Domain registrars

Cloudflare Registrar vs Porkbun

Cloudflare Registrar sells .com at cost, $10.46 every year, but requires Cloudflare nameservers; Porkbun charges $11.08 at registration and renewal and lets you point DNS anywhere.

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The short answer

Both avoid the teaser-then-jump pattern: the .com price is the same at registration and renewal. Cloudflare charges only the registry and ICANN fee, $10.46; Porkbun lists $11.08. Both pass registry increases on: Verisign’s wholesale fee rises from $10.26 to $10.97 on 1 November 2026, and Porkbun expects its .com to reach about $11.81.

The real difference is DNS. Every domain on Cloudflare Registrar must use Cloudflare nameservers; to run DNS elsewhere you have to move the domain, and a domain must already be active on Cloudflare before it can be transferred in. Porkbun’s free DNS also runs on Cloudflare’s network, but you can point nameservers anywhere or add DS records for external DNS.

Cloudflare supports around 390 TLDs and offers no first-year discounts, email hosting or site builder. Porkbun includes free SSL, URL forwarding and up to 20 email forwards per domain, with phone support every day. Both give free WHOIS privacy and DNSSEC.

Choose Cloudflare Registrar if

You already use Cloudflare for DNS, CDN or Workers
You want the lowest long-term .com price with no registrar markup
You want auto-renew switched on by default

Choose Porkbun if

You need to run DNS at another provider
You want free email and URL forwarding with each domain
You want phone support from your registrar

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Side by side

	Cloudflare Registrar	Porkbun
Stages	HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise	HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise
What it is	At-cost domain registrar	Domain registrar
From	.com $10.46/yr, same at renewal	.com $11.08/yr, same at renewal
Free tier	None	None
.com year 1	$10.46 (at cost)	$11.08
.com renewal	$10.46 (at cost)	$11.08 (about $11.81 from 1 Nov 2026)
WHOIS privacy	Free WHOIS redaction	Free WHOIS privacy
DNS	Cloudflare DNS required; free one-click DNSSEC	Free DNS on Cloudflare; DNSSEC toggle
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
EU data residency	Not stated	Not stated
Compliance	Not stated	Not stated
Checked	28 Sept 2026	28 Sept 2026
Strengths	Renewal price equals first-year price and has no registrar markup Free DNSSEC and WHOIS redaction on every domain DNS, CDN, SSL and registrar in one dashboard and API Auto-renew is on by default, reducing accidental expiry	.com renewal is the same as the first-year price Free privacy, SSL, DNS, DNSSEC and forwarding with every domain You can point nameservers anywhere, unlike at-cost Cloudflare Registrar Phone support every day, 9am to 5pm Pacific, plus 24/7 email
Limitations	Domains must use Cloudflare nameservers; third-party DNS means moving the domain elsewhere Supports around 390 TLDs, fewer than most retail registrars A domain must already be active on Cloudflare before it can be transferred in No first-year discounts, email hosting or site builder	Many non-.com TLDs have first-year sale prices that renew higher Phone support hours are limited to 9am to 5pm Pacific Prices follow registry increases; .com is expected to rise to about $11.81 in November 2026

Sources: Cloudflare Registrar pricing, Porkbun pricing. Full plans on each tool's page.

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Plans

Cloudflare Registrar

.com registration Registry wholesale fee plus ICANN fee, no markup	$10.46/yr
.com renewal Renews at the registry list price	$10.46/yr
.net Registration and renewal	$11.86/yr
.org Follows the registry's own promotional and renewal price	$8.50 first year, $11.20 renewal
Custom Domain Protection Registry lock and out-of-band verification for high-profile domains	Custom

Porkbun

.com Registration, renewal and transfer	$11.08/yr
.net Listed 'from' price	$12.52/yr
.org Listed 'from' price	$7.98/yr
.app First-year sale price	$8.75 first year, $14.93 renewal
.xyz First-year sale price	$2.04 first year, $14.21 renewal

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