 2,000 and 4,000 daily visitors.
Read: AccuWeb shared hosting review.
Basic plan highlights:
- Starting price: $3.09/mo.
- Free domain duration: one year
- Negotiable prices: No
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $13
- Websites allowed: unlimited
- Storage: 10 GB
- Bandwidth: 500 GB
- Control panel: cPanel
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Live chat: 24/7
DreamHost free domain
Buy one of DreamHost’s annual-or-longer hosting plans and get a free .net, .org, or .com domain for free.
DreamHost has the longest money-back guarantee in the hosting industry. This, along with unlimited server resources and a user-friendly control panel makes them one of the best cheap web hosting providers around.
Webmasters with larger websites will also appreciate the fact that DreamHost is one of the few unlimited inodes hosting providers.
Read: DreamHost shared hosting review.
Basic plan highlights:
- Starting price: $2.59/mo.
- Free domain duration: one year
- Websites allowed: one
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $16
- Storage: 50 GB
- Bandwidth: unlimited
- Control panel: custom-built
- Money-back guarantee: 97 days
- Live chat: 5:30 am to 9:30 PM PT
Namecheap free domain
At Namecheap, you’ll get one free domain with a .website extension. Definitely not the most popular of top-level domains, but hey, it’s free.
Namecheap’s price is unbeatable, and you get to host three websites on their basic plan. You also get 20 GB of storage, which will be more than enough for a few blogs or business websites.
Basic hosting highlights:
- Starting price; $1.30/mo.
- Free domain duration: one year
- .com domain renewal price (per year): $13
- Websites allowed: three
- Storage: 20 GB
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Control panel: cPanel
- Money-back guarantee: 30 days
- Support: 24/7 Live Chat
Popular hosts that do not currently offer free domains
Here’s a list of web hosting providers which, as of July 2019, do not offer a free domain to new customers:
What if I cancel my hosting account after I receive a free domain?
If you claim a free domain, then cancel and request a refund through your host’s money-back guarantee, your provider will usually subtract an amount equal to the value of that domain from your refund.
For example, let’s say you purchase one year of hosting for $50 and claim a free .com domain (which normally costs $15/year at that particular host). Let’s also say that this host offers a 30-day money-back guarantee and that you cancel your hosting within that time frame.
In this scenario, expect to receive $50 – $15 = $35 of your money back. You would get to keep your domain, of course.
How are hosts able to offer free domains?
Most web hosts partner up with domain registrars (such as Domain.com, Namecheap.com, etc.) and basically become resellers of that registrar; when you claim a free domain, the host buys it from their partner registrar and then gives it to you for free.
However, some hosting providers, such as GoDaddy, are official domain registrars themselves, meaning that they can offer free domains without partnering up with anyone.
Why do web hosts offer a free domain?
Because you need a domain to host a website, and most beginners would rather buy their domain while purchasing hosting, rather than register it separately with a name registrar.
Put simply, a complimentary domain is a great way to save costs and simplify the process of hosting your first website.
How many free domains do hosts usually offer?
Most hosts offer just one free domain, but some offer more if you purchase their larger hosting plans. For example, IPower offers up to three free domains on their highest Pro Plus plan.
How long will I get a free domain for?
Most hosts offer a free domain for one year. After that, you need to pay your host’s standard domain renewal fee.
What is the standard domain renewal fee at most hosts?
This varies between providers, but it’s generally between $12 and $18 per year for the most popular (.com, .net, .org) domain extensions.