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Let’s face it — we all love free stuff. Free tacos, free beer, or even a free t-shirt we know we’ll never wear. When people hear the word “free,” we just can’t help ourselves.
So why should our web hosting be any different?
While there are certainly times you should use paid hosting plans, sometimes you just want to throw your latest project up quickly and be done with it — at no cost to you.
If that sounds like your situation, you’re in luck. Below, we take an in-depth look at the top free (and nearly free) hosts on the market.
10 Best Free Hosting Sites
We scoured the Internet for the best hosting that no money can buy. Options abound for the ultra-beginners just getting started on their first website, amateur designers wanting to try out a different hosting company’s service and support, as well as advanced developers looking for a spot to house their new project.
1. Wix.com
A strong, browser-based site builder, Wix leads the way when it comes to easy setup and robust features. Their support isn’t great, but it almost doesn’t matter.
- Storage: 500 MB
- Domain: Wix.com subdomain
- eCommerce: No
- Bandwidth: 500 MB
- Email: No
- Website Builder/Design: Drag-and-drop editor with lots of templates and apps
Email, domain, and eCommerce features are available by upgrading to non-free plans.
2. 000webhost.com
Having hosted websites for nearly 14 million users worldwide, 000webhost has provided free, ad-free hosting since 2007. The feature-rich free hosting plan will support small and medium projects, according to 000webhost’s R&D team.
“We have almost no limits for vital web building and management features,” said 000webhost’s R&D Department Manager, pointing toward fully-functioning FTP accounts and MySQL and PHP support. “We have always been the pioneers of untraditional web hosting models.”
In addition to the unlimited free domain hosting and five email accounts, 000webhost also includes website traffic stats, SEO analysis tools, and guides to help you promote your project. Now with a new cloud-based infrastructure powering the free hosting plan, 000webhost recently became the first provider to offer free SSL certificates to secure your files.
“We provide all major tools for understanding web hosting principles and web building in general,” he said. “For starters, this is probably the best way to start learning web building basics with zero investments. People with good website building knowledge may spare some money and host small or medium websites without any costs and can upgrade to premium plans while growing their website later.”
- Storage: 1.5 GB
- Domain: Unlimited, free subdomains
- eCommerce: Not yet, but “major updates coming soon,” according to R&D report
- Bandwidth: 100 GB
- Email: 5 email accounts
- Website Builder/Design: Hundreds of templates, plus 1-click installs of other apps
As your site grows, 000webhost offers some of the cheapest upgraded plans around — their premium package only costs $3.50 per month.
3. x10Hosting.com
The veterans at x10Hosting pride themselves on giving their free hosting customers a stable and high-performance environment with the latest versions of PHP, MySQL, and cPanel.
- Storage: Unlimited
- Domain: 2 add-on domains, 1 parked domain, and 2 subdomains
- eCommerce: 1-click installs for eCommerce platforms such as Magento
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Email: 3 free accounts
- Website Builder/Design: Website builder with more than 150 templates; other programs available via cPanel installations
Unlimited storage and bandwidth is a major plus for x10Hosting, along with a support community of more than 750,000 members.
4. Weebly.com
The well-known website builder also offers a variety of hosting plans that integrate with their brilliant platform. Weebly’s templates are among the most polished and modern you can find.
- Storage: 500 MB
- Domain: Weebly.com subdomain
- eCommerce: No
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Email: No
- Website Builder/Design: Free templates; can edit via HTML, CSS, or drag-and-drop
By upgrading to the $8/month plan, you can add an eCommerce store. The free plan has no ads, but Weebly does include their branding in the footer of your website.
5. AwardSpace.com
A pioneer in the free web hosting industry with more than 10 years experience, AwardSpace.com relies on free hosting to grow their customer base.
- Storage: 1 GB
- Domain: Hosting for 1 domain and 3 subdomains is included
- eCommerce: No
- Bandwidth: 5 GB
- Email: 1 email account and spam filter
- Website Builder/Design: No, but Joomla and WordPress installers are included
Their free plan, which is ad free, allows hosting newcomers to test the service and see if they want to invest in more features over the long term.
6. Freehostia.com
With interesting plan names, Freehostia’s Chocolate flavor offers free cloud hosting. The load-balanced server cluster platform is up to 15 times faster than more traditional shared hosting setups.
