12 Best Free Web Hosting Sites to Choose From

If you want to build a website but don’t want to spend too much money, free website hosting is a great option. It can be hard to decide which to choose when there are so many options available. 

To help you out, we’ve created this guide to show you the best free website hosting services. We’ve looked at the best solutions and reviewed them to help you make a wise decision and get your website up and running quickly. So let’s get started and find you the perfect free website hosting service!

Should You Really Use Free Web Hosting

Building a website is now a key element in communicating with the world. However, when you first start out, you don’t need to put money into making a website. Most people just want something that’s fast, straightforward, and free. Nowadays, there are many free website hosting services. But, as a careful consumer, you know nothing comes without a cost. There’s always a catch.

It costs a lot to run a web hosting service. To make money and stay in business, free website hosts can put ads on your website, limit traffic, disrupt your service, tie you to their platform, or promote other services. Some of the ads that appear may not be in line with your brand and could even be from your competitors.

While it’s generally not a good idea to use free website hosting, it can be a viable option for testing purposes. Unfortunately, it’s not recommended for businesses due to the lack of features and services. However, if finances are limited, there are free services available, such as those offered by WordPress. This article will provide options for these tight-budget situations.

We’ve only included free hosting providers that guarantee they will not charge you a dime as long as your site is up and running. If you’re serious about your website, though, it’s best to purchase a paid hosting service. This can be done for as little as $2.75 to $5 a month, and these plans often come with a free domain, an SSL, e-commerce abilities, and free emails. Even though it requires an expense, the cost is minimal in comparison to the potential profits your website may bring.

The little fee may provide you access to expert advice and improved service in general. The primary advantage is that you’ve complete authority over your website. Displaying no ads and maintaining an ad-free website may be the best option if you want to deliver a positive customer experience.

This being the case, let’s start with a survey of the best web hosts currently available. Next, we’ll go through some of the best options for free web hosting.

 

 

5 Best Website Hosting Sites on the Market

We’ve designed an evaluation system to rate the best web hosting services, taking into account factors like server reliability, usability, customer service, features, and cost. To guarantee impartiality, we’ve done a comprehensive assessment of each web hosting provider. 

Further, we have also taken into consideration customer reviews and feedback to gain a clearer understanding of the user experience with each service. We can make an extensive list of the most suitable web hosting services by considering these key elements.

 

 

 

Bluehost: Best Website Hosting Overall

Pricing: Starting at $2.95/month

Star rating: 4.8/5

Bluehost is a globally renowned web hosting firm that has been endorsed by WordPress. Their hosting plans come with a variety of features, such as infinite disk space, a complimentary SSL certificate, custom email addresses, one-click WordPress installation, and more. 

Moreover, you can get add-ons such as a Cloudflare CDN, website builder, SEO tools, and other powerful website functionalities from their control panel. Bluehost is perfect for setting up blogs, small business websites, and individual sites. 

Their most economical plan comprises unrestricted bandwidth, custom designs, 10 GB SSD storage, one website, and a free domain name for the first year. Meanwhile, the upper tiers include unrestricted websites, free domain privacy, storage, and automated backups.

Most of Bluehost’s shared hosting plans have a processor performance that’s satisfactory for the majority of websites with low to high levels of traffic. The Pro plan includes an upgraded CPU that leads to faster page loading and improved processing speed. Read this Bluehost review if you need more information on this web host. 

Pros: 

• Ample storage
• Complimentary SSL certificates and a domain name for the first year
• High availability and quick loading
• WordPress integration that’s seamless
• Trustworthy security

Cons: 

Pricing: Bluehost provides four different plans in their shared hosting services.

• Basic – $2.95/month (Renews to $9.99/month)
• Plus – $5.45/month (Renews to $14.99/month)
• Choice Plus – $5.45/month (Renews to $18.99/month)
• Pro – $13.95/month (Renews to $28.99/month)

There are a number of hosting possibilities accessible, including shared, VPS, WordPress, and committed hosting services. Customers are eligible to receive a complete reimbursement within the initial thirty days of buying any plan.

