11 free custom domain providers to create websites (2024 Guide)

In the competitive realm of the internet, a memorable and professional domain name is crucial for establishing a strong online presence.

Unlike subdomains (e.g. yourname.wordpress.com), custom domains (e.g. yourname.com) communicate authenticity, seriousness, and professionalism to your site visitors.

While custom domains often come with a price tag, many website hosting providers offer free custom domains as part of their subscription packages.

These are usually offered free for the first year of use and require yearly payments afterward.

These free domains provide an attractive option for individuals and businesses seeking to establish their online identity without incurring additional costs.

Advantages of free custom domains

1. Brand Enhancement: A custom domain name creates a sense of professionalism and enhances brand recognition.
2. Improved Search Engine Optimization (SEO): Custom domain names can positively impact SEO, making it easier for search engines to index and rank your website.
3. Ease of Use: Setting up and managing a free custom domain is typically straightforward and integrated into the hosting provider’s control panel.
4. Cost-Effective Solution: Free custom domains eliminate the upfront cost of registering a domain name, reducing the overall cost of website ownership.

1. GoDaddy

Visit GODADDY

Notes

1. Boats about 20+ million customers, has a multilingual customer support
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.7/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: Economy (Shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: Shared, WordPress, Ecommerce, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller.
2. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
3. Backups: Daily
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Traffic: unmetered
6. Bandwidth: unlimited
7. Web space: 100Gb
8. Starting price = $5.99/month (shared hosting)
9. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($8.99)
10. The number of hosting plans: 4 (Starter, Economy, Deluxe, Ultimate)
11. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
12. Billing period: 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years, 5 years
13. Payment methods: Card, PayPal
14. Hosting control panel: cPanel
15. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, chat, email, multilingual)
16. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1

Cons

1. No free SSL certificate
2. .ng domains: Not available
3. Backup restore attracts a fee
4. No free domain emails

GoDaddy is a website hosting juggernaut that offers an enormous variety of goods.

The company provides services for WordPress websites that range from basic personal blogs to fully functional eCommerce websites.

A simple website builder, email hosting, Microsoft 365 hosting, digital marketing tools, domain registration, payment processing, point-of-sale systems, and a long list of other features are available in their hosting plans.

With only a few clicks, an automated installer installs 150+ additional widely used web applications, including WordPress.

cPanel gives users all the tools needed to manage hosting accounts.

GoDaddy more than satisfies user support needs with its extensive knowledge base, multilingual live chat, and phone support available in an astounding 15+ languages.

2. Dreamhost

Visit DREAMHOST

Notes

1. Recommended by WordPress.org, trusted by 1.5 million websites
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.7/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: Shared Unlimited (Shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: Shared, VPS, Managed WordPress, Dedicated and Cloud.
2. Free features: SSL
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, WordPress pre-installed
4. Backups: Daily
5. Free domain: Yes
6. Traffic: unmetered
7. Bandwidth: unlimited
8. Web space: unmetered
9. Starting price = $2.95/month (shared hosting)
10. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ (12.99)
11. The number of hosting plans: 2 (Shared starter, Shared unlimited)
12. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 97 days
13. Billing period: 1 month, 1 year, 3 years
14. Payment methods: Card, PayPal
15. Hosting control panel: Custom-built
16. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone support callbacks, chat, email, support ticket)
17. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
18. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (unlimited)

Cons

1. .ng domains: Not available

One of the oldest and most recognized website hosting providers in the industry, DreamHost is a well-known WordPress-approved hosting service that hosts more than 1.5 million websites.

Because DreamHost offers quick websites at competitive pricing, people trust them.

They provide a streamlined web hosting environment where users with more technical expertise can access more resources and features for their hosting without having to switch hosting providers, while beginners can easily get started managing their website hosting with the custom user-friendly control panel.

DreamHost offers the best value of any web host out there for shared hosting.

In addition, Dreamhost provides free domain privacy, which prevents your contact information from being publicly registered with your domain, a feature that most hosting providers charge a price for.

