How to get a free domain name and website in 2026

You can get a free address three ways: use a $0 builder subdomain on Heya, Wix, or WordPress.com, claim a community subdomain from is-a.dev or EU.org, or get a 1-year domain voucher with annual plans starting at $2.49 per month on Hostinger. Otherwise, a .com starts at $11.08 per year at Porkbun.

Heya is ours, so read its row with that in mind. Every other number comes from each company's own pages, checked on October 28, 2026.

The short answer

How to get a free website and domain step by step

  1. Choose between a free subdomain, a 1-year voucher, or an at-cost domain A truly $0 address is always a subdomain like yourname.heya.bio, yoursite.wordpress.com, .is-a.dev, or an EU.org subdomain. A custom top-level domain like .com is only free for 1 year when bundled with an annual paid website plan on Wix, WordPress.com, or Hostinger (or included on Squarespace's Basic plan), or you can buy one outright starting at $11.08 USD per year at Porkbun or at cost via Cloudflare Registrar.
  2. Start building your page for $0 without an account If you want a free website on a subdomain right away, open Heya and pick from 68 templates or a blank page. You can build on a phone or computer without an account, and drafts save in your browser until you publish.
  3. Add your blocks, links, and embeds Use Heya's 10 block types to add headings, text, images, up to 6 buttons per buttons block, up to 50 links per links block, and socials linking to 29 networks plus email, phone, and website. You can also embed YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, SoundCloud, Calendly, or Google Maps.
  4. Publish at your free .heya.bio address Sign in with Google to publish your site at yourname.heya.bio for $0 with no credit card required. Heya serves sites over HTTPS with an automatic sitemap.xml and robots.txt, and the Free plan includes 68 templates and up to 5 pages per site.
  5. Or claim a community subdomain or 1-year domain voucher If you are a developer hosting HTML elsewhere, fork the is-a-dev/register repository on GitHub and open a pull request to get a free .is-a.dev subdomain. Heya Pro Standard costs $6 a month and connects 1 custom domain you already own, while WordPress.com (from $4 per month) and Hostinger (from $2.49/mo for 48 months paid upfront) include a free custom domain for 1 year.

Every way to get a free or at-cost domain compared

This table compares free website builders, free community subdomain projects, and low-cost domain registrars.

Provider Starting price Free address or offer Custom domain rules Key catch or limit
Heya $0 Free; Pro Lite $3/mo yourname.heya.bio subdomain Pro Standard ($6/mo) includes up to 5 sites and connects 1 custom domain you own per account Up to 5 pages on Free; Google sign-in only
Wix $0 Free; Light $17/month (billed yearly) Free Wix domain; 1-year custom domain on annual plans Included for 1 year on new annual Premium plans Free plan keeps Wix branding; voucher is for new domains only
Squarespace 14-day free trial; Basic $19/month Free custom domain on Basic plan Requires choosing a paid plan to connect and go live No permanent free plan; 2% store fee on Basic
WordPress.com Free plan; paid from $2.75/month (3-year) or $4/month (annual) yoursite.wordpress.com; 1-year domain on annual/multi-year plans Unlocked on paid plans; free for first year on annual or multi-year Free plan shows ads to visitors and has 1 GB storage
Hostinger Website Builder 14-day trial; Premium $2.49/mo ($119.52 upfront for 48 months) Free custom domain for 1 year on yearly or longer plans Must be registered within 12 months of buying plan Paid upfront; Premium renews at $10.99/mo for 48-month term
is-a.dev Free .is-a.dev or .is-a.bot subdomain Subdomain DNS only (uses Cloudflare Project Alexandria) For developers; requires GitHub pull request without AI
EU.org Free Free subdomain (since 1996) Subdomain registration for users or non-profits No support provided; excludes CY, GR, and NL.eu.org
Cloudflare Registrar At or below registry and ICANN cost (no markup) No free domain; sells 430+ TLDs at wholesale cost Full registrar with free DNS, CDN, SSL, and WHOIS redaction Domain registration is paid; no markup on renewals
Porkbun .COM from $11.08/year; .ORG from $7.98 first year ($11.84 renewal) No free domain; includes free WHOIS privacy and SSL Quick Connect links to Squarespace, Wix, or Weebly $200 restoration fee in Redemption Grace Period

Swipe the table sideways to see every column.

Prices and plan rules reflect the stated facts for each provider; Hostinger lists prices without VAT and Wix displays USD prices for yearly subscriptions paid in full.

Detailed breakdown of each free domain and website option

Heya

Free ($0); Pro Lite $3/mo; Pro Standard $6/mo

Our Heya Free plan costs $0 with no credit card and publishes up to 3 sites (up to 5 pages each) at yourname.heya.bio. You can build without an account using 68 templates and 10 block types, or pay $3 a month for Pro Lite.

