Comparison
Porkbun vs Spaceship
Spaceship listed lower renewals on all five names we checked. Porkbun publishes all-in prices and phone support. Here is how the documented details compare.
On October 30, 2026, Spaceship's own pages listed lower one-year renewal prices than Porkbun's for .com, .net, .org, .co and .xyz. The .com gap was $9.98 at Spaceship against $11.08 at Porkbun. Porkbun states its prices include ICANN fees, while Spaceship's pages say an ICANN fee applies at purchase.
Price is not the only difference. Porkbun publishes phone and chat hours. Spaceship routes support through an AI assistant with a live-chat handoff. And Spaceship is a sister brand of Namecheap, which matters if you are trying to spread risk across companies.
Key takeaways
- Spaceship's .com renewal was $9.98 and Porkbun's was $11.08 on Oct 30, 2026. Porkbun says its price includes ICANN fees; Spaceship's page says a fee applies at purchase.
- From Nov 1, 2026, a .com costs any registrar $11.17 a year in registry and ICANN fees. Both listed .com renewals sit below that figure.
- Both include free WHOIS privacy on eligible domains. Spaceship's .com page says privacy is unavailable on .ca.
- Porkbun lists phone and chat support daily, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, plus 24/7 email. Spaceship's documented front line is its Alf AI assistant with live chat behind it.
- Spaceship was launched by Namecheap in 2023, founded by Namecheap founder Richard Kirkendall. Porkbun describes itself as a Top Level Design company.
Renewal prices side by side
First-year prices are the hook. Renewal prices are the bill you keep paying. The table shows what each registrar's own page listed for a one-year term.
| TLD | Porkbun renewal | Spaceship renewal | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| .com | $11.08 | $9.98 | Spaceship $1.10 lower |
| .net | $12.52 | $11.20 | Spaceship $1.32 lower |
| .org | $11.84 | $11.39 | Spaceship $0.45 lower |
| .co | $31.20 | $31.05 | Spaceship $0.15 lower |
| .xyz | $14.21 | $13.77 | Spaceship $0.44 lower |
Checked Oct 30, 2026, two days before the .com wholesale increase. Non-premium names. Porkbun says its prices include ICANN fees; Spaceship's pages say an ICANN fee applies at purchase and do not say whether the listed price includes it. Confirm the total at checkout.
First-year prices, for context
Both registrars discount the first year on several extensions. Porkbun showed .org at $7.98, .co at $15.76 and .xyz at $2.04 for the first year. Spaceship showed .com at $8.88, .org at $6.65, .co at $15.53 and .xyz at $1.86.
Those numbers last one year. The .xyz renewals, $14.21 and $13.77, are about seven times the first-year prices at both companies. That gap is the pattern we explain in our domain renewal trap breakdown.
The ICANN fee wrinkle
ICANN charges registrars $0.20 per transaction-year, per its FY27 fee notice. Spaceship's .net and .org pages cite a $0.20 fee. Its .com page cites $0.18. Porkbun's page says all its prices already include ICANN and other fees.
If Spaceship adds the $0.18 from its .com page on top, its .com renewal comes to $10.16, still below Porkbun's $11.08. The practical answer is to look at the cart total, not the list price.
Both .com prices sit below cost after November 1
Verisign raised the .com registry fee from $10.26 to $10.97 effective November 1, 2026. Add ICANN's $0.20 and every registrar pays $11.17 for each .com year from that date.
Porkbun's $11.08 and Spaceship's $9.98 were both listed before that change. At the new cost, both would be selling below what they pay. Neither company had published a post-increase .com price on the pages we opened.
Prices below a registrar's own cost are the ones most likely to change. Check both registrars' .com pages again after November 1 before you prepay several years.
Multi-year terms at Spaceship are priced per year at the same rate. Its .com table showed renewals of $19.96 for two years and $49.90 for five, which is $9.98 a year in each case.
Transfer pricing
Moving a domain in usually costs one year of renewal, which is added to your expiry date. Porkbun's pricing page notes that most transfers include a one-year renewal.
| TLD | Porkbun transfer | Spaceship transfer |
|---|---|---|
| .com | $11.08 | Not listed on the .com page we opened |
| .net | $12.52 | $11.20 |
| .org | $11.84 | $11.09 |
| .co | $31.20 | $31.05 |
| .xyz | $14.21 | $13.77 |
Checked Oct 30, 2026. Spaceship's transfer page did not load for us, so its .com transfer price is not shown here.
Porkbun charges the same for registration, renewal and transfer on most of these names. That flat structure makes its prices easy to predict. Spaceship's .org transfer, at $11.09, is slightly below its own .org renewal.
Before you move anything, check the domain is not inside a 60-day lock. Our guide to transferring a domain covers the steps at the losing and gaining registrar.
Privacy, DNS and email
WHOIS privacy
Porkbun's .xyz page says WHOIS privacy is included free with every Porkbun domain. Spaceship's .com page says privacy is free on eligible .com registrations and transfers, provided by Withheld for Privacy. Spaceship notes privacy is not available on .ca because of registry rules.
DNS
Spaceship's blog post on DNS management lists support for A, AAAA, CNAME, MX, CAA, NS, PTR, TXT and SRV records, plus CNAME flattening. It says DNSSEC is assigned by default on Spaceship nameservers and can be toggled in Advanced DNS.
