How To Create Your Own Domain For Free

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Is free website hosting any good? Well, "free" is always good, but not always worth it in the long run. Let me explain:

In short, if you want to run a test website, you're not expecting much of it, and you don't want to invest any money in the project at all, then free website hosting might indeed work for you!

In 95% of the other cases, you're going to be better off with a cheap website hosting plan – no more expensive than $2.75 or even $1.39 / mo.

If you're in a hurry, here's a summary of our findings based on the analysis below:

⏰ TL;DR:

Free website hosting is okay for a hobby project or a proof-of-concept type of project. It's okay if you want to run a site for a short while, get your data and then shut it off.

For any sort of serious project or a website that's meant to stay online for a longer while, you're better off with an affordable web hosting plan or a website builder. For example, Wix is a good choice for a quick start covering both hosting and website builder at one place. Although there is a free plan, you can try any premium plan offering 14 days full return.

Bluehost is our recommended self-hosted website server. If you check them out through our link, you'll unlock a special discounted price of $2.75 / mo vs the $3.95 standard entry level price. You also get a domain name for free bundled in.

Want to get the full story? We compared ten of the best free website hosting options to help you make your decision.

Here are the pros and cons of each one, plus when going with free website hosting might be a good idea:

The limitations of free website hosting

In life, you tend to get what you pay for, and web hosting is no exception. If you choose the free hosting route, be prepared for some common issues that come along with it.

Even the best free hosting tends to be fairly unstable, which can result in downtime. Also, providers typically place restrictions on storage and bandwidth, limiting your site's growth and traffic capacity. Your website may also have slow performance.

That said, there are times you may want to consider free hosting. For a personal project, it may be all you need. The same is true if you're practicing your web design and development skills and just want a space to try out new ideas.

Perhaps you're setting up an area to test new plugins or themes. In that case, the limitations of free hosting shouldn't be a barrier to what you want to accomplish. Of course, if you simply need a staging site, you may want to use a local development tool such as Local and not worry about hosting at all.

However, if you need a live site and don't want to deal with the drawbacks of free web hosting, there are some affordable alternatives to consider. A cheap host can help you keep your budget low while avoiding poor site availability.

Ten best free website hosting services compared

The good news is that you can test drive free website hosting at no cost to see if it might work for you. If you've decided to give it a try, here are ten options to consider.

InfinityFree
Wix
000WebHost
Google Cloud Hosting
AwardSpace
Freehostia
FreeHosting
ByetHost
HyperPHP
FreeWebHostingArea

1. InfinityFree

InfinityFree is a free hosting initiative powered by iFast Net. It offers users:

An autoinstaller with more than 400 different applications, including WordPress
Free subdomains
Unlimited storage
Unlimited bandwidth
400 MySQL databases
Knowledgebase support

You'll have access to the Softaculous Script Installer to install WordPress. This hosting service doesn't offer domain registration, but you can use one you've acquired from another registrar.

Once your website is published, your visitors won't see ads. However, there will be ads in cPanel on the back end. Your site is also limited to 50,000 hits per day.

2. Wix

Wix is a website builder. However, we're featuring it on this list because it's kind of an all-in-one solution for both a website platform and server space to host that website. Since Wix does come with a free plan, this makes it a free website hosting service as well. Wix is a unique way to enjoy awesome site-building features backed by enterprise-grade reliability. On that free plan, you get:

Wix.com subdomain
Beautiful templates
500 MB disk space
500 MB bandwidth
Global content delivery network
Free SSL and security monitoring
Knowledge base and customer support

Just like most of the free web hosting providers, Wix places their own ads on free plan sites. You can only connect a Wix subdomain and would have to move to a paid plan for connecting a custom domain.

The eCommerce functionality is also unavailable in the free version, but you can still set up things like bookings, events, forums, and more with just a few clicks.

3. 000WebHost

000WebHost is a free hosting option from Hostinger. Some of its features include:

One website
No subdomains
300 MB disk space
3 GB of bandwidth
One MySQL database
Community forum, no live support

000WebHost comes with the Zyro website builder, which should make designing your site less intimidating. Like InfinityFree, visitors to your website won't see ads, but there will be ads in your WordPress dashboard.

Free hosting from 000WebHost doesn't even require a credit card to set up, and you can use it as long as you like. Also, if you outgrow your free plan, you can easily upgrade to a cheap plan from Hostinger. Hostinger plans start at $1.39 / month for your first billing cycle.

