Free Domains for Students: .me, .tech, .dev and More

A personal domain like yourname.dev looks great on a CV, a portfolio or a GitHub profile. As a student, you can get one free for a year. Most guides only say "use the GitHub Student Developer Pack". They skip the details that matter: which extensions you can pick, which offer needs a payment card, and what you pay in year two.

This guide covers every free domain offer in the GitHub Student Developer Pack, the separate Namecheap student program, and the free subdomains anyone can use. It also tells you which "free domain" sites to avoid. Every offer was checked on the provider's own page on October 10, 2026.

Want other student deals too? See our full list of free stuff for students and the India edition, which lists offers that accept Indian colleges.

All free student domain offers at a glance

Offer	Extensions	Free for	Who can claim	Card needed
Name.com (GitHub Pack)	25+ extensions, including .dev, .app, .live, .studio, .software	1 year, plus Domain Safe	GitHub Pack students	Yes, but not charged for the free year
Namecheap (GitHub Pack)	.me only	1 year, plus 1 SSL certificate for 1 year	GitHub Pack students	Not stated
.TECH (GitHub Pack)	.tech (standard names only)	1 year	GitHub Pack students	Not stated
Namecheap Education (nc.me)	.me	1 year	Students at selected universities in the US, UK, Canada and Australia	Not stated

First, get the GitHub Student Developer Pack

Three of the four offers come through the GitHub Student Developer Pack, so start here. The pack is free. You apply once and then claim each partner offer from one page.

GitHub's rules, from its official docs:

You must be 13 or older.
You must be enrolled in a degree- or diploma-granting program. That includes high school, college, university and homeschool.
You need a personal GitHub account.
You need proof of enrollment: a school ID that shows current enrollment, a class schedule, a transcript or an enrollment letter.
If the form asks for an academic email, add and verify it on your GitHub account first.

Teachers cannot get the pack. Your student status lasts 2 years, then you verify again. GitHub's terms also say offers "may not be redeemed multiple times", so you get each domain offer once.

Apply for the GitHub Student Developer Pack

The free domain offers, one by one

1. Name.com: free .dev, .app and 25+ more

GitHub Pack · BEST CHOICE

This is the best offer for most students, because you get to choose the extension. GitHub's listing says you can pick from "over 25 domain extensions like .live, .studio, .software, .app, and .dev". Name.com's support page says you also get Domain Safe free for the first year.

How to claim it, from Name.com's own help article:

Log out of Name.com first.
Sign in to GitHub and open the Name.com offer on the pack page.
Click the Name.com link, then click "Click to login to GitHub".
Search for your domain. Only some extensions are eligible.
Add it to your cart. The promo code is added for you. Do not change it.
Log in to Name.com (or create an account) at checkout.

If checkout fails, check your contact details. ICANN rules need a real street address. GitHub also warns that your Name.com account needs a unique address, or the system may treat it as a duplicate claim.

The catch: Name.com needs a payment method on file for every domain. It does not charge you for the free year, but it will charge you at renewal if auto-renew is on. Turn auto-renew off on day one if you do not plan to keep the domain.

Replaces: Paying for a .dev or .app in year one
Runs on: GitHub Student Developer Pack
Skip if: You do not want to put a card on file
Price: Free for 1 year

2. Namecheap: free .me domain and SSL

GitHub Pack · CLASSIC

Namecheap has two offers in the pack:

Offer 1: one year of registration for a .me domain.
Offer 2: one SSL certificate, free for one year.

A .me domain reads well for a personal site, like yourname.me. Open the Namecheap offer from the pack page, follow the link, search for a .me name and check out. The free year should show as $0 in your cart. If it does not, stop and go back through the pack link.

You do not need the free SSL certificate if you host on GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify or Vercel. All of them give you HTTPS for free. It is useful only if you run your own server.

After year one: a .me domain renews at Namecheap's normal price, which was about $24 a year when we checked.

Replaces: A paid .me domain and SSL certificate
Runs on: GitHub Student Developer Pack
Skip if: You want .dev or .app instead
Price: Free for 1 year

3. .TECH: free .tech domain

GitHub Pack · TECH NAME

The .TECH offer gives you "one standard .TECH domain free for 1 year". "Standard" means premium names are not included. Short, common words like ai.tech cost extra and are not part of the offer.

A .tech name is fine for a project or a hackathon team. Think twice before you build your main portfolio on it, though. Renewal prices for .tech are much higher than for .me or .dev at most registrars. Check the renewal price before year one ends.

Older guides say this offer includes free email accounts. The current pack listing does not mention email, so do not count on it.

