[SMAAART]

Not really free in the long run:

> users can take out the .tk domain for free for 12 months, before then having to pay a small subscription fee.

Source: https://www.ionos.com/digitalguide/domains/domain-news/the-t...

[warrenm]

Not exactly - you can renew them for 12 months (or less) at a pop for free "forever"

Or you can register them for multiples of a year (starting at 1 year) for money

[collegeburner]

freenom has a deserved reputation for seizing domains when they get a lot of traffic so they can run shitty ads and recoup they cost