👉 Our full 000webhost review

4. Google Cloud Hosting

Google Cloud Hosting isn't technically free. However, it does offer a one-year free trial that includes:

One website
Unlimited storage
Extensive support documentation

While Google Cloud Hosting is tailored towards large businesses, anyone can use it. To get started, all you need is a Google account.

The free trial lasts for 12 months or until you've used up the $300 credit it includes. After this, you only pay for the resources you use. Google offers a price calculator to help you estimate your costs.

If you're planning to use WordPress, check out our guide on how to install WordPress on Google Cloud.

5. AwardSpace

AwardSpace offers a variety of hosting services. It's best known for its free plan, which includes:

One website
Three subdomains
1 GB disk space
5 GB bandwidth
MySQL database
24/7 live chat

Awardspace includes one-click content management system (CMS) installation as well as the Zacky website builder. Also, the 24/7 live chat is available to free plan users if you have questions.

Once launched, your website will be ad-free. Plus, you can place ads to monetize it. AwardSpace provides you with the ability to monitor your bandwidth usage as well, which may help you budget your resources.

6. Freehostia

Freehostia offers paid and free hosting. The free plan, called 'Chocolate', provides:

Five websites
No subdomains
250 MB disk space
6 GB bandwidth
One MySQL database
FAQ and ticket support system

Freehostia's cluster platform aims to offer more reliability from its free hosting. Hopefully, this results in less downtime for your website.

You'll have access to a website builder complete with templates. If you run into issues, you can have an answer to your support ticket in one hour, even with the free plan.

7. FreeHosting

FreeHosting offers free and paid hosting from its two data centers. With the free plan you get:

One website
No subdomains
10 GB disk space
Unmetered bandwidth
One MySQL database
Ticket support system

When you sign up, you can bring your own domain name, or FreeHosting can register one for you. This provider promises unmetered bandwidth as long as you comply with its Fair Use Policy.

One-time billed add-ons are available, such as an additional mailbox or SSL certificate. This lets you improve upon the free hosting plan while keeping costs low. Note that FreeHosting does not offer services for users in Brazil, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, or Vietnam.

8. ByetHost

ByetHost is an iFastNet company providing a variety of web hosting services. Its free plan features:

Subdomain included
5 GB disk space
Unlimited bandwidth
One MySQL database
24/7 support via ticket system and knowledge base

ByetHost offers solid support for its free plan, which can be rare. You can access a self-service knowledge base and video tutorials, but a ticketing system is also available.

In addition, you'll receive usage statistics such as disk space, bandwidth usage, and daily hits. You can find this data in VistaPanel, which is ByetHost's free hosting control panel, and can use the information to help budget your resources.

9. HyperPHP

HyperPHP is a free web hosting service also provided by iFastNet. This plan offers:

1 GB disk space
Free subdomain included
MySQL database
Free tech support and community forums

HyperPHP offers a few ways to make launching a new website easy. First, a free domain transfer is available. This host also offers an automatic script installer, which you can access through VistaPanel.

10. FreeWebHostingArea

FreeWebHostingArea is a volunteer-maintained hosting service which offers:

1.5 GB disk space
Unmetered traffic
MySQL databases
Email support

To use FreeWebHostingArea, your site must have at least one visitor per month. It can be deleted due to inactivity if you drop below this metric. This service also prohibits private projects, APIs, and password-protected websites.

FreeWebHostingArea provides backups for all accounts, although it's recommended you create your own as well. You can bring a domain or purchase one through the provider's own service.

Conclusion

While free web hosting isn't perfect, it can be a viable option in some scenarios. However, finding a quality provider that delivers on their promises is no easy task.

In this article, we shared our opinions on the ten best free website hosting options available. You have nothing to lose by giving one a try. Our top pick is AwardSpace for its 24/7 live chat support and easy WordPress installation.

However, for any type of serious project, we recommend using at least a cheap paid shared hosting service. In our collection of cheap web hosting, you'll find services that cost just a few dollars per month.

As we mentioned earlier in this post, you can get quality, affordable website hosting for $2.75 or even $1.39 / mo. ← (Click on the prices to learn more)

Have any questions about whether free website hosting is right for your needs? Ask us in the comments!

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