Porkbun
Porkbun is a domain registrar that sells most domains at cost, with free DNS, SSL, email forwarding and, where the registry allows it, WHOIS privacy on each one.
It suits founders who want a .com that renews at its first-year price and nameservers they can point anywhere.
A .com is $11.08 a year to register and the same to renew, as checked on 30 October 2026.
Reviewed by the IndieHacked team
- What it does
- Buy and renew domains at cost on most extensions, with WHOIS privacy, SSL, DNS and email forwarding included at no charge.
- Our take
- Founders who want the .com to renew at its first-year price and the nameservers left to them. The DNS runs on Cloudflare's network but can point anywhere, and Claude, ChatGPT or Cursor can register a name and set its records through Porkbun's own MCP server, inside a monthly spend limit.
- Pricing
- PaidLow priceA .com is $11.08 a year to register and to renew, which Porkbun breaks down as $10.26 to the registry, $0.20 to ICANN and $0.62 in card fees. A .io is $28.12 the first year, then $51.80; a .ai is $82.70 a year, taken 2 years at a time; a .co is $15.76, then $31.20; a .dev is $8.75, then $12.87, as checked on 30 October 2026. Prices include ICANN and other fees. A transfer in costs one year and, on most extensions, adds that year to the registration. Renewals are final and not refunded.
The IndieHacked breakdown
What it does
Porkbun is an ICANN-accredited registrar selling hundreds of extensions, most at cost: the registry's price, the ICANN fee and card processing, with no markup on top. Each domain comes with free DNS on Cloudflare's infrastructure, URL forwarding, up to 20 email forwards, a wildcard Let's Encrypt certificate on Porkbun's nameservers and, where the registry allows it, WHOIS privacy from Private By Design.
You search, buy and manage domains on porkbun.com, or an agent does it for you. Porkbun builds its own MCP server, hosted for ChatGPT and Claude or run locally, and its API has a sandbox, dry runs and a monthly spend limit, $100 by default. Email hosting, WordPress and static hosting sit in the same account, as does a search of aftermarket listings for names someone else holds.
Who it suits
Founders who will hold the domain for years. A .com renews at $11.08, the price of its first year, and Porkbun lists the first-year and renewal price side by side, so the cost of keeping a name is on the page before you buy it.
It fits a founder who keeps the domain apart from the host: the records sit on Cloudflare's network, the nameservers can point at any provider, and people answer by phone and chat from 9am to 5pm Pacific each day of the year, by email around the clock. If an agent already builds your product, it can register the next name and point it at your server through the MCP server.
Not the right fit for
Founders whose site already runs through Cloudflare and who want the domain in that same account. Cloudflare Registrar, reviewed here, sells at the registry's price and keeps the name in the dashboard that holds the site's DNS, SSL and security settings, as long as the domain uses Cloudflare's nameservers.
Founders who pick the extension on its first-year price. The .com costs the same each year, but first-year sales on other extensions end at the first renewal: a .io goes from $28.12 to $51.80 and a .co from $15.76 to $31.20. Read the renewal column before you settle on the name.
Also on the shortlist
- NamecheapDomainsFree email forwarding for up to 100 addresses; a .com is $11.28 the first year, then $18.48 a year.A .com from $11.28 the first year, $18.48 to renew, as checked on 29 October 2026
- 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
Report an error. Spotted a factual or language mistake? .