Replaces: A paid .tech domain
Runs on: GitHub Student Developer Pack
Skip if: You plan to keep the domain for years (renewals are pricey)
Price: Free for 1 year

4. Namecheap Education (nc.me)

School email · NO GITHUB

Namecheap also runs its own student program at nc.me. It is separate from the GitHub Pack. You verify with your school email, and it only works for selected universities in the US, UK, Canada and Australia.

The nc.me FAQ says the first year of the standard bundle (a .me domain, GitHub Pages setup and Withheld for Privacy) is free. After that you pay $15 a year for the GitHub Pages bundle. That is cheaper than the normal .me renewal. The domain renews by itself, and Namecheap sends an email 30 days before.

The limit is one of each extension and one SSL certificate per household. nc.me also lists cheap first-year prices on other extensions in the same bundle, like .com for $8.88.

Replaces: The GitHub Pack route
Runs on: Selected universities in the US, UK, Canada and Australia
Skip if: Your school is not on the list
Price: Free for 1 year, then $15 a year

Check nc.me

Which free domain should you pick?

For a portfolio you will keep: take .dev from Name.com. It is short, clearly about code, and it usually renews for less than .tech, .live or .studio.
For a simple personal page: take .me from Namecheap, or from nc.me if your university is on its list, since that route renews at $15.
For a team, club or hackathon: take .tech, or a .live or .studio name from Name.com's list.

You can claim all three pack offers. Just remember that each one starts a one-year clock. If you only need one domain now, claim the others later, when you need them, while your student status is still valid.

Point your free domain at a free website

A domain alone does nothing. Here is the simplest free setup for a portfolio:

Put your site in a GitHub repository.
Turn on GitHub Pages in the repository settings. Your site goes live at yourname.github.io.
In the same settings page, enter your new domain under Custom domain.
At your registrar (Name.com, Namecheap or the .tech registrar), add the DNS records GitHub shows you.
Wait for DNS to update, then tick Enforce HTTPS.

Cloudflare Pages, Netlify and Vercel work the same way: you deploy, then add your domain in the project settings. If you want to compare free hosts, our free for developers list covers their free tiers and limits.

Free subdomains anyone can use (no student ID)

Not a student, or waiting for approval? These give you a free web address today. They are subdomains (like yourname.github.io), not your own domain, but they cost nothing and never expire while you use them.

Option	Address you get	Rules worth knowing
GitHub Pages	`yourname.github.io`	One user site per account. Project sites live at `yourname.github.io/repo`.
Cloudflare Pages	`project.pages.dev`	You pick the name when you create the project.
Netlify	`project.netlify.app`	Based on your project name. You can rename it in settings.
Vercel	`project.vercel.app`	Based on your project name. First come, first served.
is-a.dev	`yourname.is-a.dev`	Free for developers through a GitHub pull request. New requests are paused "until further notice" as of October 2026.
js.org	`yourname.js.org`	Only for projects about JavaScript. Personal pages and portfolios are not allowed.
eu.org	`yourname.eu.org`	Free, but you need your own nameservers, there is no support and approval can take a very long time.

Free domain sites to avoid

Before your free year ends

Write down the date you claimed each domain.
Check whether auto-renew is on at Name.com and Namecheap.
Look up the renewal price in your registrar account about a month before the end date.
Decide: keep it and pay, or move your site back to a free subdomain.
If you keep it, compare renewal prices at other registrars. You can usually move a domain to another registrar after the first 60 days.

FAQs

Can I get a .com domain free as a student?

Not through the GitHub Student Developer Pack. Its free domain offers cover .me (Namecheap), .tech (.TECH) and 25+ extensions from Name.com such as .dev and .app, but not .com.

Is the free domain really free?

Yes, for the first year. Name.com needs a card on file but does not charge you for the free year. After one year, every offer renews at a normal paid price unless you turn off auto-renew.

Can I claim the Name.com, Namecheap and .TECH offers together?

Yes. They are separate partner offers in the pack, so you can claim each one. But each offer works only once per student.

How long does GitHub Student Developer Pack approval take?

GitHub does not promise a fixed time. A clear, current proof of enrollment and a verified school email (if the form asks for one) speed it up.

Do I need a student email?

Only if the application asks for one. GitHub says that once recent applicants from your school have verified with an academic email, later applicants from the same school must use one too. Otherwise, a school ID or enrollment letter works.

What happens to my domain when I graduate?

Nothing right away. The domain is yours until the end of the paid or free period. GitHub's student status lasts 2 years, but a domain you already claimed is not taken back.

Official sources

Apply to GitHub Education as a studentGitHub Docs Terms and conditions for the Student Developer PackGitHub Docs Namecheap Education FAQNamecheap .dev domainGoogle Registry