Domain registrars · Comparison
Cloudflare Registrar vs Namecheap vs Porkbun: Cloudflare 8.6, Porkbun 8.5, Namecheap 7.6; a .com for 3 years costs $31.38 to $48.84
We read the price tables, carts, agreements, help centers and developer pages of three domain registrars on the same day and scored them on the same six indicators. What a .com costs over 3 years, how renewals compare with the first year, what is included, and who should pick which.
On this page9 sections
On six indicators read from each vendor's public pages, Cloudflare Registrar scores 8.6 out of 10, Porkbun 8.5 and Namecheap 7.6. For our reference scenario, one .com owned for 3 years at US list prices, Cloudflare comes to $31.38, Porkbun to $33.24 and Namecheap to $48.84. Cloudflare and Porkbun charge the same price for registration and renewal; Namecheap has the lower first-year sale but renews higher and adds the ICANN fee on top. Cloudflare stands out for at-cost pricing with DNS, DNSSEC and email routing built in, on Cloudflare nameservers only; Porkbun for all-in prices, any nameservers and a free API; Namecheap for a clean cart, a published restore price and a refund window.
Cloudflare and Porkbun are in the Excellent band and Namecheap in the Good band. The scores measure what the public pages commit to, not how well each registrar works day to day, and we did not create an account or buy a domain at any of them.
At a glance
| Cloudflare Registrar | Porkbun | Namecheap | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you pay for | A .com at the registry's price with Cloudflare DNS built in | An all-in .com price, the same every year | A low first-year .com with free essentials and any nameservers |
| .com year 1 / renewal | $10.46 / $10.46 | $11.08 / $11.08 | $11.28 / $18.48, plus $0.20 ICANN fee |
| 3-year .com cost (scenario) | $31.38, computed | $33.24, computed | $48.84, computed |
| .io year 1 / renewal | $32 / $50 | $28.12 / $51.80 | $34.98 / $75.98 |
| Restore fee | Varies by TLD, not stated | $200 plus renewal | $88.48 including renewal |
| Refund window | None | 96 hours with 5% fee (help center); cart says none | 5 days |
| Nameservers | Cloudflare only | Any | Any |
| Email forwarding | Free, 200 rules | Free, 20 forwards | Free, 100 forwards |
| API | Registrar API (beta) and DNS API | Free; purchases use prepaid credit | After 20 domains, $50 balance or $50 spent |
| Score (public pages) | 8.6 Excellent | 8.5 Excellent | 7.6 Good |
What the public pages show
Cloudflare Registrar charges what the registry and ICANN charge Cloudflare, so a .com is $10.46 to register and to renew. WHOIS redaction, DNS, one-click DNSSEC, Email Routing and redirects are free on every plan, the Free plan included. Every domain must use Cloudflare nameservers, and registrations are not refundable.
Porkbun lists a .com at $11.08 to register, renew or transfer, with the ICANN fee and every other fee included, and has announced a rise to about $11.81 on Nov 1, 2026. Privacy, DNS, DNSSEC, email and URL forwarding and SSL are free, and any nameservers can be used. A free API covers registration and DNS.
Namecheap sells the first .com year at $11.28 (on sale from $14.98) to any buyer and renews at $18.48; the $0.20 ICANN fee is added in the cart each year. Privacy, BasicDNS with DNSSEC, 100 email forwards and URL forwarding are free, and any nameservers can be used.
Strengths and things to know
Cloudflare Registrar. Strengths: the same at-cost price every year; DNS, DNSSEC and email routing built in; auth codes in the dashboard and a zone file export; security-key 2FA and dashboard SSO on all plans. Things to know: Cloudflare nameservers only; no refunds; the restore fee and transfer-in price are not published; the FAQ and the renewal page describe the expiry periods differently.
Porkbun. Strengths: an all-in .com price that does not rise at renewal; free essentials with any nameservers; a free API with scoped keys; WebAuthn and passkey 2FA. Things to know: a $200 restore fee on the price page, which the help center says varies; refund rules differ between the help center, the cart and the agreement; API purchases spend prepaid credit; no zone file export is described.
Namecheap. Strengths: free essentials with any nameservers; a clean cart with only free privacy pre-selected; a published restore price; a 5-day refund window; bulk tools. Things to know: renewals cost more than the first year, with the ICANN fee on top; the new-customer code differs between pages and the refund policy contradicts itself on renewals; the API needs 20 domains or a $50 balance or spend; no DNS export is described.
