Namecheap
Namecheap is a domain registrar: you search, buy and renew domains, and each one comes with free DNS, email forwarding and, on the main extensions, WHOIS privacy.
It suits founders who want the domain on its own, kept apart from their host.
A .com is $11.28 the first year and $18.48 a year to renew, as checked on 29 October 2026, and renewals cost more than the first year on every extension we checked.
Reviewed by the IndieHacked team
- What it does
- Search, buy and renew domains, with DNS, WHOIS privacy and email forwarding included at no charge.
- Our take
- Founders who want the domain on its own, kept apart from their host. DNS, WHOIS privacy and email forwarding come with it, so pointing the name at whichever service runs your product costs only the domain.
- Pricing
- PaidLow priceA .com is $11.28 for the first year and $18.48 a year to renew. A .io is $29.98, then $75.98; a .ai is $89.98 a year with a 2-year minimum, then $114.98, as checked on 29 October 2026. New customers can take a first .com for $6.48 with Namecheap's code NEWCOM648. ICANN adds $0.20 a year on some extensions, .com among them.
The IndieHacked breakdown
What it does
Namecheap is an ICANN-accredited registrar, selling domains since 2001. You search for a name, register it for up to 10 years, and manage it from the account panel: renewals, auto-renew, contacts and transfers, in bulk once you hold several.
Every domain comes with free BasicDNS and DNSSEC, and new registrations and transfers get WHOIS privacy free for life from Withheld for Privacy, on .com, .io, .ai, .co, .dev and .app among others. Email forwarding is free for up to 100 addresses. Private Email, shared hosting and SSL are paid add-ons.
Who it suits
Founders who keep the domain apart from the host. The free DNS points the name at whichever service runs your site or app, so moving to another host later means changing records, not registrars.
Privacy and forwarding cost nothing extra, which suits a founder registering a name before there is a company behind it: your contact details stay out of the public record, and mail to the new domain lands in the inbox you already use until you pay for a mailbox.
Not the right fit for
Founders who compare registrars on the first-year price. Renewals cost more on every extension we checked: a .io goes from $29.98 to $75.98 a year and a .co from $19.98 to $45.48, and a .ai takes 2 years up front, $179.96. Price the renewal before you settle on the name.
Founders who want the domain, hosting and deploys in one place. Namecheap's hosting is cPanel shared hosting built around WordPress, with nothing on its pages about deploying from Git, so an app hosted elsewhere still means pointing DNS at it. Sending mail from the domain needs Private Email or another provider; forwarding only receives.
Also on the shortlist
- Cloudflare RegistrarDomainsA .com is $10.46 a year, the registry's price with no markup; its domains use Cloudflare's nameservers.A .com is $10.46 a year, the same to renew, as checked on 30 October 2026
- PorkbunDomainsA .com is $11.08 to register and to renew, with DNS on Cloudflare's network and nameservers you can point anywhere; 20 email forwards free.A .com is $11.08 a year, the same to renew, as checked on 30 October 2026
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