[ranger_danger]

The ones used by freenom were particularly abused:

https://prezkennedy.com/2026/01/15/the-free-domain-trap-the-...

> Freenom’s terms of service allowed them to “cancel” a free domain at any time without warning. Users reported for years that as soon as their free site started getting significant traffic (and becoming valuable), Freenom would reclaim the domain and fill it with ads, effectively hijacking the user’s hard work.

[palad1n]

Oh, sh!t, I used to own a .tk! Have no idea what happened to it.

[sznio]

At least for the last few years of Freenom, you could only get a domain for up to a year. Once that lapsed, they parked it and you had to pay to extend it further.