In a shocking move destined to make GoDaddy reps cry into their polo shirts, a Cloudflare-backed nonprofit just announced they’re giving away domain names for free. Yes, free. As in: “the same price as your cousin’s mixtape” free.
The Revolution Nobody Asked For
The group, backed by GitHub, Cloudflare, and the raw unfiltered energy of high schoolers with too much Red Bull, claims this project will “make the web more open.” Which is corporate-speak for: “We couldn’t sell these anyway, so please, take them before they expire.”
Current free “domain” options include:
- .DPDNS.ORG (which looks like your cat walked across the keyboard)
- .US.KG (because Kyrgyzstan apparently has storage space to rent out)
- .QZZ.IO (the perfect choice if you’re building a crypto scam)
- .XX.KG (universal code for “your site is definitely hacked”)
Sure, technically they’re just subdomains, but if you squint hard enough, you can pretend you’re the proud owner of the next Facebook.
“No Catches” Except the Obvious Ones
The nonprofit insists there are no hidden fees, no fine print, no strings attached. Which is exactly what people say right before you end up on a mailing list for “Exclusive Prince Investments from Kyrgyzstan.”
DNS management is “free” too—if you’re okay with juggling Cloudflare, Afraid.org, or some other site you’ve definitely never heard of but will give full control of your online presence to anyway.
Internet Utopia or Just the Dollar Store Aisle of Domains?
Advocates say this move will “eliminate financial barriers” for students, hobbyists, and anyone too cheap to buy a $1.99 .info domain. Critics point out it will also make phishing emails look even sketchier than they already do. (“Click this link to reset your Netflix password: totallysafe.qzz.io”)
Either way, the internet just took one giant step closer to being the digital version of a yard sale.