Porkbun's knowledge base documents DNSSEC for domains on its own nameservers and for domains using outside nameservers. Its menu also lists free URL forwarding and free SSL certificates.
| Feature | Porkbun | Spaceship |
|---|---|---|
| Free forwarding | Yes, 20 forwarding addresses, receive-only | Not documented on pages we could open |
| Hosted mailbox | From $3.00 a month, 10 GB per user | Spacemail, 5 GB on the entry plan |
| Listed starting price | $3.00/month | $0.63/month on a 1-year plan in one table; "from $0.59" elsewhere on the same page |
| Free trial | 15 days with a domain | 30 days on all plans |
Checked Oct 30, 2026. Spaceship's email product page did not load; its figures come from Spaceship's own blog post on business email, which lists two different starting prices.
Support and ownership
Support
Porkbun's About page lists phone support at 1-855-PORKBUN and live chat every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific, including weekends and holidays. Email support is listed as 24/7.
Spaceship's documented first line is Alf, an AI assistant. A May 2026 Spaceship update says Alf now shows a link to Live Chat when it cannot resolve a request. We could not load Spaceship's contact page, so we cannot confirm its chat hours or whether it offers phone support.
Who owns each
Porkbun's site footer says it is "a Top Level Design Company," with a mailing address in Tigard, Oregon.
Spaceship's August 16, 2023 launch announcement says Namecheap launched it, and describes Spaceship as an ICANN-accredited platform founded by CEO Richard Kirkendall, Namecheap's founder. Its trademarks are held by Namecheap, Inc.
Namecheap's ownership has since changed. Domain Name Wire reported in September 2025 that CVC Capital Partners was buying a majority stake in Namecheap, with Kirkendall keeping a large stake. That report describes Spaceship as a business the company operates alongside Namecheap. It does not say whether Spaceship sits inside the CVC deal, and we found no primary source that does.
If you split domains between registrars to reduce risk, Namecheap and Spaceship share a founder and trademark owner. Porkbun is an unrelated company.
For a deeper look at Spaceship alone, see our Spaceship review.
Which one fits you
| Factor | Porkbun | Spaceship |
|---|---|---|
| .com renewal (Oct 30) | $11.08, fees included | $9.98, ICANN fee at purchase |
| Renewals on the five TLDs checked | Higher on all five | Lower on all five |
| Price structure | Same price to register, renew and transfer on most names | Discounted first year, higher renewals |
| WHOIS privacy | Free | Free on eligible names; not on .ca |
| Free email forwarding | Yes | Not documented on pages we opened |
| Phone support | Yes, daily 9–5 Pacific | Not documented |
| Corporate link | Top Level Design | Namecheap sister brand |
Based on each company's pages, checked Oct 30, 2026.
Spaceship suits
- People optimizing purely for the lowest listed renewal on common TLDs.
- Buyers who want a very cheap hosted mailbox and are fine with an AI-first support flow.
Porkbun suits
- People who want the list price to be the checkout price, with fees included.
- Anyone who wants free email forwarding or a phone number to call.
- Owners spreading risk who already hold names at Namecheap.
The renewal gap on .org, .co and .xyz is under 50 cents a year. On those extensions, support and features are a bigger factor than price.
FAQ
Is Spaceship cheaper than Porkbun for .com renewals?
On October 30, 2026, Spaceship listed a .com renewal of $9.98 and Porkbun listed $11.08. Porkbun says its price includes ICANN fees. Spaceship's .com page says an ICANN fee applies at purchase, so its checkout total may be slightly higher than the list price.
Is Spaceship owned by Namecheap?
Spaceship's 2023 launch announcement says Namecheap launched it, names Namecheap founder Richard Kirkendall as Spaceship's founder and CEO, and lists Namecheap, Inc. as the trademark holder. CVC Capital Partners agreed to buy a majority stake in Namecheap in 2025; published reports we found do not say whether Spaceship was included.
Do Porkbun and Spaceship include free WHOIS privacy?
Yes, on eligible domains. Porkbun says WHOIS privacy is free with every domain. Spaceship says privacy is free on eligible .com registrations and transfers through Withheld for Privacy, and is not available on .ca.
Will these prices change after the .com increase?
They may. Verisign's .com fee rose to $10.97 on November 1, 2026, which with ICANN's $0.20 fee puts the cost at $11.17 a year. Both registrars' listed .com renewals were below that on October 30, so check their pages again before renewing.
Which has better support?
They are set up differently. Porkbun lists phone and chat support every day from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Pacific and 24/7 email. Spaceship's documented front line is its Alf AI assistant, which hands off to Live Chat when it cannot resolve a request.
Does Porkbun or Spaceship offer free email forwarding?
Porkbun lists free email forwarding with 20 forwarding addresses. We could not find free forwarding documented on the Spaceship pages we were able to open, so check with Spaceship before relying on it.
This comparison uses each company's published prices and terms as of October 30, 2026. We have not used either service. Prices change often, especially around the November 1 .com increase. Confirm the checkout total before you buy or transfer.
Sources
- Domain pricing — Porkbun
- .xyz domain — Porkbun
- Email hosting — Porkbun
- About Porkbun — Porkbun
- How to Install DNSSEC — Porkbun Knowledge Base
- .com domain — Spaceship
- .net domain — Spaceship
- .org domain — Spaceship
- .co domain — Spaceship
- .xyz domain — Spaceship
- DNS management: a deep dive — Spaceship Blog
- Cheapest business email — Spaceship Blog
- Alf updates — Spaceship Blog
- Introducing Spaceship — Spaceship Blog
- Namecheap officially reveals plans for Spaceship — Namecheap
- Private equity firm is buying Namecheap in deal that values company at $1.5 billion — Domain Name Wire
- Verisign Reports First Quarter 2026 Results — Verisign Investor Relations
- Registrar Fee Approved, FY27 — ICANN