Hostinger Domains (October 2026): Registration, Prices & the Free Domain

How domain registration works at Hostinger

Registering a domain at Hostinger takes a few minutes: search the name in the domain checker, click Add to cart on an available extension, pick your registration period, and check out. Activation is effectively instant for most extensions, and the domain lands in your hPanel Domains section ready to connect to hosting, email, or nothing at all — you can register a domain at Hostinger and point it at another host entirely. There are no special requirements beyond basic contact details and a payment method.

Two things to get right at checkout. First, double-check the spelling before you pay: domains are not like hosting plans, and while Hostinger allows refunds on most eligible domains within 96 hours of purchase, a typo’d domain you keep is yours for the year. Second, premium domains (short, dictionary-word, or otherwise desirable names the registry prices higher) are excluded from promos and the free-domain offer — if the price looks surprising, that is why.

The free domain: which plans, which extensions, how to claim

Buy a new eligible Hostinger plan with a 12-month or longer billing period and a free domain is added to your order automatically — one year of registration on an eligible top-level domain. Per Hostinger’s support article on the free domain (updated about two weeks before we checked), eligible purchases are: Web Premium, Web Business, Cloud hosting plans, KVM VPS plans (free domain limited to .cloud or .tech there), and the annual Business Premium Email plan. Monthly plans, renewals, upgrades, and the Single hosting and Starter email plans do not qualify.

The eligible extensions are generous: Hostinger’s free-domain page lists .com.xyz.online.link.shop.live.digital.tech.space.website.email.fun.click.site.uno.in.host.store.press, and .me among others. If you already own a domain elsewhere, you can use the free credit to transfer it in instead of registering a new one. Claiming is done in hPanel — look for the Claim Domain button in the to-do list, or go to Domains → Get a new domain → Claim your free domain.

What domains cost after the first year

Domain pricing has two numbers that matter: the first-year promo and the renewal. Hostinger’s first-year prices are aggressive — that is how the industry works — and the renewal is the honest long-term cost. The card below shows the live .com price with its renewal rate from our database, checked October 8, 2026. For other extensions, the domain search page shows both numbers before you buy; always look at the renewal column, not the headline.

Budgeting rule of thumb: a domain is a 2–10 year commitment in practice, because changing domains later costs you SEO equity and printed materials. Multiply the renewal price by the years you plan to keep the project, and compare that total — not the first-year teaser rate — when choosing between registrars.

Transferring a domain to Hostinger

Already own your domain somewhere else? You can move it to Hostinger with the domain transfer service, and Hostinger walks you through the steps. The standard process everywhere: get the domain at your current registrar, get the authorization (EPP) code, start the transfer at Hostinger, and approve the confirmation email. Transfers typically complete within a few days, and the transfer adds a year to your registration.

Two transfer gotchas that catch people. First, domains cannot be transferred within 60 days of registration or a previous transfer — that is an ICANN rule, not a Hostinger one. Second, your site and email keep working during the transfer as long as you do not change nameservers mid-move; transfer the registration first, move DNS later, and nothing goes down.

WHOIS privacy and domain security

Every domain registration publishes your contact details in the public WHOIS database unless privacy protection hides them — and exposed WHOIS data is how you end up on spam and scam-call lists. Hostinger includes domain privacy protection automatically for free wherever the extension supports it. Some registries (notably a few country-code ones) do not allow privacy at all, in which case there is nothing any registrar can do.

Beyond privacy, the security basics: enable two-factor authentication on your Hostinger account (a stolen account means stolen domains), turn on auto-renewal so a forgotten expiry does not hand your domain to a squatter, and keep your registrant email current — that address is where transfer approvals and renewal warnings go. There is also an optional Domain Shield add-on at checkout for selected extensions if you want extra protection services.

Who should register at Hostinger — and who should not

Register here if you are buying Hostinger hosting anyway — the free first-year domain makes it the obvious default, and managing domain plus hosting in one hPanel is genuinely convenient. It is also a fine standalone registrar: instant activation, free WHOIS privacy, and competitive renewals cover what most people need.

Look elsewhere if you need exotic extensions Hostinger does not carry, you want a registrar with a decades-long track record managing six-figure domain portfolios, or you are buying domains purely as investments and want bulk portfolio tools. For one project domain attached to a website, none of that matters.

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