Pricing reality
Reference scenario: one .com domain owned for 3 years, registered new at US list prices before tax: the first-year price plus two renewals, plus the ICANN fee when it is added rather than included, plus anything paid that privacy, DNS or DNSSEC needs. No coupons, new-customer-only promotions or memberships.
| Service | Year 1 | Renewals | 3-year total | Where the number comes from |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare Registrar | $10.46 | 2 × $10.46 | $31.38 | Computed: 3 × $10.46; registry and ICANN charges passed through |
| Porkbun | $11.08 | 2 × $11.08 | $33.24 | Computed: 3 × $11.08; ICANN fee included |
| Namecheap | $11.28 + $0.20 | 2 × ($18.48 + $0.20) | $48.84 | Computed: $11.28 + 2 × $18.48 + 3 × $0.20 |
Privacy, DNS and DNSSEC are free at all three, so nothing is added for them. A new Namecheap customer with the $6.48 code would pay less in year one, but the code is limited to one domain and left out. Porkbun's announced rise to about $11.81 would add about $0.73 to each later renewal; Namecheap's .com page also says registry prices for .com are rising before Nov 1, and Cloudflare, which charges the registry's price, gives no new figure on its pages. For .io the first year is a sale at all three and the renewal is what lasts: $50 at Cloudflare, $51.80 at Porkbun and $75.98 at Namecheap.
How we scored them
Every product in this category is scored on the same six indicators, read from the vendor's own price tables, carts, agreements, help center and developer pages, with fixed formulas. The overall score is the plain mean. Our methodology page explains how these scores work.
| Indicator | Cloudflare Registrar | Porkbun | Namecheap |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing clarity | 7 | 7 | 5 |
| 3-year cost of one .com | 9.7 | 9.3 | 6.5 |
| Renewal-price stability | 10 | 10 | 6 |
| Included essentials | 9 | 10 | 10 |
| Checkout and renewal terms | 7 | 8 | 10 |
| Exit and account control | 9 | 6.8 | 7.8 |
| Overall | 8.6 | 8.5 | 7.6 |
Cloudflare loses points for Cloudflare-only nameservers, the unpublished restore fee and no refunds, and gains them on price and exit tools. Porkbun's lower exit score comes from no zone file export and an API that spends prepaid credit. Namecheap leads on checkout terms but loses on the renewal jump, the added ICANN fee and two pairs of statements that disagree.
Also in this category
Squarespace Domains scores 6.8: privacy, DNSSEC and catch-all email aliases switched on for you and a $45 restore fee, with a .com at $10 then $20 ($50 over 3 years, computed) and no bulk tools, DNS export or customer API. GoDaddy scores 5.5: an ISO 27001-certified registrar platform, BIND zone export and free privacy and DNS, with a $0.01 first .com year that needs a 3-year purchase and $22.99 renewals plus the $0.20 ICANN fee ($46.59 over 3 years, computed); its pages were read from Internet Archive copies and re-checked live.
Who should choose which
- Choose Cloudflare Registrar if your DNS is on Cloudflare or can be, and you want the same low .com price every year. Look elsewhere if you need other nameservers or a refund window.
- Choose Porkbun if you want an all-in .com price that does not rise at renewal, any nameservers and a free API. Look elsewhere if a $200 restore fee or catch-all email forwarding matters to you.
- Choose Namecheap if you want free essentials with any nameservers, a clean cart, a 5-day refund window and a published restore price. Look elsewhere if you want the renewal to match the first-year price.
Bottom line
From public pages alone, Cloudflare Registrar edges out Porkbun, 8.6 to 8.5: both keep the .com renewal at the first-year price, Cloudflare with DNS built in but only on its own nameservers, Porkbun with any nameservers and a free API. Namecheap costs more over 3 years because of its renewal price, but has the clearest checkout and restore terms of the three. Whichever you choose, compare the renewal price, not the first-year offer.
How we checked
We read the vendors' price tables, TLD pages, public domain search, the cart before login where it was visible, registration agreements, refund policies, help center articles and developer docs on Oct 16, 2026. Cloudflare's checkout runs inside its dashboard, so its cart was not visible. We did not create an account, buy a domain or call an API. Facts the pages did not state, such as Cloudflare's restore fee, are left out rather than guessed. Every figure is on the vendors' pages as of that date or, where marked, computed from them.