 

 

Hostinger: Best for Budget

Pricing: Starts at $1.99/month

Star rating: 4.8/5

An alternative to free website hosting is provided by Hostinger, which offers budget-friendly shared hosting packages appropriate for creating a website for the first time. Hostinger is an organization for web hosting and domain name registration, which is under the ownership of its staff and was initiated in 2004. 

The company serves a broad variety of services from safe starter hosting to advanced VPS cloud architecture and has customers from 39 countries around the world.

Basically, you can commence from $1.99 per month. For just $2.99 each month, you can possess your own domain name, 10 business email accounts, the capability to set up 100 individual websites, and a one-click installation of content management systems such as WordPress.

Hostinger offers a wide range of features, including a minimum of 30 GB of storage space, 1 website hosting, 1 email hosting, 100 GB of bandwidth, and 2 database hosting spaces with their hosting plans. This should be more than enough for a simple website. If you require more amenities, you can always upgrade to a premium subscription.

Pros: 

• Reliable functioning and rapid velocity
• Affordable prices
• Simple to use

Cons: 

• Lowest-priced plan with few available features
• Limited Assistance

Pricing: Hostinger provides three of the most favored shared hosting plans.

• Single Shared Hosting – $1.99/month (Renews to $3.99/month) 
• Premium Shared Hosting – $2.99/month (Renews to $6.99/month) 
• Business Shared Hosting – $3.99/month (Renews to $8.99/month)

Besides shared hosting, Hostinger also offers Cloud, WordPress, and VPS hosting. Everyone who purchases a hosting package is given a thirty-day window to return it for a full refund.

 

 

HostGator: Best for Beginners

Pricing: Starts at $2.75/month

Star rating: 4.6/5

HostGator is regarded as one of the top web hosting providers since its beginning in 2002. From a small firm, it has grown to be a leading host in the world. This success can be credited to its excellent service and inexpensive web hosting rates.

Its most economical package, at just $2.75 per month, is the most cost-effective option. Every plan includes a complimentary domain name, unlimited subdomains, complimentary HTTPS/SSL certificates, unrestricted email accounts, unlimited FTP accounts, unlimited disk storage, and unrestricted bandwidth.

In addition, all cPanels in shared hosting plans are pre-installed with WordPress and other famous website creators.

Pros: 

• Much storage space
• Flexible conditions
• Limitless bandwidth

Cons: 

• Regular upselling
• Complex pricing
• Faulty backups

Pricing: HostGator offers an initial shared hosting plan for just $2.75 per month, with a range of other web hosting packages at budget-friendly prices. For an additional fee, users can access additional features like website backups and search engine optimization tools.

• $11.95 – Hatchling
• $12.95 – Baby
• $17.95 – Business

 

 

Namecheap: Best for Domain Name Registration

Pricing: Starting at $1.98/month

Star rating: 4.6/5

Namecheap is a popular domain name registrar and web hosting provider that offers inexpensive plans with a 30-day money-back guarantee and a free SSL certificate for the first year. It may not be suitable for small businesses due to its limited storage and lack of customer service, however, its low cost is attractive. 

Those who don’t require complex configurations would find Namecheap satisfactory. Its basic shared hosting plans are affordable and include the essential features you need to launch a small website, such as automated twice-weekly backups, a free SSL certificate and a 100% uptime guarantee. Namecheap is especially strong in these starter plans.

Pros: 

• A user-friendly interface
• Affordable price ranges
• The uptime guarantee is 99.9% for reseller and VPS hosting, and 100% for shared, dedicated, and business hosting

Cons: 

• Few hosting options
• Limited storage for simple layouts
• No telephone support

Pricing: Strategies that involve a yearly expense comprise of:

• Stellar: For only $2.18 monthly, the basic package provides 20 GB of Solid State Drive (SSD) capacity and a maximum of three web pages.
• Stellar Plus: Customers have the potential to make an indefinite amount of sites, arrange automated backups, and get an unrestricted amount of storage for $2.98 a month.
• Stellar Business: Customers are granted unlimited web pages, automatic backups, cloud storage, and up to 50 GB storage with a monthly fee of $4.98.

 

 

SiteGround: Best for Website Security

Pricing: Starting at 2.99/month

Star rating: 4.4/5 

SiteGround is a fantastic paid hosting alternative to those of no cost. They are renowned for their extraordinary customer service and prompt response times. In addition, SiteGround is an officially certified WordPress hosting provider.

