This guide is for indie hackers and solo founders deciding where to register the domains for their projects, side projects, and the five half-built ideas in the account they'll never ship. The bottom line: register on Cloudflare for the cheapest long-term cost on the TLDs it supports, use Porkbun for everything else, and don't get baited by a cheap first-year promo that renews at double the price.
| Cloudflare | Porkbun | Namecheap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com (reg / renewal) | $10.44 / $10.44 | $11.08 / $11.08 | ~$6.79 / ~$15-18 |
| Renewal honesty | At-cost, no step-up | Flat, no step-up | Promo year 1, marked-up renewal |
| Free WHOIS privacy | Yes | Yes | Yes (for life) |
| Other free extras | DNSSEC | SSL, email + URL forwarding, DNSSEC | DNSSEC; extras upsold |
| TLDs supported | ~390 | 700+ | 500+ |
| DNS | Cloudflare only (required) | Free, your choice | Free, your choice |
| Best for | Lowest long-term cost | Niche TLDs, all-rounder | Familiar dashboard |
As of June 2026. Registry and ICANN fees change; confirm the current price on each provider's own site before you buy.
How we picked#
For indie hackers, the registrar is plumbing: you want a fair price, no surprises, and the freedom to leave. So we weighted true renewal pricing above everything, because you'll own most domains for years and the first-year promo is a one-time discount, not the real cost. After that we looked at free WHOIS privacy (should be included, full stop), transfer friendliness and lock-in, DNS quality and flexibility, how many TLDs are actually supported, and hidden fees or upsells at checkout. We did not weight bundled hosting, email plans, or website builders; those are separate decisions and you'll usually do better buying them elsewhere.
Cloudflare#
Cloudflare Registrar exists to keep domains inside Cloudflare's ecosystem, so the company runs it as a feature rather than a profit center. That means at-cost pricing: you pay exactly what the registry and ICANN charge, with no markup added by Cloudflare. As of June 2026, a .com is $10.44/year ($10.26 registry fee + $0.18 ICANN fee), at both registration and renewal. There's no first-year discount and, crucially, no renewal step-up either. The price you pay in year one is the price you pay in year five.
WHOIS privacy and DNSSEC are included free and turned on by default. There are no add-on screens, no "protect your domain" upsells, nothing to decline at checkout. It's the cleanest buying flow of the three.
The big constraints: Cloudflare supports around 390 TLDs, fewer than the others, so check that your extension is on the list before you plan around it. And every domain is locked to Cloudflare's nameservers; you cannot use third-party DNS. To transfer a domain in, you first point its nameservers at Cloudflare, then move the registration. For most indie projects this is fine (Cloudflare DNS is fast and free), but if you rely on managed DNS elsewhere or need vanity nameservers, it's a dealbreaker.
Pros
- True at-cost pricing with no markup and no renewal premium, the cheapest long-term option on supported TLDs.
- Free WHOIS privacy and DNSSEC, on by default, zero upsells.
- Excellent, fast DNS and a clean dashboard; pairs naturally with Cloudflare's CDN, Pages, and Workers.
Cons
- No first-year promos, so it can look "expensive" next to a $6.79 promo even though it's cheaper over time.
- You must use Cloudflare's nameservers, with no third-party DNS, which is real lock-in for some setups.
- Around 390 TLDs only; niche extensions (including .io) may not be supported, so confirm before you commit.
Who should skip it: anyone who needs third-party or managed DNS, vanity nameservers, or a TLD outside Cloudflare's list.
Best for: indie hackers who want the lowest lifetime cost on mainstream TLDs and are happy living in Cloudflare's DNS.
Register at-cost on Cloudflare →Affiliate link · how this worksPorkbun#
Porkbun is the registrar most experienced indie hackers quietly default to, and it earns that. Pricing is flat: on most TLDs the first-year and renewal prices are the same or close, so there's no nasty surprise at year two. As of June 2026, a .com is $11.08/year flat, a hair above Cloudflare but with none of the lock-in. Where Porkbun shines is niche and developer TLDs: .dev runs about $10.81 first year / $12.87 renewal, .app about $10.81 / $14.93, and it supports 700+ TLDs total, roughly double Cloudflare's list. (.io is expensive everywhere; Porkbun renews around $51.80, so compare the exact figure the day you buy.)
