Domain registrars

Porkbun vs Namecheap

Porkbun sells .com at $11.08 for registration and renewal alike; Namecheap discounts the first year to $10.98 (or $6.79 for new customers) but renews at $18.48, plus a $0.20 ICANN fee.

§1

The short answer

The gap is renewal. Porkbun lists .com at $11.08 to register, renew or transfer, including the ICANN fee, and expects about $11.81 after 1 November 2026. Namecheap lists $10.98 for the first year on sale ($14.98 list, $6.79 for new customers, one per household), then $18.48 a year, with a $0.20 ICANN fee added at checkout. From year two a Namecheap .com costs roughly $7 a year more.

The free extras overlap: both include WHOIS privacy, DNS with DNSSEC, URL forwarding and email forwarding. Porkbun adds free Let’s Encrypt SSL and runs its DNS on Cloudflare’s network; Namecheap sells PremiumDNS with DDoS protection and a 100% uptime guarantee for $4.88 a year.

Namecheap suits people who want hosting, email and SSL in the same account, a guided buying flow and 24/7 support. Porkbun offers phone support from 9am to 5pm Pacific every day, 24/7 email, and a JSON API for DNS and DNSSEC records. At either, check the renewal price of any extension other than .com.

Choose Porkbun if

  • You plan to keep a domain for years and want renewal to cost the same as the first year
  • You want to automate DNS records or ACME challenges through an API
  • You want free SSL certificates included with the domain

Choose Namecheap if

  • You are a new customer buying one domain and want the lowest first-year price
  • You want hosting, email and SSL in the same account
  • You want 24/7 chat support
§2

Side by side

Porkbun Namecheap
Stages HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise HobbyIndieStartupScale-upEnterprise
What it is Domain registrar Domain registrar
From .com $11.08/yr, same at renewal .com $10.98 first year (sale), renews $18.48
Free tier None None
.com year 1 $11.08 $10.98 sale ($14.98 list; $6.79 new customers)
.com renewal $11.08 (about $11.81 from 1 Nov 2026) $18.48
WHOIS privacy Free WHOIS privacy Free for life on eligible TLDs
DNS Free DNS on Cloudflare; DNSSEC toggle Free BasicDNS with DNSSEC; PremiumDNS $4.88/yr
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
  • .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
  • Free lifetime privacy and DNSSEC on eligible domains
  • Low first-year prices, especially for new customers
  • Hosting, email and SSL available in the same account
  • 24/7 support
Limitations
  • 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
  • .com renews at $18.48, well above the first-year sale price
  • A $0.20 ICANN fee is added on top of the listed price
  • The new-customer .com offer is limited to one domain per household
  • Some domains must be set to auto-renew days before expiry or they enter redemption

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

§3

Plans

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

Namecheap

.com registration
Sale price, list $14.98; new customers $6.79 with a promo code, one per household
$10.98 first year
.com renewal
Standard renewal rate
$18.48/yr
.com transfer
Sale price, includes a year
$11.48
PremiumDNS
DDoS-protected DNS with a 100% uptime guarantee
$4.88/yr
Private Email
One-month trial, then paid
Free trial

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