What is a free subdomain?

Last updated: September 25, 2026

A free subdomain is a hostname under a domain you do not own — for example awesome-project.openrepos.org — that you can point at your own project at no cost. You get the name; the provider's servers keep serving the content.

How a subdomain works

DNS is a hierarchy. In awesome-project.openrepos.org, openrepos.org is the domain and awesome-project is the subdomain label the service hands out. The service creates a DNS record for that label — usually a CNAME pointing at your hosting provider, such as octocat.github.io or awesome-project.pages.dev.

From then on, requests for your subdomain are answered by your provider, not by the subdomain service. That is why a free subdomain works with GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Vercel, Netlify and similar hosts without moving your site anywhere.

Who provides HTTPS?

The DNS record alone does not serve content and does not include a certificate. Your hosting provider issues the TLS certificate for the custom domain once you add it in its dashboard — GitHub Pages calls this Enforce HTTPS; Cloudflare Pages issues it automatically.

OpenRepos records are DNS-only on purpose: traffic goes straight to your provider, so your provider keeps control of the content and its own domain verification keeps working.

Free domain or free subdomain?

Many people search for a "free domain" when what they actually want is a serious address for a project. Those are two different things: a registrable domain you own (registrar, annual renewal, MX/NS control) and a free subdomain under a domain someone else operates. OpenRepos is the second kind.

For a project page, docs or a demo, a subdomain on a .org / .io / .sh-class domain is usually the practical free option — and you can move to your own domain later without touching your site. See free domain for open source projects for the full comparison, including when buying a domain is the right call.

Ownership and trust

Because a subdomain can look official, serious services verify that the person claiming it actually owns the project. OpenRepos checks that the pull request author owns the repository (or belongs to its organization), that the repository is public and not archived, that it has a LICENSE, and that its README carries an OpenRepos badge referencing the claimed name.

Verification protects everyone: it prevents squatting on project names, makes impersonation harder, and gives the service a reason to remove a record when something is wrong.

What to check before claiming

  • Permanence — will working names stay, or are they recycled?
  • Eligibility — open source only, developers only, or anyone?
  • Records and targets — CNAME-only to known hosts is the smallest abuse surface; A/AAAA/MX records are more flexible and riskier.
  • Rules and removal — content rules and what happens when a project is abandoned or abused.
  • Stewardship — who runs the service, and for how long.

How OpenRepos does it

  • 7 domains to choose from, for open source projects in any language or ecosystem; one subdomain per project.
  • Claims live in one public file, register.json; CI validates naming, ownership, the target allowlist and the badge before a maintainer merges.
  • DNS is created automatically after merge; a status badge in your README shows pending until the claim is live.
  • Records are DNS-only to approved hosting providers, plus an optional verification TXT record when a provider requires one.
  • Open source (MIT), free forever, and names are not recycled. Compare with other services.

Frequently asked questions

Is a free subdomain really free?

Yes. OpenRepos is a community-run, MIT-licensed service: no fees, no premium tiers and no ads. You claim a name with a pull request, and DNS is provisioned automatically after a maintainer merges it.

Do I own the subdomain?

You control the DNS record while your claim is active, but you do not own the domain itself. The domain owner keeps the namespace, and records can be removed for abuse, abandonment or if the project stops being open source.

Can a subdomain rank in search engines?

Yes. A subdomain is a normal hostname; search engines index it like any other site, based on its own content and links. Search engines may treat it as related to the parent domain, which is another reason to keep your content on-topic.

Why does my new subdomain show an error before I configure my host?

The DNS record only routes traffic; the content and the TLS certificate come from your hosting provider. Until you add the subdomain in the provider's dashboard, visitors may see a TLS error or a 522. The setup guides walk through each provider.

What happens if the project is abandoned?

Names are not recycled: we keep working subdomains in place and do not hand them to someone else. Records can only be removed for the documented reasons — the project is no longer open source, the subdomain is abandoned, or it is used for abuse.

Do I get a free domain or a free subdomain?

A free subdomain. If you searched for a "free domain", the practical version of that for a project is an address like your-project.openrepos.org: permanent, HTTPS-capable, and free. If you need MX email, NS delegation or full ownership, buy a registrable domain from a registrar instead.

Next steps

Pick a name on openrepos.org with the domain picker, follow a setup guide for your host, and open the claim in the register repository.