Free subdomain services compared
Many services give developers a free subdomain. They differ in how you sign up, which DNS records you get, and what the name may be used for. This is a plain comparison, including where Namestead is the wrong choice.
At a glance
| Service | Address | How you get it | Records | Good for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Namestead | name.portfilio.live, name.digitalplayground.quest | Sign in with GitHub, Google or email and claim on the website | Redirect or parked page for everyone; CNAME and TXT from the Resolver tier | A portfolio or project name, with the community choosing the next domains |
| is-a.dev | name.is-a.dev | Fork a GitHub repository and open a pull request; volunteers review it | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, SRV, a URL redirect, and NS on request | Developers who need full DNS records and are happy to wait for review |
| runs-at.dev | name.runs-at.dev | Sign in with GitHub; the account must be 30+ days old with a public repository | A profile card, a redirect, CNAME, A, AAAA, TXT and MX | One name per GitHub account with full records |
| devs.surf | name.devs.surf | Sign up with email or Google and claim on the website | A, AAAA, CNAME and TXT | Instant DNS control without GitHub |
| DNSHE | name.de5.net, name.us.ci, name.cc.cd, name.bot.cd | Create an account and register in its dashboard | A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, TXT, NS, SRV and CAA | Several suffixes and full records |
| HeyGeeks | name.heygeeks.in | Sign in with GitHub or email | None: it hosts a profile, portfolio theme and blog for you | A ready-made developer profile instead of your own site |
| js.org | name.js.org | Pull request; the site must be on GitHub Pages and about JavaScript | CNAME to GitHub Pages | JavaScript projects on GitHub Pages |
| EU.org | name.eu.org | Request it and wait for EU.org to process it | A delegated zone on name servers you provide (your own or a DNS provider’s) | People who want a whole zone and can run DNS |
| Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages | project.vercel.app, site.netlify.app, user.github.io, project.pages.dev | Comes with hosting a site there | Managed by the host | Getting a site online; the address names the host |
Facts about other services come from their own websites and documentation in October 2026 and can change; check their sites before you decide.
What Namestead adds
- Domains chosen to read well on a portfolio (today portfilio.live and digitalplayground.quest). Anyone can request the next one and signed-in users vote on requests.
- Open books: a public ledger of every contribution and expense, a registry of how each domain was paid for, and quarterly reports.
- No pull request: you claim on the website, and redirects and parked pages are live straight away.
- Every name is checked against protected brands, including look-alike spellings, and abuse reports follow a published process.
When to pick something else
- You need a CNAME, A or MX record on day one: runs-at.dev, devs.surf, DNSHE or is-a.dev. On Namestead, direct DNS opens at the Resolver tier, which needs a 7-day-old account.
- You need NS, SRV or a whole zone: DNSHE, is-a.dev (NS on request) or EU.org.
- You want a hosted profile page built from your GitHub account rather than your own site: HeyGeeks.
- You want a whole domain you own: buy one. Some come free for a year with student programs or hosting plans.
Looking for an is-a.dev alternative?
is-a.dev is the best-known free developer subdomain, and a good one. People look for alternatives when they’d rather not work through a GitHub pull request, when their request waits for review, or when they want a name on a different domain. runs-at.dev, devs.surf, DNSHE and Namestead all let you claim on a website instead. Namestead offers fewer record types than any of them; what it adds is a community-chosen catalog and public accounts.
Looking for a Freenom alternative?
Freenom gave away whole .tk, .ml, .ga, .cf and .gq domains until it stopped new registrations in early 2023, after Meta sued it over phishing and cybersquatting on those domains. Nothing has replaced it like for like. What’s left are free subdomains, like the services above, and paid domains that are cheap in their first year.
What the Public Suffix List has to do with it
Browsers use the Public Suffix List to decide which names are separate sites for cookies and storage. When a free subdomain service’s domain is on the list, one user’s site can’t set cookies for the whole domain. Namestead plans to submit every catalog domain to the list; none is listed yet.