When registering a domain name, you’re required to provide personal contact information for the WHOIS database, which is a directory showing who is the owner of a domain. While this promotes trust and transparency, it also puts your name, home address, phone number, and email out there for spammers, scammers, and data harvesters to find.
Domain privacy (also called WHOIS protection) helps to fix this problem. Here’s how it works: domain registrars collect your personal information but submit their own details to the WHOIS database instead, keeping your info hidden from the public. While some companies charge monthly or yearly fees for WHOIS protection, these ICANN-accredited domain registrars offer it completely free–yearly or forever. Let’s dive in.
8Domain.com
Domain.comis one of the biggest names in domain name registration. And yes, they actually own the domain.com URL. Whether you want to register a brand-new domain or transfer an existing one, Domain.com makes it easy. During registration or transfer, your name, address, phone number, and email are replaced with Domain.com’s contact info. This keeps your information private while still meeting ICANN requirements.
So, when someone looks up your domain in the WHOIS directory, they’ll see Domain.com’s details instead of yours. If someone needs to contact you, Domain.com will receive and forward the emails without revealing your actual email address. Domain.com offers forever free domain privacy for the lifetime of all supported domains. However, it doesn’t work for .us, .gg, .srl, and100+ othermostly location-based domains. These unsupported domain tlds will leave your contact info on display for all to see.
Domain.com also offers afree WHOIS lookup serviceif you want to see who’s behind any domain (provided they don’t have privacy protection enabled).
7Hostinger
Hostingeris a well-known name in the hosting space, offering everything from domain registration to website hosting, email hosting, and cloud hosting. They’re ICANN-accredited, which means they’re legitimate and trustworthy. They’re one of my top go-to domain registrars. Whether you’rebuying a new domainor transferring one from another registrar, Hostinger makes it simple and straightforward.
They offer free domain privacy for popular generic domains like .com, .net, and .org. Domains that aren’t supported include .ai, .ru, anddozens of others. Hostinger’s free domain privacy protection is forever free as long as your domain stays active. Hostinger also offers afree WHOIS lookup serviceif you’re interested.
6Namecheap
Namecheapis another popular ICANN-accredited domain registrar and hosting provider. I’ve personally used them to register several domains and host websites and email accounts for various projects. They’re one ofthe best domain registrarsout there. With Namecheap, you can register new domains or transfer existing ones and get free domain privacy protection. They offer two types of privacy protection:
- Withheld for Privacy: Your name, address, phone number, and email are replaced withWithheldforPrivacycontact info.
- Redacted WHOIS Info (for domains not supported by WithheldforPrivacy): Namecheap hides your personal info but lists a disposable email address that doesn’t lead back to you.
You only need one type of privacy protection at any given time, and Namecheap automatically applies it to protect your personal information. However, domain tlds like .ad, .ca, andseveral othersaren’t supported by WithheldforPrivacy. Like Hostinger, Namecheap’s domain privacy protection is forever free. They also offer freeWHOIS lookup services.
5Ionos
If you want WHOIS protection for your new or existing domain,Ionosis another ICANN-accredited domain registrar and hosting company worth checking out. They offer domain privacy as a service called “private registration.” When you select private registration during domain registration, Ionos acts as your proxy, filling in their contact details in place of yours. This keeps you anonymous and protected from spam, scams, and identity theft.
Ionos currently supports domain privacy only for domain tlds like .com, .net, anda few others. Just like Hostinger and Namecheap, Ionos offers forever free domain privacy with every domain you register or transfer. They also offer freeWHOIS lookup services.
4Porkbun
Porkbunis another popular domain registrar and hosting company that offers free domain privacy. They also throw in free SSL certificates, URL forwarding, email forwarding, and DNS Cloudflare management with every domain purchase. It’s more like the full package.
Porkbun’s free WHOIS privacy service works for newly registered and transferred domains, except for tlds like .tm, .nz,and others. Porkbun offers forever free privacy, whether you’re registering orswitching domain name registrars. Therefore, you don’t have to worry about renewal fees as long as your domain stays active. However, it currently doesn’t support WHOIS lookup.
3NameSilo
NameSilois a popular name in domain registration and management with tons of features to help you get the most out of your domains. NameSilo also offers web and email hosting, so you can set up your entire online presence under one roof. They offer free domain privacy in partnership withPrivacyGuardian.org.
As soon as you register or transfer a domain with NameSilo, your details are automatically replaced with PrivacyGuardian details, and you’ll get a secure forwarding address to receive emails. This service is completely free for as long as the domain exists. NameSilo doesn’t support domain privacy for .us, .in, or .tickets domains. But they do offer freeWHOIS lookup services.
2Spaceship
Spaceshipis another powerful ICANN-accredited domain registrar and hosting company that offers forever-free domain privacy when you register or transfer a domain. The site has a futuristic, eye-catching design that really stands out from the crowd. Spaceship’s free WHOIS privacy protection is part of their security offerings, which includes other services like a robustCDNand SSL management.
Like Namecheap, Spaceship uses WithheldforPrivacy to protect your personal information from the public WHOIS directory, giving you all the privacy you need to succeed online. Your domain privacy protection gets applied automatically and indefinitely. However, domain tlds like .abogado, .ca,and othersaren’t currently supported. Spaceship also offers a freeWHOIS lookup service.
1AllThe.Domains
AllThe.Domainsis one of the lesser-known ICANN-accredited domain registrars and hosting providers that also offers free domain privacy. This is available for newly registered and transferred domains and is valid for one year. AllThe.Domains partners with WHOIStrustee to keep user details away from public view. For EU-based registrants, some information (not all) is redacted. However, with full WHOIS protection, your details are replaced with WHOIStrustee data.
If you’re a public business that needs your WHOIS info visible, AllThe.Domains lets you opt out of domain privacy, offering full disclosure to your customers and partners. However, this option is only available for .com, .net, and .uk domains. you’re able to also use the freeAllThe.Domains' WHOIS lookuptool to find out who owns any unprotected domain.
It’s worth mentioning that although domain registrars may hide your personal details from the public WHOIS database, you may’t use this privacy to do anything illegal. If necessary, they may be forced to disclose your information under certain circumstances, such as legal requirements, criminal investigations,UDRP proceedings, andGDPRconsiderations.
Additionally, you may always opt out of WHOIS privacy protection by simply unchecking the WHOIS protection box while registering or transferring a domain, or through your client area in your domain host’s dashboard. You can also enable it again at any time. When that time comes, remember that these are some of the best free domain privacy providers to use.