3. Hostinger

Visit HOSTINGER

Notes

1. About 1.4 million users
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.5/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: WordPress Starter (WordPress shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, VPS, WordPress, eCommerce and Cloud.
2. Free features: SSL, site acceleration with LiteSpeed caching
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Traffic: ~25 000 visits monthly
6. Bandwidth: unlimited
7. Web space: 100 GB SSD
8. Starting price = $1.99/month (shared hosting)
9. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $ ($6.99)
10. The number of hosting plans: 4 (Single WordPress, WordPress Starter, Business WordPress, and WordPress Pro)
11. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
12. Billing period: 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, 4 years
13. Payment methods: card, PayPal, Google Pay, Alipay, and Coingate (Cryptocurrency)
14. Hosting control panel: hPanel
15. Customer support: Good (24/7, live chat, email)
16. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 100 websites
17. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (100)

Cons

1. Backups: weekly (Only 2 pricier plans get daily backups)
2. .ng domains: Not available
3. No dedicated hosting
4. No free domain on the cheapest plan
5. CDN, and SSH available only for pricier plans
6. No phone customer support

Hostinger provides trustworthy web hosting at a fantastic price.

Another excellent choice for new or low-traffic websites, this hosting is by far one of the more affordable options available, without sacrificing the quality of the hosting plans.

Despite not offering dedicated hosting plans, which may be a problem for commercial users who want the fastest speeds, Hostinger’s cloud hosting plans give you dedicated system resources.

If you require additional space, consider upgrading to one of their VPS or cloud hosting options.

With enticing and thoughtfully arranged navigation icons, the custom hPanel control panel used by Hostinger is user-friendly and simple to use.

4. IONOS

Visit IONOS

Notes

1. Trustpilot rating – 4.4/5
2. The cheapest plan reviewed: Start (Shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, VPS, Dedicated, WordPress, and Cloud.
2. Free features: SSL
3. Backups: Daily
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Traffic: unmetered
6. Bandwidth: unlimited
7. Web space: 25Gb SSD
8. Starting price = $3/month (shared hosting)
9. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($6/month)
10. The number of hosting plans: 3 (Start Grow, Boost)
11. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
12. Billing period: 1 month, 1 year
13. Payment methods: Card, PayPal
14. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, live chat, support ticket)
15. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
16. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (1)

Cons

1. .ng domains: Not available

IONOS is a renowned provider of website hosting services, catering to individuals and businesses of all sizes.

They are one of the largest hosting providers in Europe, with over 8 million customers in over 30 countries.

IONOS offers a variety of shared hosting plans, VPS hosting plans, dedicated hosting plans, and cloud hosting plans. IONOS also offers a wide range of other services, such as domain registration, email hosting, and website builders.

Their comprehensive range of hosting plans, coupled with their commitment to quality and customer satisfaction, has established them as a trusted partner in the digital landscape.

5. GreenGeeks

Visit GREENGEEKS

Notes

1. Eco-Friendly Hosting
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.2/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: Lite (WordPress shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: Shared, WordPress, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller.
2. Free features: SSL, CDN, caching
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Backups: Daily
5. Free domain: Yes
6. Traffic: unmetered
7. Bandwidth: unlimited
8. Web space: 50Gb
9. Starting price = $1.99/month (shared hosting)
10. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($10.95)
11. The number of hosting plans: 3 (Lite, Pro, Premium)
12. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
13. Billing period: 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years
14. Payment methods: Card
15. Hosting control panel: cPanel
16. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, chat, email)
17. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
18. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (50)

Cons

1. .ng domains: Not available
2. Phone support isn’t 24/7

By building their platform to be as energy-efficient as possible and using renewable energy to power their website hosting services, GreenGeeks claims to be the first green energy web hosting provider in the world.

They go above and beyond simply saying they support the environment.

This is a great option for companies and websites that care about the environment.

Consequently, you can feel good about building your website and promoting a green environment at the same time.

6. Hostwinds

Visit HOSTWINDS

Notes

1. Trustpilot rating – 4.2/5
2. The cheapest plan reviewed: Basic plan (Shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, VPS, Dedicated, WordPress, WooCommerce, Reseller, and Cloud.
2. Free features: SSL
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Backups: Daily
5. Free domain: Yes
6. Traffic: unmetered
7. Bandwidth: unlimited
8. Web space: unmetered
9. Starting price = $5.24/month (shared hosting)
10. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($6.99/month)
11. The number of hosting plans: 3 (Basic, Advanced, Ultimate)
12. Hosting control panel: cPanel
13. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, live chat, knowledgebase)
14. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
15. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (unlimited)

Cons

1. .ng domains: Not available

Hostwinds is a global web hosting provider offering a range of hosting solutions for individuals, businesses, and organizations of all sizes.

