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Porkbun

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This article is about the domain name registrar. For the food, see baozi.

Porkbun (legally Porkbun LLC) is an American ICANN-accredited domain name registrar based in Tigard, Oregon, in the Portland metropolitan area.[3][4] Founded in March 2015, it is a wholly owned subsidiary of Top Level Design LLC, a company that formerly operated several new generic top-level domains.[1][2] Porkbun is known for selling most domain names at or near wholesale cost, for including WHOIS privacy and SSL certificates free with registrations, and for its pig-themed branding.[6][7] In August 2026 it reported more than four million domains under management, held by more than 750,000 customers.[5]

History

Timeline of Porkbun and Top Level Design milestones from 2012 to 2026
Figure 1. Selected milestones of Porkbun and its parent company, Top Level Design, 2012–2026.[1][5][7][8] Diagram: WikiForDomains (CC0).

Top Level Design

Porkbun's parent, Top Level Design, was founded in 2012 by Ray King, previously the founder and chief executive of AboutUs and a co-founder of SnapNames, together with his brother-in-law and investor Peter Brual.[8] The company was set up as a domain name registry and applied in ICANN's 2012 new gTLD round for ten strings, including .wiki, .ink, .design and .gay.[8] It signed the registry agreement for .wiki in November 2013 and for .ink in December 2013, and won .design at a private auction in September 2014.[8]

Founding and growth

Porkbun was founded in March 2015.[1] According to ICANNWiki, it was created as the direct-to-consumer registrar for Top Level Design's domain endings, initially to support sales of .design and the parent's other extensions, and later added unrelated generic and country-code domains, followed by email and hosting services.[7] In a 2019 interview King said the name was chosen from a set of available domain names, with "Flyware" as the other finalist.[7]

The company announced one million domains under management in May 2022, when it had over 200,000 customers.[1] It reported two million domains in June 2024 and three million in October 2025.[7] In August 2026 it announced four million, noting that the first million had taken seven years, the second two years, the third about 15 months and the fourth nine months.[5]

Exit from registry operations

Top Level Design agreed to sell .design to GoDaddy Registry in 2021.[8] In April 2023 GoDaddy Registry acquired the company's four remaining top-level domains, .wiki, .ink, .gay and .tattoo, marking Top Level Design's exit from operating new top-level domains.[9] Since then Porkbun has no longer been vertically integrated with a related registry.[7]

Services

Diagram of Porkbun services: free features on the left, optional services on the right, domain registration at the centre
Figure 2. Porkbun's main services: features included free with eligible domains, and optional hosting, email, marketplace and developer services.[6][7][12] Diagram: WikiForDomains (CC0).

Domain registration

Porkbun offers registration, renewal and transfer across hundreds of generic and country-code top-level domains, including .com, .net, .org and endings from the new gTLD programme.[7] Its 2022 press release cited more than 500 extensions.[1] Owners can also list registered names for sale on the company's marketplace, which also offers auctions and expired-domain closeouts (see domain name lifecycle).[7]

Free features

Eligible registrations include WHOIS privacy (where the registry allows it), DNS management with DNSSEC, Let's Encrypt SSL/TLS certificates, URL forwarding and up to 20 email forwarding addresses.[7][10] Porkbun states that it was the first registrar to offer free WHOIS privacy and the first to use Let's Encrypt for free SSL certificates.[6] Certificates renew automatically while Porkbun provides the domain's DNS, and are installed automatically on Porkbun hosting.[6][7]

DNS

Porkbun's DNS runs on Cloudflare infrastructure; unlike Cloudflare's own registrar, Porkbun lets customers point their nameservers to any provider.[11] Its four default nameservers, curitiba, fortaleza, maceio and salvador.ns.porkbun.com, are named after Brazilian state capitals.[7]

Hosting and email

The company sells WordPress hosting (including a cloud WordPress product backed by WP Cloud), shared cPanel, static and PHP hosting, a link-in-bio tool and the Articulation website builder, introduced in 2025.[5][7] Email options include free forwarding, hosted Porkbun mailboxes and plans offered with Proton Mail.[7]

API

Porkbun publishes a REST/JSON API covering domain checks, registration, renewal and transfers, DNS and DNSSEC, SSL retrieval, forwarding, the aftermarket, hosting and signed webhooks. It is documented with an OpenAPI specification and offers idempotency keys, a free sandbox and a first-party Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for automation and AI agents.[12]

Support

Porkbun offers US-based phone and chat support from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific Time every day, including weekends and holidays, plus 24/7 email support.[3]

Payment

Accepted payment methods include cards, Google Pay, Amazon Pay and PayPal, USDC through Coinbase Business (see buying domains with USDC), and US bank accounts funded by ACH transfer, which are eligible for additional discounts.[18]

Pricing approach

Bar chart of Porkbun first-year and renewal prices for .xyz, .org, .dev, .app, .com, .net, .co and .io, retrieved 9 November 2026
Figure 3. Porkbun's published first-year and renewal prices for selected endings, in US dollars, as returned by its public pricing API on 9 November 2026. Prices change over time and exclude promotional coupon codes.[13] Chart: WikiForDomains (CC0).

