Free Domain and Free Domain Name?

**Ron Duke** · 04 April 2007, 10:05 PM

Is there such a thing as a provider of a free domain and free domain name? Extremely tight budget right now.
ron

**jamesmc** · 04 April 2007, 10:44 PM

You might try Yahoo, I read somewhere they were giving free domain names, I don't know the hitch though. Probably lots of advertisements on your website.

**GeoBen** · 05 April 2007, 03:02 AM

There is only ONE truly free provider.... no ads, no nothing. It is, in some respects a pain in the behind, but, it works....
AwardSpace

I have a site there where i post demos for clients (when i am lucky enough to get one). has all the essential goodies (php etc).

geo.

**parahandy** · 05 April 2007, 09:10 AM

Ron just type free domains in google there are hundreds of 'em out there

**Ross Macintosh** · 05 April 2007, 11:35 AM

I'd stay away from them. "Free" offers usually sneak up and bite you. Be weary they could be set up to bait and switch.

**handrawn** · 05 April 2007, 11:52 AM

much depends on what bandwidth you want.
these arn't free, but they are inexpensive, and like Ross I'd be wary of the 'free' ones.
I give them as examples which I have used without problems in the past, but I don't give any endorsement - there are lots around, or at least there were the last time I needed to look.

http://compila.com/
http://www.123-reg.co.uk/

**RTK** · 05 April 2007, 04:17 PM

Ron,

There's nothing that is "free"... There's always a twist...

If your site really takes off - and really gets traffic - you will be encouraged to look into other solutions... These "for now" free sites, might also run very slowly... or start doing so... Down-time is also a killer...

Never - EVER - allow your host to register your domain name for you... Do it yourself with your chosen domain registar. If you current host is horrible - you can simply move the site to another one, and point the domain name there. If your host registered the domain name for you - it will cost you an arm and a leg to "buy" it back (pay for the "administration fees" to move the domain name to your control).

Your best bet is to find a cheap plan.

Ron, I might also have another option if it really has to be 100% free (not sure if I have the time for it yet) - PM me, and we'll talk. Yes, it would be FREE for you and a few other... BUT there's one LITTLE twist... BUT ALSO a few HUUUGE benefits. It all depends what you need the hosting for...

Risto

**handrawn** · 05 April 2007, 06:55 PM

Risto is right

downtime and speed are important

His advice about domain names is good too.
When I moved on to 'better' things I did not have problems - the hosting companies promised free transfer, and it was ok [took 48hours to switch].
Others are not so lucky.

**a4hire** · 05 April 2007, 07:14 PM

I would have to agree with Risto. there is no such thing as a free lunch. You can find hosts and registrars pretty cheap these days. and it might be a lot cheaper than you think. I do my domain registration with Network solutions which is a little more expensive but I have no problems with them. And my host has some very cheap prices , you can check out hostgator.com

**GeoBen** · 05 April 2007, 10:37 PM

there may be no free lunches but there are lots of worthwhile free things on the net. Software, reference material and yes... an good free host as mentioned above.

I can understand the reservations, but I am not an idiot. i did considerable research on the matter. Awardspace has some weird notions, but you can get 200 mg of free space, php/Perl/MySQL FTP POP3/Imap and so on and so forth. It works. I use it.

geo.