Founded in 2010, Hostwinds has quickly established itself as a reputable and reliable provider, garnering a loyal customer base worldwide.

Hostwinds’ primary focus is on providing high-performance, affordable hosting solutions that cater to diverse needs.

Their extensive product portfolio includes shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, cloud hosting, and reseller hosting.

Each hosting type is tailored to specific requirements, ensuring optimal performance and scalability for various website types and workloads.

They also offer domain registration, email hosting, and website builders.

They are a popular choice for web hosting because of their reliable uptime, fast speeds, and excellent customer support.

7. HostGator

Visit HOSTGATOR

Notes

1. Affordable web hosting
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.1/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: Hatchling plan (Shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, VPS, Dedicated, WordPress, WooCommerce, Reseller, and Cloud.
2. Free features: SSL
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Backups: Daily
5. Free domain: Yes
6. Traffic: unmetered
7. Bandwidth: unlimited
8. Web space: unmetered
9. Starting price = $2.75/month (shared hosting)
10. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($8.95/month)
11. The number of hosting plans: 3 (Hatchling, Baby, and Business)
12. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 45 days
13. Billing period: 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years
14. Payment methods: Card, PayPal
15. Hosting control panel: cPanel
16. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, live chat, knowledgebase)
17. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
18. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (unlimited)

Cons

1. .ng domains: Not available
2. Limited VPS/ dedicated server configuration options

As a top-tier web hosting company, HostGator offers products for users of all skill levels.

Using HostGator’s reseller plans, you could even launch your own hosting company.

They provide all the necessary hosting components at an affordable price and give a 45-day money-back guarantee All of HostGator’s plans do include support.

A wide collection of how-to manuals is available from HostGator for technical help.

You can contact phone, live chat, and email assistance if you can not find the solutions you are looking for.

8. InMotion Hosting

Visit INMOTION

Notes

1. A great option for VPS and Reseller hosting
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.1/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: Startup (WordPress shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, WordPress, WooCommerce, VPS, Dedicated, and Reseller.
2. Free features: SSL, CDN, caching
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Traffic: unmetered
6. Bandwidth: unlimited
7. Web space: 100Gb SSD
8. Starting price = $3.49/month (shared hosting)
9. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($9.99/month)
10. The number of hosting plans: 4 (Core, Launch, Power, Pro)
11. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 90 days
12. Billing period: 1 month, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years
13. Payment methods: Card, PayPal, US Purchase Order/Check
14. Hosting control panel: cPanel
15. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, chat, email)
16. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 2
17. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (10)

Cons

1. No free backups
2. .ng domains: Not available

InMotion Hosting is a popular provider with 20+ years of hosting experience and an impressive array of plans covering all kinds of applications.

InMotion offers plenty more, from configurable VPS plans to powerful dedicated servers, and enterprise-level hosted private cloud solutions.

However demanding your website might be, InMotion Hosting has the power to help.

InMotion’s reseller hosting should appeal to anyone who wants to take a stab at becoming a web hosting provider.

If you need a virtual private server (VPS), InMotion is the host for you.

Compared to shared hosting, VPS hosting gives you more control over the server.

This is fantastic, however, configuring a server requires technical skills.

You might choose a Managed VPS package if you do have the technical skills or are not proficient with working with the command line.

Here, the hosting will take care of the technical aspects and monitor security for you.

Every package from InMotion VPS comes with the option of root access, hence making server changes will not require an upgrade.

You can be sure that your website has the resources it needs to manage any traffic with InMotion VPS.

9. Namecheap

Visit NAMECHEAP

Notes

1. Trustpilot rating – 4.1/5
2. The cheapest plan reviewed: Stellar plan (Shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, VPS, Dedicated, WordPress, and Reseller.
2. Free features: SSL
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Traffic: unmetered
6. Bandwidth: unlimited
7. Web space: 20Gb SSD
8. Starting price = $1.98/month (shared hosting)
9. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $ ($4.48/month)
10. The number of hosting plans: 3 (Stellar, Stellar Plus, Stellar Business)
11. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
12. Billing period: 1 month, 6 months, 1 year, 3 years
13. Payment methods: Card, PayPal
14. Hosting control panel: cPanel
15. Customer support: Good (24/7, Phone, live chat, support ticket, knowledgebase)
16. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 3
17. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (30)

Cons

1. .ng domains: Not available
2. No daily backup (twice weekly available)

Namecheap is a popular domain registrar and web hosting provider that offers a wide range of services to individuals and businesses of all sizes.

