.ml domains tend to disappear when they get popular, and sometimes you can't even buy them at that point. With those free DNSes, you get what you pay for. Don't use them for anything important.

Interesting, thanks! Do you have a link to know more about people to whom this happened?

I know three people personally who used Freenom domains and lost access at some point. I've never actually been successful at getting it to give me a domain in the first place, but the last time I tried was years ago. So definitely be careful hosting anything vaguely important on one of those domains.

I've got one domain with freenom. You have to manually renew it every year, but otherwise it's fine for totally useless projects.

For anything with even the smallest bit of value, a cheap tld like .party can be had for a decade for around $20.

I had a Freenom account several years ago. At one point they decided that I wouldn't be allowed to register any new domains on that account, or renew any of my existing domains, so I lost a few domain names. I still don't know why.

"Why would you necessarily buy a domain?"

E-mail is one example. Technically domain names are not necessary to successfully send own mail with own server, i.e., without using a 3rd party email provider. E-mail predates DNS; mail software has always supported IP addresses. However, today, the dominant 3rd party e-mail providers will reject mail coming from an IP address not associated with a domain name.

The patchwork of anti-phishing and anti-spamming measures like SPF and DKIM require DNS TXT records. Allowing mail from an IP address would likely be used almost exclusively for spamming.

Duckdns is good, though I really like Hurricane Electric's DNS: dns.he.net/

It offers a lot for free; I started using it when I moved off cloudflare and have quite liked it.

I really like and use HE.net but it’s API is definitely not ideal, last I checked.

Don't forget freedns.

Why get a domain, if you don’t need one?

The free .tk domains are only free for 1 year. And even if you are only going to use it for a year, some people would rather not give out their credit card number for a free trial.

Please stop spreading misinformation. You don't need a card, you don't have to provide any identification at all. The domains are free for as long as you want (I've been using one for the last 3 years), you just have to click a button once a year, and freenom sends you emails two weeks in advance.

Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I believe at one point in time, years ago, they required a card for the free registration. It certainly wasn’t my intent to spread misinformation.

Now I’m wondering, how does Freenom make money?

I have recently tried to pick up a domain name on Freenom and had extreme difficulty getting the website to respond and issue me a domain name. Once I finally locked one down that I liked, my account was dissapeared without a courtesy email or anything. To be fair I was using obviously anonymous/pseudonym details, but I would have still expected a courtesy email.

Correct. I just got one with a fake name and address, no phone number needed, nor a credit card.

No, they can be renewed for another free year indefinitely, as far as I know. I don't believe they require a credit card number, either. I've had a few freenom domains I've renewed for several years in a row and just got some new ones a few months ago; it's a very useful service.