Which Hostinger plans include a free domain?
The rule is simple: buy an eligible hosting plan on a 12-month or longer term, and a free domain for the first year is part of the deal. Here is how it breaks down across the lineup, verified against Hostinger’s plan pages in October 2026:
| Plan | Free domain? | Condition |
|---|---|---|
| Premium web hosting | Yes — 1st year free | 12-month term or longer |
| Unlimited web hosting | Yes — 1st year free | 12-month term or longer |
| Cloud Startup | Yes — 1st year free | 12-month term or longer |
| WordPress hosting | Yes — 1st year free | 12-month term or longer |
| AI Website Builder plans | Yes — 1st year free | 12-month term or longer |
| Monthly billing (any plan) | No | Free domain needs an annual+ term |
| VPS (KVM plans) | No | No domain bundled with VPS |
Two things people get wrong. First, the free domain is tied to the billing term, not just the plan: choose monthly billing at checkout and the free domain disappears, even on Premium. Second, VPS plans never include one — if you are buying a KVM server for n8n or game hosting, budget for the domain separately or grab it on our domains page. The card above shows the live Premium price that unlocks the free domain; the renewal math that actually matters is further down.
Is the domain really free — or just the first year?
Just the first year, and we want to be blunt about it because this is where beginners get surprised. Hostinger registers the domain in your name at no charge for year one. When that year ends, the domain renews at the standard registration rate for its extension — the same price anyone pays to renew that TLD. There is no second free year, no loyalty extension, and no way to keep it free by staying on hosting. The domain and the hosting are separate products after year one, with separate renewal dates and separate bills.
That is not a trick — every major host structures it the same way — but it changes the math. A “free” .com still costs you the renewal every year after the first, so the honest way to evaluate the offer is: year-one savings versus lifetime cost. The renewal card below shows what a .com costs to renew, live from our price database. Multiply that by the years you plan to keep the site, add it to the hosting renewal (not the intro price), and you have the real number. If that total still beats buying hosting and domain separately, the bundle wins.
.com Domain Registration
First year with a 3-year term, paid upfront
Renews at $19.99/yr
- $0.01 for the 1st year
- Renews at $19.99/yr
- Free domain 1st year with yearly hosting plans
Which domain extensions can you pick?
The free-domain offer covers a long list of extensions — not just .com. Hostinger’s own free-domain page lists the eligible TLDs, and we verified the current list in October 2026:
| Extension | Good for |
|---|---|
| .com | The default — maximum trust and recognition worldwide |
| .online | Modern alternative when the .com is taken |
| .xyz | Short, cheap-feeling, popular with startups |
| .shop / .store | Instant “this is a shop” signal for ecommerce |
| .tech | Tech blogs, SaaS, developer portfolios |
| .site / .website | Generic, usually available for any name |
| .live / .fun | Creators, events, streaming, communities |
| .click / .link | Marketing pages, link-in-bio style sites |
| .digital | Agencies and digital services |
| .space | Portfolios and creative projects |
| .uno / .in | Regional options, including India (.in) |
| .host | Hosting-adjacent projects |
| .press / .me | Blogs, press, personal brands |
| Email-forwarding style addresses | |
| .help | Support and documentation sites |
Our advice has not changed in years: if the .com version of your name is available, take it — nothing else converts trust quite like it, and the renewal difference is small. If it is taken.online and .store are the most “legitimate-looking” alternatives for businesses, while .xyz and .site are fine for experiments. Avoid picking an exotic extension just because it is free; you will be saying this domain out loud and printing it for years.
How do you claim the free domain?
There are two moments to claim it — during checkout, or later from your account. Both are straightforward:
Option 1 — during checkout (easiest). Search for the domain name you want on Hostinger’s site first and have two or three backups ready in case your first choice is taken. Add it to the cart, choose a hosting plan on a 12-month or longer term, complete the purchase — the domain registers free for the first year as part of the order. This is the path most people take, and it connects the domain to your hosting automatically.
Option 2 — later, from hPanel. If you skipped it at checkout, log in to hPanel, open the Domains section, and claim your free domain from there — the unused free-domain credit sits on your account waiting. Search, pick, register. Either way, make sure WHOIS privacy is enabled (it is free on eligible domains) so your personal contact details are not published in the public domain directory.
What about email and SSL with the free domain?
The domain arrives with the two things a new site needs on day one. SSL is included and unlimited — Hostinger issues the certificate and your site runs on HTTPS from the start, which browsers and Google both expect. Email mailboxes are free for the first year on the hosting plans (2 per website on Premium, unlimited per website on Unlimited and Cloud Startup), so you can run addresses like [email protected] without a separate email bill — after year one, mailboxes renew like everything else, so note that date too.
DNS management and unlimited subdomains are included as well, which matters more than it sounds: you can run blog.yourname.com, shop.yourname.com, or staging copies without paying for extra domains. Everything is managed from the same hPanel Domains section where you claimed the domain.
What happens at renewal — or if you let it expire?
Around the one-year mark, Hostinger will charge the standard renewal rate for your extension — the live .com renewal is shown in the card above. If auto-renew is on and the payment method works, nothing changes; the domain simply continues in your name. If payment fails or auto-renew is off, the domain enters a grace period, then a redemption phase with steep recovery fees, and finally becomes available for anyone to register. An expired domain can be grabbed within weeks by squatters or competitors, and getting it back can cost far more than years of renewals.
Two more things worth knowing. First, you are never locked in: the domain is registered in your name and you can transfer it to another registrar whenever you like (transfers typically extend registration by a year at the gaining registrar’s rate). Second, if you ever leave Hostinger hosting, the domain stays yours — you just point its DNS at the new host. The free first year was a gift; the domain itself was always your property.
Free domain vs buying separately: which is smarter?
Take the free domain in almost every case — with one exception. The bundle wins because it removes a purchase, a renewal date, and a dashboard from your life, and year one is genuinely free. Buying separately only makes sense if you want an extension Hostinger’s free offer does not cover, if you are a domain investor who wants everything at one registrar, or if you are buying VPS hosting (which never includes the free domain) and prefer to keep billing in one place.
The one strategic consideration: some people register the domain separately so the hosting and domain renewals never get tangled — for example, if you plan to hop hosts chasing intro prices while keeping the same domain for a decade. That is a legitimate advanced play, but for a first site it is overthinking. Claim the free domain, turn on auto-renew, write down the date, and spend your energy on the site itself. Our Hostinger domains guide covers buying and managing domains beyond the free offer.
FAQ
Premium, Unlimited, Cloud Startup, WordPress hosting, and AI Website Builder plans — all on 12-month or longer billing terms. Monthly billing does not qualify, and VPS plans never include a free domain.
No — it is free for the first year only. After that it renews at the standard registration rate for its extension. The live .com renewal cost is shown in the card above; budget for it from day one.
Yes — .com is on the eligible list, along with .online.xyz.shop.store.tech.site, and more. If your first-choice .com is taken, have backups ready before checkout.
Log in to hPanel, open the Domains section, and claim the free domain credited to your account. Search for the name, register it, and enable free WHOIS privacy so your contact details stay private.
Yes, on eligible domains — it keeps your name, address, and phone number out of the public domain directory at no charge. Enable it when you register; there is no reason not to.
The domain stays registered in your name for the remainder of its term — it is your property, not Hostinger’s. You can point its DNS to a new host or transfer it to another registrar whenever you like.
Yes. Once registered, it is a normal domain in your name and can be transferred to any registrar. Transfers usually add a year of registration at the gaining registrar’s standard rate.