The packages from SiteGround include a website builder, a single-click WordPress and Joomla installation, unrestricted email addresses, first-rate client service, SSD storage, and many more. Furthermore, they have developed advanced website speed features such as security plugins, website optimization, and quick PHP and MySQL databases. Along with granting a 99.99% uptime guarantee, SiteGround provides data centers in all four regions of the world.

The greatest website builder for small businesses and stores is SiteGround. If you require more space and bandwidth as your website grows, they offer a virtual private server (VPS) web hosting package that you can upgrade to.

Pros: 

• Free everyday backups
• New technologies that increase speed
• Very quick page loads
• Servers across four continents

Cons: 

• A difficult pricing structure
• No possibility for mid-tier scalability
• There’s no free domain offered

Pricing: SiteGround, a provider of hosting services that comes at a higher cost, offers shared hosting plans that commence at $2.99 each month.

• StartUp – For a single website with a maximum of 10,000 visitors per month, 10GB of SSD storage is available for a cost of $2.99 each month.
• GrowBig – An abundance of websites, lightning-fast PHP configuration, a 100,000 visits allowance per month, 20GB of SSD storage, available backups, staging, and a collaborative application, all for just $4.99 a month.
• GoGeek – An array of websites, a collaboration platform, four-hundred thousand monthly visits, dependable backups, staging, PHP, personal DNS, a white-label control panel for customers, forty gigabytes of SSD storage, and high-priority customer service, all for $7.99 per month.

 

 

7 Really Free Web Hosting Services

WordPress.com: Best Free Website Hosting Site Overall

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.8/5

WordPress.com offers a free website hosting service that shouldn’t be confused with wordpress.org’s self-hosted website builder. The free package includes a subdomain (i.e. your website.wordpress.com), 3 GB of storage, access to free website designs, and ads displayed on your website. 

If you would like to remove advertisements, use your own domain name, and unlock other features, then it’s best to choose one of the “near free hosting” options by upgrading to one of their premium plans.

 

 

Wix: Best Free Website Hosting Site for Ease of Use

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.7/5

Besides Weebly, Wix also offers a free version of hosting a website. This free version is supported by displaying advertisements and the wix.com logo on your page, similar to most free hosting services. To get rid of this, you can switch to their paid plans. 

The free plan of wix.com includes a subdomain, 500 MB of storage space, 500 MB of bandwidth, and access to website templates.

 

 

Weebly: Best for E-commerce

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.6/5

Weebly, a well-known website hosting platform based in San Francisco, is owned by its parent company Square, Inc. It offers up-to-date website designs plus drag-and-drop options, along with multiple hosting services. 

This service also has in-built features that are accessible without the requirement of any other software. Although, certain features are limited, like with other free hosting platforms, for example, a Weebly subdomain is necessary for an address of the website, plus Weebly ads must be displayed on the website. 

The platform also provides a user-friendly drag-and-drop website builder and pre-made themes. Included in the free plan is 500 MB of storage, a Weebly subdomain, and Weebly ads. To remove the advertisement, obtain additional storage, and access features, people will need to join their paid plans.

 

 

Squarespace: Best for Stylish Websites

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.5/5

Squarespace, a user-friendly website builder, necessitates no knowledge of coding. It offers aesthetically pleasing, professionally designed templates and a straightforward drag-and-drop menu. The platform provides a complimentary two-week trial of website hosting, allowing you to experience the website builder and see its features. Without a paid subscription, your website isn’t visible to the public.

Starting at $12 each month, the available packages provide storage, unlimited data transfer, and pre-made website templates, as well as a free personalized domain.

 

 

Google Cloud Hosting: Best for Scalability

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.4/5

Students and small businesses have access to a wide variety of free website hosting options from Google, including all of the usual features one would expect from a top-tier provider like Google. The pay-per-use model of their programs makes it simple for students to get started. 

If you just need a free hosting plan for testing or development, Google’s $300 promotional credit should cover up to a year of usage. It’s possible to host any type of website on Google Cloud, including WordPress, and users can even employ Google Compute Engine to manage their sites.