The free extras are the most generous in the category: WHOIS privacy, SSL certificates with auto-renewal, email forwarding, URL forwarding, and DNSSEC, all included on every domain. You also get free DNS management and can point the domain wherever you like, with no nameserver lock-in.
Downsides are modest but real. The dashboard is functional but dated and a little quirky; you'll occasionally hunt for a setting. It's a smaller company, so support is good but not 24/7 enterprise-grade. And while flat pricing is the norm, a handful of TLDs do have a first-year sale that steps up at renewal, so still check the renewal column before committing.
Pros
- Flat first-year and renewal pricing on most TLDs, no bait-and-switch.
- The most generous free bundle: WHOIS privacy, SSL, email + URL forwarding, DNSSEC.
- 700+ TLDs with genuinely competitive prices on .dev, .app, and other niche extensions; bring-your-own DNS, no lock-in.
Cons
- A dated, occasionally clunky dashboard.
- Smaller operation; support is solid but not round-the-clock.
- A few TLDs still have promo first-year pricing that rises at renewal, so verify the renewal rate.
Who should skip it: anyone who needs polished enterprise support or a slick admin UI, or who wants the absolute floor price on a mainstream .com (Cloudflare edges it there).
Best for: the all-rounder pick, especially if you register niche TLDs or want maximum flexibility with no lock-in.
Check TLD pricing on Porkbun →Affiliate link · how this worksNamecheap#
Namecheap is the registrar most people already have an account with, and the dashboard is genuinely easy to use. WHOIS privacy is free for life on eligible TLDs, and checkout is reasonably clean. For a first domain, it's familiar and unintimidating.
The problem is the pricing model. Namecheap leans on promotional first-year pricing, a .com might be around $6.79 with a code, which looks great until renewal. As of June 2026, that same .com renews around $14-18/year depending on the tier, a jump of well over 50%. That's not a hidden fee exactly, it's standard industry practice, but it's the exact bait-and-switch dynamic that makes "cheapest first-year" comparisons misleading. Over a five-year hold, a Namecheap .com typically costs more than either Cloudflare or Porkbun.
There are also upsells: hosting, email plans, premium DNS, and SSL are marketed at checkout. None are mandatory and you can decline them all, but you have to actually pay attention. Auto-renew is on by default (good for not losing a domain, less good if you forgot the renewal price is higher).
Pros
- The most familiar, beginner-friendly dashboard; easy to manage many domains in one place.
- Free WHOIS privacy for life and a large TLD selection (500+).
- Frequent first-year promos that are genuinely cheap if you only need a domain for a year.
Cons
- Renewal markups of well over 50% above the promo price, the most expensive of the three over a multi-year hold.
- Add-on upsells at checkout (hosting, email, premium DNS) you have to decline.
- The marketing leans on first-year pricing, so the headline number rarely reflects what you'll actually pay long-term.
Who should skip it: anyone optimizing for long-term cost, or anyone who wants a checkout without upsell screens to navigate.
Best for: beginners who value a familiar, hand-holding dashboard and are willing to pay a bit more at renewal for it.
See Namecheap domain pricing →Affiliate link · how this worksWhich should you choose?#
- You want the lowest possible long-term cost and use mainstream TLDs (.com, .net, .org, .dev, .app): Cloudflare. Confirm your TLD is supported and that you're fine using Cloudflare DNS.
- You register niche or developer TLDs (.io, .sh, .gg, oddball ccTLDs), or want zero lock-in: Porkbun. It's also the safest default if you don't want to think about it: flat pricing, great extras, broadest TLD list.
- You're brand new, want a familiar dashboard, and only have one or two domains: Namecheap is fine, just turn off the upsells and check the renewal price before you buy.
- You're consolidating 10+ domains: Porkbun for the flat renewals, or split it, registry-cost mainstream TLDs on Cloudflare and everything else on Porkbun. That's what a lot of makers actually do.
The one universal rule: don't anchor on the first-year price. A registrar that sells a .com for $6 and renews it for $18 is more expensive than one that charges $10.44 flat, and the second you own a domain for two years, the math flips.