Porkbun says it sells most domains at cost, defined as the registry wholesale price plus the ICANN fee and credit card processing fees, including on .com and .org, and that it passes registry discounts on to customers in full.[6] Its FAQ states that where there is any markup on standard names it is "typically $1 or less", and that first-year and renewal prices are always shown upfront.[14] In the company's published breakdown (updated 1 November 2026), a .com costs US$11.81: US$10.97 wholesale, a US$0.20 ICANN fee and US$0.64 in card fees.[6]

Selected Porkbun prices (USD, retrieved 9 November 2026)[13]
EndingFirst yearRenewalTransfer
.com11.8111.8111.81
.net12.5212.5212.52
.org7.9811.8411.84
.xyz2.0414.2114.21
.io28.1251.8051.80
.ai82.7082.70165.09

Like other at-cost registrars, Porkbun's first-year prices on some endings (for example .xyz) reflect registry promotions and rise at renewal; the company advises buyers to watch for steep first-year discounts and "free" domain offers elsewhere.[6] See also cheap domains.

Reception

In USA Today's 2023 guide to the best domain registrars, Porkbun was named best for long-term savings with a 5.0 rating, as reported by the domain-industry forum NamePros.[15] Porkbun states that USA Today ranked it the number-one domain registrar for 2023, 2024 and 2025.[6]

Forbes Advisor's guide to the best domain registrars, in its revision audited on 2 November 2026, rated Porkbun 4.8 out of 5 and named it "best for ease of use", second to Dynadot (4.9). The review praised its beginner-friendly dashboard, transparent pricing, low-margin renewals and simple SSL management, and gave it a Consumer Sentiment Index score of 8.5 out of 10; it noted that support is offered during extended business hours rather than 24/7 by phone.[16] Porkbun says Forbes Advisor ranked it first in 2025 and 2026.[5] The company also reports a 4.8 Trustpilot rating from more than 25,000 reviews.[5]

Branding

Porkbun uses a pig-themed name, mascot and visual identity, informal wordplay throughout its website and customer communications, and the tagline "An oddly satisfying experience".[7] It has also run a merchandise store, Porkbun.shop.[7]

Ambassador programme

Porkbun’s public affiliate page states that its affiliate programme has been discontinued (checked 9 November 2026). Older Ambassador marketing may still appear on that page; WikiForDomains does not list Porkbun as an active affiliate partner. Background on registrar schemes: Domain affiliate programs.[17]

See also

References

  1. "Porkbun Archives 1,000,000 Domains Under Management" (press release, Portland, Oregon, 26 May 2022). Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  2. "Ownership Disclosure". Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  3. "Contact Us". Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  4. "Registrar IDs" (entry 1861, Porkbun LLC, Accredited). Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  5. "Porkbun Now Has 4+ Million Domains Under Management!" (6 August 2026). Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  6. "About Us". Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  7. "Porkbun". ICANNWiki. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  8. "Top Level Design". Wikipedia (citing Domain Name Wire, The Oregonian and ICANN registry agreements). Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  9. Allemann, Andrew (20 April 2023). "GoDaddy acquires five more top level domains". Domain Name Wire. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  10. "Porkbun FAQs" (free features). Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  11. "Porkbun vs Cloudflare: Choosing the Right Registrar". Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  12. "Porkbun API documentation" (v3). Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  13. Porkbun pricing API (api.porkbun.com/api/json/v3/pricing/get), queried 9 November 2026.
  14. "Porkbun FAQs" (pricing). Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  15. "Best Registrars: Porkbun & Dynadot on top of USA Today's list" (31 December 2023). NamePros. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  16. Masoner, Liz. "10 Best Domain Registrars of 2026" (audited 2 November 2026). Forbes Advisor. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  17. "Affiliate Program Information". Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.
  18. "Payment Options". Porkbun. Retrieved 9 November 2026.

External links