 

 

Amazon Web Services – Best for Enterprise-level Hosting

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.3/5

Amazon Web Services, mostly referred to as AWS, runs some of the most visited websites globally. Even though it may be challenging for small businesses to utilize, it’s a great platform for new developers and students.

Amazon’s AWS Free Tier is one of the number one free website hosting solutions for testing sites since it provides a great deal of features and services and can be accessed without any obligation past the initial 12-month period. Students can gain and refine their development skills using the robust platform provided by Amazon.

 

 

InfinityFree – Best for Unlimited Free Hosting

Pricing: Free

Star rating: 4.2/5

You may create as many websites as you want and transfer as much data as you want expense-free with InfinityFree, an amazing free web hosting service. Initially, we were doubtful but after further investigation, we found that this is a valid host with a successful history and more than 400,000 happy customers.

You can instantly and effortlessly install WordPress, Joomla, or any of the other 400+ popular programs on your sites with Softaculous. There won’t be any advertisements to inform people that you’re using free hosting, and they’ll all be given free SSL.

 

 

Ranking Methodology for the Best Free Website Hosting 

Choosing the right web host among the considerable free options can be daunting. To ensure that you select a dependable and reliable hosting company, there are several aspects you should keep in mind. To come up with a list of the best free website hosting providers, we considered the following criteria:

• Advertisements: Be cautious of web hosting services that put commercials on your site. Select a host that has no advertisements.
• Bandwidth & Disk Space: Consider the storage and data transfer capacity that the web hosting service is providing. Ensure your website has adequate space and traffic allowance.
• Server Uptime: The success of your website is contingent upon the hosting provider’s reliability. To ensure your website is available to users at all times, opt for a hosting service that guarantees a minimum of 99% uptime.
• User-Friendly Interface: Select a hosting provider that has an accessible and straightforward control panel so you can swiftly and efficiently manage your website.
• Security: To protect against unauthorized access and malicious software, a web hosting company must ensure your website is safely maintained. Opt for a service that offers SSL certificates, periodic virus checks, and firewalls.
• Customer Support: When searching for a hosting provider, make sure they have dependable customer service, including 24/7 technical assistance.

 

 

Best Free Website Hosting Services – Buying Guide

What Is Free Web Hosting?

When creating a website, web hosting is an essential part. It furnishes the tools and services needed to make the website visible on the internet. There’s a broad selection of web hosting companies, each with distinct pricing. Some even offer their services for free. 

These services generally come with limited resources and features, as well as restricted support. Nevertheless, it could be a great option for those who want to try out website design and development, start a personal blog, or construct a basic website. Despite the purpose, the most challenging task when it comes to free hosting is finding a reliable provider.

How to Choose the Best Free Web Hosting Service

We have thoroughly discussed the downsides of using a complimentary web hosting service, but if you still prefer to proceed, you must select one that’s effortless to use, without ads, and full of useful capabilities.

Considering the majority of free hosting has restricted bandwidth and memory, you have a greater selection of options if you’re constructing an uncomplicated website. That being said, you’ve no risk in trying out these hosting services since no funds will be withdrawn from your account.

Why Do Web Hosting Companies Offer Free Hosting?

Taking advantage of free website hosting for marketing purposes involves the risk of changes to the conditions and more frequent outages because there’s no Service Level Agreement (SLA) and no payments are made.

It’s clear that there are lots of limitations with free hosting. Although in some cases the server capacity, website performance, visitor count, uptime guarantees, and backup services may be restricted, it’s still possible to find cheap hosting. Remember that the aim of providing free website hosting is so that companies can later offer more expensive web hosting to those who need it.

 

 

What Are the Pros and Cons of Free Website Hosting?

Although free website hosting doesn’t require you to spend any money, there are still many more disadvantages than advantages. If you’re just starting out with website creation, then this may be the best option for you, but it’s usually better to go with a trustworthy hosting provider, some of which are reasonably priced. 

When taking free website hosting into consideration, you should be aware of the many disadvantages that come along with it. Performance is typically inferior to premium hosting, security is less reliable, customer service isn’t as helpful and it’s up to you to solve any problems that may arise. Ultimately, it’s best to stay away from free website hosting and opt for a reliable and affordable hosting company.

