Domain registrars, measured
What a .com really costs to keep: first-year vs renewal price, WHOIS privacy, transfers and checkout upsells. Prices reflect Verisign’s 1 November 2026 increase.
How this list is ordered
Ranked by refund terms, then privacy, then price transparency (above all, whether renewal matches the first-year price). Every registrar here includes free WHOIS privacy and we found no clear refund terms, so price transparency decides the order. Affiliate partners (Namecheap, Dynadot) are ranked the same way as everyone else. Verisign’s wholesale .com price rose from $10.26 to $10.97 on 1 November 2026, so no registrar can sell a .com renewal below about $11.17 without a loss.
| # | Name | .com first year | .com renewal | Transfer | WHOIS privacy | Upsells |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Cloudflare Registrar | At cost: about $11.17 | At cost: about $11.17 | At cost (includes 1 year) | Free (redacted by default) | None at checkout; requires Cloudflare DNS |
| 2 | Dynadot | $11.62 | $11.62 | $11.62 | Free | Optional add-ons |
| 3 | Porkbun | $11.81 | $11.81 | $11.81 | Free | not checked |
| 4 | NameSilo | $19.99 list; $12.00 with its Discount Program | not stated (not captured) | not stated (not captured) | Free | Says add-ons are free |
| 5 | Spaceship | not stated (third-party trackers list $9.68, or less with promo codes) | not stated (trackers list $10.88) | not stated | not stated (trackers list it as free) | Promo codes |
| 6 | Namecheap | $12.08 sale ($15.98 regular); $6.48 new-customer offer | $19.98 | $12.28 sale ($15.98 regular) | Free (Withheld for Privacy) | PremiumDNS $4.88/yr, SSL, email trial, hosting |
| 7 | Squarespace Domains | $10 | not stated (shown in your dashboard) | not stated | Free | Website builder and email |
| 8 | GoDaddy | Promo price that requires a 3-year purchase | About $22.99 (third-party reports) | not stated | Basic privacy reported included; paid protection tiers | Heavy: Domain Protection tiers, email, websites |
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Cloudflare Registrar Measured
.com about $11.17/yr
For a .com you plan to keep, Cloudflare is the most transparent option: you pay the wholesale price every year. The trade-off is being locked to Cloudflare DNS.
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Dynadot Measured
.com $11.62/yr
Dynadot is within about 45 cents of at-cost pricing with no renewal jump and no DNS lock-in. Dynadot is an affiliate partner; its position comes from its published prices and would be the same without the link.
Full breakdown Visit Dynadot (affiliate link)
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Porkbun Measured
.com $11.81/yr
Porkbun’s .com price is flat and published, with free privacy. It’s a little dearer than Dynadot and Cloudflare, but you get no DNS lock-in.
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NameSilo Measured
.com $19.99 list; $12.00 with Discount Program
NameSilo can be cheap, but the $12.00 price depends on its Discount Program, and we couldn’t confirm renewal pricing. Check the renewal tab on its pricing page first.
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Spaceship Measured
not stated on its site
Spaceship may be among the cheapest, but it doesn’t publish a price page we could read, so it ranks below registrars with clear prices. Confirm the renewal price in the cart.
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Namecheap Measured
.com $12.08 first year (sale); $19.98 renewal
Namecheap is cheap to start but renews at $19.98, about $8 a year more than the flat-price registrars above. Fine for a short-term domain; for a long-term one the renewal gap adds up. Namecheap is an affiliate partner; that didn’t change its position.
Full breakdown Visit Namecheap (affiliate link)
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Squarespace Domains Measured
$10 first year; renewal not stated
Squarespace’s first year is cheap, but it doesn’t publish the renewal price, so you can’t compare the cost of keeping the domain. Check the dashboard before you commit.
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GoDaddy Measured
Promo first year with 3-year term; renewal about $22.99
GoDaddy’s headline price hides a multi-year commitment and a renewal about double the at-cost price. Unless you need something only GoDaddy offers, the registrars above cost less to keep.