{ "_meta": { "description": "Per-registrar agent profile: a single machine-readable record combining this registrar's identity, editorial category scores, Agent Readiness Index sub-scores, API-access facts, transfer/switch mechanics, and pricing-verification status. It composes data already published on this site and introduces no new facts. Sections not yet covered by a source dataset are null with a coverage note rather than guessed. Every section names the source it is composed from.", "site": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com", "profile_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/registrars/porkbun/", "methodology_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/methodology/", "generated_for": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrars/porkbun.json", "last_updated": "2026-09-29", "disclosure": "Best-Domain-Registrars.com is operated within Just (Just Done LLC). Every registrar is scored by the same published methodology on the same evidence." }, "registrar": { "id": "porkbun", "name": "Porkbun", "slug": "porkbun", "website": "https://porkbun.com", "headquarters": "Portland, Oregon, United States", "founded": 2014, "icann_accredited": true, "wikipedia_url": null, "best_for": [ "Cheap renewals", "Free WHOIS privacy", "Email forwarding" ], "not_ideal_for": [ "Enterprise account management", "Large premium TLD catalog" ], "whois_privacy": "Free, included by default", "two_factor_authentication": "TOTP authenticator app", "api_available": true, "bulk_tools": true, "last_checked": "2026-09-28", "last_reviewed": "2026-04-29", "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrars.json" }, "editorial_scores": { "scale": "0–10, higher is better; overall is weighted per /methodology/", "overall": 9, "why_overall": "Consistently low renewal prices, free WHOIS privacy, and a clean UI make Porkbun the best all-around registrar for most users.", "categories": { "pricing": 9.5, "renewal": 9.5, "pricing_transparency": 9.5, "whois_privacy": 9.5, "dns": 8.5, "security": 8.5, "support": 8, "transfer": 9, "tld_coverage": 8.5, "developer": 8.5, "beginner_ux": 8.5 }, "last_updated": "2026-05-12", "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/registrar-scores.json" }, "agent_readiness": { "covered": true, "scale": "Sub-scores 0-10; overall 0-100 (weighted).", "methodology_version": "0.1", "basis": "v0.1 is a public-signal assessment. Sub-scores are derived from each registrar's published API documentation, pricing pages, and security/privacy policies as cited per registrar. They are an interpretation of those facts, not a fabricated rating, and they are NOT yet the result of an end-to-end live agent test (search -> register -> configure DNS). Independent live testing is a planned v0.2 upgrade. Any criterion we could not verify from a public source is recorded as null (unknown), not guessed.", "rank": 3, "overall": 63.2, "overall_recomputed": 63.2, "summary": "Strong on the fundamentals an agent needs: a clean JSON API covering domains and DNS, a public pricing endpoint (machine-readable pricing is rare), and transparent low prices. It loses ground on delegation (single API key + secret, no OAuth, no scoped tokens), on safety (no audit-log API), and on developer tooling (no sandbox, no webhooks, no official SDK).", "best_for": [ "Agents that read live pricing programmatically", "Low, transparent prices", "Simple DNS automation" ], "not_ideal_for": [ "Least-privilege delegation", "Audited, reversible automation", "Teams needing a sandbox" ], "criteria": [ { "id": "api_coverage", "name": "API coverage", "weight": 18, "score": 8, "note": "JSON API covers domain registration/management, DNS, SSL, and a pricing endpoint." }, { "id": "auth_delegation", "name": "Authentication & delegation", "weight": 14, "score": 5, "note": "API key + secret with a per-domain API-access toggle (coarse scoping); no OAuth, no short-lived tokens." }, { "id": "agent_safety", "name": "Agent safety", "weight": 12, "score": 3, "note": "2FA (TOTP) on the account; no audit-log API, approval flow, spend limit, or rollback." }, { "id": "developer_experience", "name": "Developer experience", "weight": 12, "score": 6, "note": "Public docs and documented rate limits; no sandbox, no webhooks, no official SDK." }, { "id": "agent_interface", "name": "Agent-interface readiness", "weight": 12, "score": 4, "note": "No official MCP; a public pricing endpoint provides genuinely machine-readable pricing, which most peers lack." }, { "id": "pricing_transparency", "name": "Pricing transparency", "weight": 10, "score": 9.5, "note": "Low, transparent pricing with a programmatic pricing endpoint and no hidden fees." }, { "id": "dns_infrastructure", "name": "DNS & infrastructure", "weight": 8, "score": 7.5, "note": "Free DNS with ALIAS records and DNSSEC, fully API-manageable." }, { "id": "privacy_compliance", "name": "Privacy & compliance", "weight": 6, "score": 8.5, "note": "Free WHOIS privacy by default; TOTP 2FA." }, { "id": "support_quality", "name": "Support quality", "weight": 4, "score": 6.5, "note": "Email and business-hours chat." }, { "id": "trust_signals", "name": "Trust signals", "weight": 4, "score": 7.5, "note": "ICANN accredited, operating since 2014; smaller than legacy registrars." } ], "last_checked": "2026-06-21", "sources": [ "https://porkbun.com/api/json/v3/documentation" ], "report_card_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/agent-readiness-index/porkbun/", "source": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/agent-readiness.json" }, "api_access": { "covered": true, "tier": "ungated", "tier_label": "Ungated", "api_available": true, "auth_model": "API key (key + secret pair)", "scoped_tokens": false, "oauth": false, "webhooks": false, "sandbox": null, "openapi": null, "rate_limit": "10 requests / 10s", "gating": null, "live_tested": true, "docs_url": "https://porkbun.com/api/json/v3/documentation", "note": "A clean REST API open to any account, with a public pricing endpoint that returns data on an unauthenticated request: confirmed live on 2026-06-28. The trade-off is a tight rate limit and no sandbox.", "sources": [ "https://porkbun.com/api/json/v3/documentation", "https://api.porkbun.com/api/json/v3/pricing/get" ], "dataset": { "publisher": "Open Domain Data", "id": "registrar_api_capabilities", "version": "2026.06", "last_checked": "2026-06-28", "url": "https://opendomaindata.org/datasets/registrar-api-capabilities" }, "page_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/domain-registrar-api-access/" }, "transfer": { "covered": true, "transfer_in": { "adds_year": true, "privacy": "Free WHOIS privacy, included by default", "cost": "A transfer renews the domain for one year at Porkbun's price. Porkbun's pricing is verified on this site: see its profile and the cheapest-renewals tracker.", "eligibility": [ "Registered at least 60 days ago and not transferred in the last 60 days (ICANN rule)", "Unlock the domain and have its authorization (auth/EPP) code ready" ], "quirk": null, "doc": "https://porkbun.com/transfer" }, "transfer_out": null, "hub_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/switch/" }, "pricing": { "verified": true, "status": "verified_primary", "method": "public_pricing_api", "summary": "Ingested by scripts/fetch-pricing.mjs from Porkbun's public pricing API (api.porkbun.com/api/json/v3/pricing/get, no auth), which returns the same registration, renewal, and transfer figures that back porkbun.com/products/domains. The registration field reflects the current first-year price including any sale; renewal and transfer carry the recurring rate. Rows cite the human-viewable pricing page as source_url.", "last_verified": "2026-09-28", "primary_sources": [ "https://api.porkbun.com/api/json/v3/pricing/get", "https://porkbun.com/products/domains" ], "prices_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/registrars/porkbun/#pricing", "dataset_url": "https://www.best-domain-registrars.com/data/pricing.csv" } }