Why I wrote this?
Namecheap, Porkbun, Cloudflare keep coming up as the cheapest options. But the opinions were all over the place and hardly any of them were backed by actual numbers. So I pulled the data myself.
Here's what the numbers actually look like:
.com
| Registrar | Year 1 | Renewal | Transfer | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | $11.28 | $18.48 | $11.48 | $85.20 |
| Porkbun | $11.08 | $11.08 | $11.08 | $55.40 |
| Cloudflare | $10.46 | $10.46 | $10.46 | $52.30 |
Prices as of March 15, 2026.
I added a 5-year total column to every table here because the year-one price alone tells you almost nothing useful. You're not registering a domain for one year, you're registering it and then probably largely forgetting about it until it comes up for renewal. On a single .com, Namecheap costs $85.20 over five years. Cloudflare is $52.30. That's $33 difference for the exact same thing, and the gap only grows if you hold the domain longer.
Cloudflare's .com pricing is good because they sell at cost with no margin added. It's a loss-leader to pull people into their ecosystem, but it works in your favor if you take them up on it. Porkbun at $11.08 flat is close enough that the price difference alone shouldn't be the deciding factor.
.org
| Registrar | Year 1 | Renewal | Transfer | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | $7.48 | $15.98 | $10.98 | $71.40 |
| Porkbun | $6.88 | $10.74 | $10.74 | $49.84 |
| Cloudflare | $7.50 | $10.13 | $10.13 | $48.02 |
Prices as of March 15, 2026.
The Namecheap .org situation is a clear example of how this pricing model works. At $7.48 they're the cheapest to register, which is how you end up there in the first place. You search for your domain, Namecheap shows up near the top, the price looks reasonable, you click through and register. Then the renewal email arrives a year later for $15.98... more than double what you paid (and nearly 60% more expensive than Cloudflare). It's not hidden, it's in the pricing somewhere, but it's easy to miss if you're not specifically looking for it.
Cloudflare and Porkbun are close enough on .org that over five years you're looking at a $2 gap. Not worth overthinking.
.io
| Registrar | Year 1 | Renewal | Transfer | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | $34.98 | $75.98 | $65.98 | $338.90 |
| Porkbun | $28.12 | $51.80 | $51.80 | $235.32 |
| Cloudflare | $50.00 | $50.00 | $50.00 | $250.00 |
Prices as of March 15, 2026.
.io is the one that gets people. You register at Namecheap for $34.98, think nothing of it, and a year later the renewal comes in at $75.98. (yes, you read that right) Over five years you're at $338, versus $235 at Porkbun. That's $103 on a single domain that's probably sitting on auto-renew while you think about other things.
Cloudflare's flat $50 is worth considering if you're already a Cloudflare user. It looks expensive against Porkbun's year-one price but beats Namecheap's renewal right out of the gate and never changes. If you're starting fresh and just want the cheapest option, Porkbun. If you're already in the Cloudflare ecosystem and plan to hold the .io long-term, Cloudflare is a reasonable call.
.net
| Registrar | Year 1 | Renewal | Transfer | 5-year total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namecheap | $12.98 | $18.58 | $12.98 | $87.30 |
| Porkbun | $12.52 | $12.52 | $12.52 | $62.60 |
| Cloudflare | $11.86 | $11.86 | $11.86 | $59.30 |
Prices as of March 15, 2026.
Same pattern as .com. Cloudflare cheapest, Porkbun just behind, Namecheap competitive on year one and then $18.58 at renewal. The gap between Cloudflare and Porkbun on .net is small enough that I wouldn't make a decision based on it alone. If you're already set up somewhere, stay. If you're starting fresh, either works.
Beyond the numbers
Price isn't everything though. Here's how the three compare on everything else.
Namecheap
The case for using it: you need a TLD the others don't carry
Porkbun
The case for using it: most of the time
Cloudflare
The case for using it: you're already in the Cloudflare ecosystem
The checkout experience at Porkbun is worth mentioning, especially if you've registered a domain at GoDaddy and had to click through six screens of things you didn't ask for. At Porkbun you search, you add the domain, you pay. The SSL and email forwarding just appear in your account. Domain registration should be boring and somehow that feels like a feature.
Which registrar should you actually use?
On price alone, Cloudflare wins, closely followed by Porkbun. Namecheap comes last, and not by a small margin. Their renewal prices are hard to defend once you line them up against the alternatives.
Porkbun is where I'd point most people (and yes, it's where domaincapybara.com is registered). The pricing is consistent year over year (on most TLDs), the checkout doesn't try to sell you things, and the day-to-day experience is uneventful in a way you start to appreciate after dealing with registrars that aren't.
Cloudflare is the better pick for .com and .net if you already use their products. The at-cost pricing is real, the DNS setup is seamless, and everything lives in one dashboard.
Namecheap is hard to recommend for these four TLDs at current prices, but their TLD catalogue is wider than the other two. If you need something obscure that Porkbun doesn't carry, they might be your only real option. For .com, .org, .io, or .net though, the numbers don't work out in your favor.
Before you register
Everything above covers four popular extensions, but registrar pricing varies a lot depending on the TLD. The registrar that's cheapest on .com might be more expensive on .co, .dev, or whatever you're looking at. Check before you register. That's why I built DomainCapybara.