Better at
$0 publishing on a .heya.bio subdomain with 68 templates and full phone editing.
Watch out
Connecting a custom domain you own requires Pro Standard ($6 a month, 1 custom domain per account), and Free sites show a small badge.

Wix

Free ($0); Light from $17/month (yearly)

Wix has a $0 Free plan with no credit card needed, using a free Wix domain with Wix branding. For a custom domain and a 1-year free domain voucher, the Light plan costs $17 per month (paid yearly in full).

Better at
Over 2000 templates plus built-in scheduling, eCommerce, blogging, and CRM tools.
Watch out
1-year domain voucher requires an annual plan from $17/month and does not cover renewals.

Squarespace

14-day trial; Basic from $19/month

Squarespace gives you a 14-day free trial with no credit card required. Going live with a free custom domain takes a paid plan starting with Basic at $19 per month, and you can save up to 36% by paying annually.

Better at
ICANN-accredited registrar with Fluid Engine drag-and-drop, Acuity Scheduling, and eCommerce.
Watch out
No permanent free plan; requires at least $19/month to publish your site.

WordPress.com

Free plan; paid from $2.75/mo (3-year) or $4/mo (annual)

WordPress.com has a free plan with no expiration date, 1 GB of storage, and a yoursite.wordpress.com subdomain. Paid plans start at $2.75 per month billed every 3 years or $4 per month billed annually, and include a free custom domain for the first year.

Better at
Unlimited pages on the free subdomain and low-cost annual plans with 60,000+ plugins.
Watch out
Free plan shows ads to visitors and does not allow custom domains or plugins.

Hostinger Website Builder

14-day trial; Premium from $2.49/mo (48 months upfront)

Hostinger Website Builder has a 14-day free trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee. The Premium plan is $2.49/mo ($119.52 upfront for 48 months without VAT, renewing at $10.99/mo) and includes a free domain for 1 year.

Better at
$2.49/mo starting rate with a 1-year domain voucher and 0% transaction fees.
Watch out
All plans must be paid upfront, and mailboxes renew at $0.59/mo after year one.

is-a.dev

Free

is-a.dev is a free service for developers that provides .is-a.dev and .is-a.bot subdomains for personal websites. You fork the is-a-dev/register repository on GitHub and submit a pull request without using AI, and DNS records publish within a few minutes.

Better at
Genuinely free developer subdomain with fast DNS publishing after pull request merge.
Watch out
Requires GitHub pull request workflow and is strictly for developer personal sites or bots.

EU.org

Free

EU.org has given free subdomain registrations to individuals and non-profit organizations since 1996. It has no relation with the European Union and runs its server on a FreeBSD Unix PC with Apache. Keep in mind that EU.org doesn't handle requests for CY.eu.org, GR.eu.org, or NL.eu.org.

Better at
Long-running free subdomain option for individuals and non-profits since 1996.
Watch out
Provides no official support, leaving only a users mailing list for help.

Cloudflare Registrar

At or below registry and ICANN cost (no markup)

Cloudflare Registrar sells and renews over 430 top-level domains (.com, .net, .org, .ai, .app, .dev) at or below registry and ICANN costs, with no markup. Every domain gets free DNS, CDN, SSL, WHOIS redaction, and one-click DNSSEC.

Better at
Zero markup on both registration and renewals, avoiding second-year price spikes.
Watch out
Does not give away free domains; you pay the wholesale registry and ICANN fee.

Porkbun

.COM from $11.08/yr; .NET from $12.52/yr; .ORG from $7.98/yr

Porkbun sells single-year domains in USD with ICANN fees included: .COM starts from $11.08 per year, .NET from $12.52 per year, and .ORG from $7.98 for the first year ($11.84 renewal). You also get free WHOIS privacy, SSL certificates, and Quick Connect.

Better at
Clear upfront .com pricing with 20 free email forwards, URL forwarding, and daily support.
Watch out
Additional services do not include a free domain, and Redemption Grace Period recovery costs $200.

The rules and limits that matter for free domains

No registrar gives away a .com domain for $0 without a paid bundle. When Wix, WordPress.com, or Hostinger offer a free domain, it's a 1-year voucher tied to an annual or multi-year plan. Wix's voucher only works for a new domain and needs a plan starting at $17 per month billed yearly. WordPress.com includes the 1-year domain on annual ($4 per month billed annually) or multi-year ($2.75 per month billed every 3 years) plans, not monthly ones. Hostinger makes you pay for a yearly or longer plan upfront and register the domain within 12 months.

