are free domains (.tk, .cf, .ga, .gq etc.) a good thing?

[VFXGuy]

Do you think free domains such as .tk domains are a good thing. Because they are free, they are used maliciously very regularly and therefore have a poor reputation and are not able to be used properly as certain things will block them/treat them as scams etc.

Domains can get quite expensive, depending on the extention and whether someone currently owns them, but also there are quite cheap extentions. Having a pay barrier definitely reduces malicious activity. And for those who can't afford it, free domains are good but you also get domains which are only £5-10/year renewal and £0.70-£3/year (for first year), (Do your own conversions, in GBP£)

[duncannah]

Not really, in my opinion. In addition to the reasons that it's bad that you've provided, the registrar (Freenom in this case) has a tendency to seize domains and just serve ads on it when a domain gets too many hits. I knew someone who had this happen to them, wouldn't give it back even after offering to pay for it. Because of the spam, you can't really use it often, as the TLDs are flagged as spam and are not trusted. So, not good for using it nor in general

[mariushm]

Yeah, pay 2$ for a .website or any other domain tld that has reduced payment for the first year. If your project is successful after a year, you'll be able to afford paying 10-12$ a year for that domain.

 

Scroll down on this page to Generic TLDs and expand the list to see the prices of all : https://www.namecheap.com/domains/new-tlds/explore/

 

[Sauron]

14 minutes ago, VFXGuy said:

Because they are free, they are used maliciously very regularly

If there weren't any free domains this would just happen with the cheapest ones available.

16 minutes ago, VFXGuy said:

And for those who can't afford it, free domains are good but you also get domains which are only £5-10/year renewal and £0.70-£3/year (for first year)

Right, but it's still kind of annoying if you just want some basic DDNS for personal use.

[Kilrah]

-> Moved to  Programs, Apps and Websites 

 

For your personal use, friends etc it's fine. For anything with a wider audience... might want something that looks more serious.

[mariushm]

32 minutes ago, Sauron said:

If there weren't any free domains this would just happen with the cheapest ones available.

Right, but it's still kind of annoying if you just want some basic DDNS for personal use.

There's free services like afraid.org : https://freedns.afraid.org/

 

Otherwise, just spend 2$ for a domain and then either renew it or dump it and buy another domain for the same 2$ the following year... if you can't spend 2$ each year for something you may use daily...

[Sauron]

11 hours ago, mariushm said:

There's free services like afraid.org : https://freedns.afraid.org/

Which give you a free domain.

11 hours ago, mariushm said:

Otherwise, just spend 2$ for a domain and then either renew it or dump it and buy another domain for the same 2$ the following year... if you can't spend 2$ each year for something you may use daily...

I can, but why would I when I can get the same thing for free?

[mariushm]

12 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Which give you a free domain.

I can, but why would I when I can get the same thing for free?

Because exchange of money makes things more complex, it means there's a contract between two parties, a transaction, you received something in exchange for something, and as long you respect the terms for the lease of that domain to you, you're legally protected and could even sue other parties if they try to take the domain from you.

 

Check the terms for those free domains and you may find that you have very little means or no means of protecting your investment into that domain name and that it can be taken from you for any made up reasons and you have little recourse.

 

[Sauron]

3 minutes ago, mariushm said:

Because exchange of money makes things more complex, it means there's a contract between two parties, a transaction, you received something in exchange for something, and as long you respect the terms for the lease of that domain to you, you're legally protected and could even sue other parties if they try to take the domain from you.

And why would I care? It's free, it's a throwaway, I don't care if they eventually take it away - I'll just get another.

[VFXGuy]

2 hours ago, Sauron said:

And why would I care? It's free, it's a throwaway, I don't care if they eventually take it away - I'll just get another.

If you market/advertise of any kind or even just tell people the name of your website, that being changed is an inconvenience.

[Sauron]

Just now, VFXGuy said:

If you market/advertise of any kind or even just tell people the name of your website, that being changed is an inconvenience.

Yes, but I don't do that. Obviously there are some cases where a free domain won't be appropriate - but that doesn't mean they shouldn't exist.