Have you been searching for a domain name for your website that costs nothing? Have you ever got it and had to pay for it later?
Getting a free domain name for your free website
is not an easy task. I have had a tough time searching for ways to get free domain name for my website. If you ask me, I would say it’s rather impossible to get a free domain, unless you have some kind of
a coupon or free a give away. You cannot, ever get a free domain name for your website.
But I have seen people using free domains.
Well, what you have seen are not free domains but are free subdomains. Now, a subdomain is a part of a larger domain. Take the example of this website fazals.ddns.net. Here the root domain is ddns.net which remains the sole property of its owner and is called the top level domain. However, the prefix to the domain, here fazals, defines a subdomain.
Fun Fact: Subdomains could or couldn’t be free, even if they are free, they might have “some restrictions”.
What kind of restrictions on a free subdomain?
Well, most of the free subdomain providers restrict the use of subdomain to only A or AAAA type. Meaning that they can only be used to point to an IP address, be it IPv4 or IPv6.
Can I create any number of subdomains?
Well, this is the second restriction you will usually have. The domain providers restrict the number of subdomains you can use. For example No-IP restricts you to use only 3 subdomains at any time. FreeDNS allows a maximum of 5.
Are free subdomains worth it?
Well they are free, so definitely, they are worth it. You are using something for which others have already paid.
Who?
The owners of the root or the top level domain.
That’s enough answering questions, lets jump on to how you can get one.
There are number of domain name providers that will offer you a free domain name. Yes, domain and not subdomain, but only when you purchase a hosting plan which is quite expensive. Well at least for me.
A few most famous web hosting and domain name providers
Luckily, there are many free subdomain providers that actually provide subdomain for free. And yes, they have some restrictions, but they can definitely be ignored when compared to what is being provided.
Create a website for free and that too without coding, fascinating right? Check it out.
Free subdomain providers
I personally prefer using No-IP and FreeDNS as they are a little more versatile and provide fast updates. You can literally use any of them.
No-IP and FreeDNS also provide Dynamic DNS clients so that you will be able to use them of self hosted website whose ip address keeps on changing.
Whats Dynamic DNS and why should I use it?
Have you ever noticed that your ip address on your mobile and broadband network keep changing?
If yes, then your ip address is dynamic, and not static. Imagine you have a dynamic
ip address allocated, the one which keeps changing and you are hosting a website. You setup a domain name to point toward that ip address.
For time being, you are able to access the website. Then, your ip address has suddenly changed. You can no longer access your website. You need to manually change the domain-ip mapping. Instead of doing it manually, the Dynamic DNS or the DDNS clients that run either on the router or on any other computer on your network update the domain-ip mapping automatically whenever a change in ip is detected.
So that’s how you get a free domain name. It’s simple, it’s easy and the most economically efficient way of getting a domain name.
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