To pay $0 total, use a builder subdomain like yourname.heya.bio, yoursite.wordpress.com, or a free Wix domain, or apply at is-a.dev or EU.org. Otherwise, Porkbun sells .com domains from $11.08 USD per year, and Cloudflare Registrar charges wholesale registry and ICANN rates.

What to put on your free website

Start with a clear heading, a short note on who you are or what your project does, and your main contact method near the top so people don't have to scroll. On our builder, Heya, you can pick from 68 templates (56 made for jobs like plumbers, photographers, restaurants, and weddings) and style your page with 42 fonts, 14 theme presets, and a 5-color palette.

You can add a buttons block with up to 6 buttons, a links block with up to 50 links, and a socials block for up to 29 networks plus email, phone, and website. Our embed block handles Calendly, Google Maps, YouTube, Vimeo, Spotify, and SoundCloud. Before publishing, set your site name, description, page titles, language, tab icon, and a 1200x630 share image.

Common mistakes when claiming a free domain or website

People often pick a monthly plan expecting a free domain, but WordPress.com, Wix, and Hostinger only include their 1-year domain on annual or multi-year plans. Watch upfront billing and renewals too: Hostinger's $2.49/mo Premium plan is $119.52 upfront for 48 months, renews at $10.99/mo for the same term, and renews its free mailboxes at $0.59/mo after year one.

On is-a.dev, pull requests get rejected if you generate them with AI or skip review changes. If a Porkbun domain hits the Redemption Grace Period, there's a $200 restoration fee plus the renewal price. Also check plan limits before building: Heya's Free plan shows a small badge and allows up to 5 pages per site, and WordPress.com's free plan shows ads.

How we checked

We compared website builders, community subdomain registries, and domain registrars using their stated pricing, billing terms, free subdomain rules, first-year domain voucher conditions, and renewal policies. The facts come from cloudflare.com/domains, nic.eu.org, hostinger.com/website-builder, github.com/is-a-dev/register, is-a.dev, porkbun.com/products/domains, squarespace.com/pricing, squarespace.com/websites, wix.com/plans, wix.com, wordpress.com/pricing, heya.page/pricing, heya.page/docs.

Plans change often. If a number here is out of date, email hello@heya.page and we'll fix it.

FAQ

Can I get a .com domain name for free without paying for hosting?

No provider in this comparison gives you a free .com domain without a paid plan. Wix, Squarespace, WordPress.com, and Hostinger only include a free custom domain when you buy an eligible paid website plan. Without a plan, you can buy a .com starting at $11.08 USD per year at Porkbun or at registry cost from Cloudflare Registrar.

Which website builders give you a completely free website and subdomain?

Heya, Wix, and WordPress.com all have $0 free plans with no credit card required, and Heya and WordPress.com have no expiration date. Our Heya Free plan gives you up to 3 sites with up to 5 pages at yourname.heya.bio and a small Made with Heya badge. WordPress.com uses yoursite.wordpress.com with 1 GB storage and ads, while Wix gives you a free Wix domain with Wix branding.

What is the cheapest way to get a free custom domain for the first year?

Hostinger Website Builder starts at $2.49/mo on its Premium plan ($119.52 paid upfront for 48 months) and includes a free domain for 1 year on yearly or longer plans. WordPress.com starts at $2.75 per month billed every 3 years, or $4 per month billed annually, and includes a first-year free domain on all annual and multi-year plans.

How do free community domains like is-a.dev and EU.org work?

Both is-a.dev and EU.org give out free subdomains rather than top-level .com domains. is-a.dev gives developers a free .is-a.dev or .is-a.bot subdomain when they fork the is-a-dev/register GitHub repository and get a pull request merged. EU.org has provided free subdomains to individuals and non-profits since 1996, though it offers no support beyond a users mailing list.

How do domains work on Heya?

On Heya Free ($0) and Heya Pro Lite ($3 a month), you publish up to 3 sites at a yourname.heya.bio address. Heya Pro Standard ($6 a month) includes up to 5 sites and lets you connect 1 custom domain you already own per account with HTTPS included, while Pro Plus ($15 a month) supports up to 10 custom domains and HTML ZIP downloads.

How much does a domain cost if I buy it separately from a registrar?

At Porkbun, a single-year .COM starts at $11.08 USD per year, a .NET starts at $12.52 USD per year, and a .ORG starts at $7.98 USD for the first year with $11.84 USD renewals, including ICANN fees and free WHOIS privacy. Cloudflare Registrar sells over 430 top-level domains at or below registry and ICANN cost with zero markup and free WHOIS redaction.

Try Heya free

Start building your site on Heya for $0 with no account required, choose from 68 templates, and publish up to 3 sites at yourname.heya.bio with Google sign-in.