Is Free Website Hosting Safe?

Free hosting may be secure, but when it comes to reliability and customer service, it often gets overlooked. As a result, don’t expect regular or consistent backups, and make sure to take the necessary steps to back up and recover your own information constantly. This isn’t to say that companies that offer free website hosting are poor or unreliable, rather, it just means that when you pay for premium services, you get greater stability, support, and dependability.

It’s important to remember that, although free hosting may be suitable for small hobby websites, any important website, even if it just has a contact page – should have a premium web hosting provider. Not only does this provide more security, not having any extraneous website credit or adverts will give the website a more credible and trustworthy look.

 

 

Free vs Paid Web Hosting

If you’re in the process of starting up a website, a free hosting plan may be very attractive due to the expense of constructing and maintaining a site. To save money, you may be keen to take advantage of any cost-saving opportunities that arise.

You may wonder how hosting providers can offer these services without charging a fee. The truth is that hosting a website doesn’t come without a cost. A free hosting package will usually involve some type of compromise, for example:

• Lack of Security: The security of encryption, firewalls, and spam filtering is weaker on free website hosting platforms. Consequently, your website may be at risk of attacks due to the rising number of security breaches.
• Limitations: A free hosting package typically provides the bare minimum of features. It’ll only include the essentials to get your site up and running. For example, there might be a limited amount of bandwidth available, which could limit the number of visitors to your site. Additionally, the capacity to create web pages could also be limited.
• Slow Loading Speeds: If the webpage fails to load quickly, numerous potential customers may decide to abandon the site.
• Limited Customer Support: Not many customer service plans include free membership. After you enter your issue ticket, you’ll be considered a customer with a low priority. If they simply correspond with you through email, it could take a lot longer.
• Ads Placed on Your Site: Website hosting firms can offer free hosting services due to their ability to generate income from ads. Once your website is live, they or third-party ads will earn money for the hosting company. As a consequence, you no longer have any influence over the type of adverts or the number of times they are shown on your website.
• Branded Domain Names: To have a flourishing online presence, you must use personalized domain names. In contrast, when utilizing a free web host, you can pick your own domain name in addition to the host’s brand name. For instance, if you decide to go with WordPress, your domain name would be mydomainname.wordpress.com.

 

 

Free Website Hosting – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is Free Website Hosting Good?

Using a free web hosting service as opposed to paying for a low-cost website hosting provider isn’t generally recommended. This is because of the many disadvantages that come along with it, such as having limited options, lack of protection, and no assistance if something goes wrong. 

However, there are some cases when free hosting is beneficial, such as for people who are new to website creation and just want to try it out. Ultimately, the choice is up to the individual.

Which Free Hosting Is Best?

Depending on the characteristics and needs of your website, you’ll need to decide which free hosting provider is the most suitable for you. Although there are many free hosting choices, not all of them offer the same degree of resources and features. You might consider a few popular and dependable free hosting companies, such as WordPress, Google Cloud Hosting, InfinityFree, Wix, and Weebly.

Is Free Web Hosting Worth It?

If you’re in a hurry to launch a website but don’t want to pay for hosting, free web hosting may be an option. However, it’s important to bear in mind that free web hosting may come with certain drawbacks, such as limited features, reliability, security, ads, and customer service.

 

 

Bottom Line on the Best Free Web Hosting Sites

Ultimately, those with a limited budget or working on personal projects can consider free web hosting as a potential option. Nevertheless, it could come with certain drawbacks, such as resource restrictions, security concerns, and slow web page loading speeds. Therefore, it’s important to look into your website’s needs and inspect the features and limitations of each provider before selecting the best one for you.

You may wish to look into InfinityFree, WordPress.com, Weebly, Google Cloud Hosting, Wix, and Amazon Web Services as dependable free hosting companies. A lot of features are offered by these suppliers, including unrestricted disk space, website builders, bandwidth, email accounts, free SSL certificates, and user-friendly control panels.

If you need extra features, faster loading speeds, better security, and exceptional customer service, you may want to consider a paid hosting service like Hostinger, HostGator, or Bluehost. In the end, your website’s requirements, desired outcomes, and budget will help you decide which hosting solution is the best fit.

 

 

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