Founded in 2000, Namecheap has grown to become one of the largest domain registrars in the world, with over 14 million customers in over 190 countries.

Namecheap is known for its affordable pricing, reliable uptime, and excellent customer support.

The company offers a variety of shared hosting, VPS hosting, dedicated hosting, and cloud hosting plans.

Namecheap also offers a wide range of other services, such as domain registration, email hosting, and website builders.

10. Bluehost

Visit BLUEHOST

Notes

1. Recommended by WordPress.org, the best Shared hosting
2. Trustpilot rating – 4.0/5
3. The cheapest plan reviewed: Basic (WordPress shared hosting)

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: shared, WordPress, VPS, Dedicated, WooCommerce, and Reseller.
2. Free features: SSL, CDN
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Traffic: unmetered
6. Bandwidth: unlimited
7. Web space: 10Gb
8. Starting price = $2.95/month (shared hosting)
9. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $$ ($9.99)
10. The number of hosting plans: 4 (Basic, Plus, Choice Plus and Pro)
11. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
12. Billing period: 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years
13. Payment methods: Card, PayPal
14. Hosting control panel: both cPanel and custom-built panel
15. Customer support: Excellent (24/7, Phone, live chat, email)
16. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
17. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (5)
18. NOTE: Recommended by WordPress

Cons

1. Backup: only available with the most expensive plan
2. .ng domains: Not available
3. No cloud hosting
4. No monthly billing
5. VPS and Dedicated plans lack customization

When it comes to web hosting companies, Bluehost is a top pick thanks to its wide selection of feature-rich plans, simple setup, dependable network, and excellent live chat support.

Their site speed and uptime ratings are outstanding.

With significantly lower costs, especially for the first year, it is one of the most well-liked web hosting providers in the world, especially among beginners, and those who are just starting their WordPress websites.

They provide excellent rates and a platform that is user-friendly for beginners, making it simple to manage every part of a WordPress website.

You have a wide range of hosting options with Bluehost, including managed WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting.

You can expand with Bluehost as well when you are ready to upgrade for greater server power and control.

11. HostPapa

Visit HOSTPAPA.COM

Notes

1. The cheapest plan reviewed: WP Start (WordPress Shared hosting)
2. Trustpilot rating:
3. Trustpilot rating: 4.8/5

Pros

1. Types of hosting available: Shared, WordPress, Managed WordPress, VPS, and Reseller.
2. Free features: SSL, CDN, caching
3. WordPress features: Free migration, auto-updates, one-click installation
4. Free domain: Yes
5. Bandwidth: unlimited
6. Web space: 100Gb
7. Starting price = $4.95/month (₦2,202.75)
8. The regular price of the cheapest plan: $8.95/month (₦3,982.75)
9. The number of hosting plans: 4 (WP Start, WP Plus, WP Pro, WP Ultra)
10. Duration of the money-back guarantee: 30 days
11. Billing period: flexible (1 month, 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, 3 years)
12. Payment methods: Card payment, PayPal
13. Hosting control panel: cPanel
14. Customer support: Phone, live chat, email, support ticket, knowledge base
15. The number of websites with the cheapest plan: 1
16. Free domain emails with the cheapest plan (number): Yes (10)

Cons

1. No .ng domains
2. No free backups on the 2 cheaper plans, automatic backup is only for the pricier plans
3. A limited number of free emails with the 2cheaper plans

HostPapa is a Canadian company based in Toronto.

They also scored a solid n A+ for their worldwide average speed of 130.4 ms!

Aside from speed, we just love HostPapa’s user-friendly interface.

They’re utilizing cPanel which is one of the best web hosting management tools on the market.

cPanel simplifies the most complex aspects of managing a hosting account through handy features like the 1-click installer Softaculous and a nice visual interface that’s easy for even beginners to understand.

Since cPanel upped its prices in 2020, we’ve seen many web hosts drop them, but HostPapa has held on.