Gandi vs Porkbun
This one comes down to the renewal. Gandi's .com now renews at about $38.38 on the standard rate; Porkbun charges $11.08 flat — the same price to register and to renew — plus free SSL, free privacy and free forwarding. For a developer holding a domain long-term, it's the biggest single cost gap on the list.
Porkbun wins on price and predictability. $11.08 flat vs Gandi's ~$38.38 renewal is roughly a third of the five-year cost, and Porkbun's free bundle (privacy, auto-renewing SSL, DNS, forwarding) is generous. Stay on Gandi only for grandfathered pricing or a feature you can't replace.
Side by side
Gandi vs Porkbun, compared
Both let you point nameservers anywhere and both include privacy and SSL — the renewal and the bundled email are where they part ways.
| Gandi | Porkbun | |
|---|---|---|
| .com price | ~$17.75 reg → ~$38.38 renew | $11.08 flat (reg = renew) |
| 5-year .com cost | ~$171.27 | ~$55.40 |
| Pricing model | Cheap lure, high renewal | Flat, no renewal surprise |
| Free WHOIS privacy | ✓ | ✓ |
| Free SSL | ✓ | ✓ Let's Encrypt, auto-renew |
| ✗ paid (free removed 2023) | ✓ free forwarding (up to 20) | |
| DNSSEC / API | ✓ / REST API | ✓ / REST API |
| Point NS anywhere | ✓ | ✓ |
| Best for | Legacy / grandfathered users | Cheap long-term hold, free SSL |
Prices compiled July 2026; Gandi renewal from its 2024 A-rate price list, Porkbun from its domains page. 5-year cost = year-1 register + four renewals. Figures change often — check before buying.
The verdict
Which one should you pick?
Choose Porkbun if…
- You want the lowest predictable long-term cost — flat $11.08, no renewal jump.
- You value a generous free bundle: privacy, auto-renewing SSL, DNS and forwarding.
- You register or hold several domains and the per-year gap adds up.
- You want a clean dashboard plus a REST API, without US-registrar upsells.
Stay on Gandi if…
- You're grandfathered into older pricing that hasn't been repriced.
- You need a specific TLD or Gandi feature Porkbun doesn't offer.
- You specifically want an EU-based registrar (Porkbun is US-based — see the OVHcloud comparison instead).
- The transfer friction outweighs the saving on a single domain.
A third option: manage the domain where you deploy
If juggling a registrar, a DNS host, a CI tool and hosting separately is the real pain, there's a different shape: Buddy manages domains + DNS as code (YAML, API, CLI, Terraform) inside the same platform that builds, tests and deploys your app — no nameserver lock-in. It's not a rock-bottom consumer registrar, so for a bare cheap domain Porkbun still wins on sticker.
Try Buddy freeCommon questions
Gandi vs Porkbun — common questions
Is Porkbun cheaper than Gandi?
Substantially. Porkbun's .com is $11.08 flat, meaning registration equals renewal every year. Gandi's .com renews for about $38.38 on the standard rate after the 2024 price list. Over five years that's roughly $55 at Porkbun versus about $171 at Gandi — around a third of the cost.
What free features does Porkbun include that Gandi charges for?
Porkbun bundles free WHOIS privacy, free auto-renewing Let's Encrypt SSL, free DNS with DNSSEC, and email and URL forwarding — all at no extra cost. Gandi still includes privacy and SSL, but it removed the free mailboxes it used to bundle, whereas Porkbun's email forwarding remains free.
Is Porkbun reliable enough to move to from Gandi?
Yes. Porkbun is an established, ICANN-accredited registrar run by Top Level Design, widely used by developers for flat pricing and a generous free bundle. Domains are portable, so you can transfer from Gandi with an auth/EPP code, and Porkbun lets you point nameservers anywhere if you want to keep your existing DNS.