- Storage: 250 MB
- Domain: 5 hosted domains
- eCommerce: 1-click cart installations of several top platforms
- Bandwidth: 6 GB monthly
- Email: 3 email accounts
- Website Builder/Design: Free website templates, plus 1-click installs
While the 250 megabytes of storage is a little small, it’s hard to argue with Freehostia’s 24/7 support and ad-free environment.
7. FreeWebHostingArea.com
Without many of the bells and whistles of the more novice-friendly free hosting plans, Free Web Hosting Area gives the more tech-savvy folks room to explore and experiment.
- Storage: 1.5 GB
- Domain: Free subdomain or transfer your own registered domain
- eCommerce: No
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Email: No
- Website Builder/Design: No, but 1-click installers are available for forums and blogs
Your free account will never expire so long as your site has at least one visit each month. Free Web Hosting Area guarantees that “small sites” will never have an ad, or you can guarantee no ads for $1 per month.
8. 5GBFree.com
One of the newer free hosting companies on our list, 5GBFree.com focuses on cutting-edge technology and security by recently moving to a top US-based datacenter and using the CloudLinux operating system.
- Storage: 5 GB
- Domain: 1 add-on and 1 parked domain
- eCommerce: 1-click installs for Joomla, PHPShop, and ZenCart
- Bandwidth: 20 GB
- Email: No
- Website Builder/Design: 1-click WordPress installs; other apps available via cPanel
5GBFree.com stopped advertising on free accounts starting in late 2014. Support is limited to their forums, but you will never be asked to sign a contract for the free hosting plan.
9. Bravenet.com
In addition to a site builder and unlimited storage, the Canadian company is one of the only free web hosters with an email marketing platform.
- Storage: Unlimited
- Domain: Free Bravenet subdomain
- eCommerce: Ecwid shopping cart, product search, and product listings
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Email: No
- Website Builder/Design: Free drag-and-drop website builder
Bravenet’s email marketing tool helps you build a contact list and design your messages through templates or customized solutions.
10. WebFreeHosting.net
The eco-conscious hosting team at WebFreeHosting.net guarantees users will never have to pay for hosting if they don’t want to. Their clustered servers are completely powered by wind.
- Storage: 1 GB
- Domain: 1 domain and 3 subdomains are included with free hosting
- eCommerce: No
- Bandwidth: 5 GB monthly
- Email: 1 free account
- Website Builder/Design: 1-click installs for WordPress or Joomla
With tons of features available at their three paid hosting plans, WebFreeHosting.net keeps costs minimal — even better, there are no forced ads on their free plan.
5 Best Almost-Free Hosting Sites
While everyone on our list guarantees that you can keep your free hosting as long as you’d like, you will want to take advantage of additional features as your site grows. Our recommended free hosts offer paid plans to upgrade your service, however, serious site owners should strongly consider opting for a reputed, affordable, full-featured hosting provider.
The majority of shared hosts will include a free domain, free email accounts, a boat load of storage, and more eCommerce functionalities for the ridiculously-close-to-free cost of between $3 and $10 per month. Here are our favorite cheap hosting companies:
1.Bluehost.com
- Known for performance at a low price
- Endorsed by WordPress.org team
- FREE Weebly site builder and templates
- FREE Cloudflare CDN
- Get 63% off today (was $7.99/month)
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Bluehost: Our Expert's Review
If you’re looking for an affordable host, Bluehost is a solid, reputable choice, but their low cost coupled with their supremacy in the shared hosting arena is what makes this provider such a value deal. The Bluehost name is listed toward the top of many of...
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Cheap Hosting Plans |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | www.bluehost.com/cheap |
2.eHost.com
- FREE domain name registration for life
- Drag-and-drop site builder with 1,000s of FREE templates
- $200 in advertising credits from Google, Bing, and Yahoo!
- 24/7 customer support and step-by-step tutorials
- Get 50% off today (was $5.50/month, now $2.75)
- Get started on eHost now.
eHost: Our Expert's Review
If you're looking for a low-cost, entry-level jump into the shared hosting space, eHost is the right host for you. They offer tons of freebies to make building your web presence from scratch as stress-free on you, and your wallet, as possible.Like many shared...
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Cheap Hosting Plans |
---|---|---|---|
45 days | Unlimited | FREE for life! | www.ehost.com/shared |
3.iPage.com
- Featuring easy setup and superb reliability since 1998
- FREE domain and FREE Google marketing included
- Unlimited disk, bandwidth, and emails
- FREE site builder and shopping cart
- Get more than 75% off today (was $8.99/month)
- Get started on iPage now.
iPage: Our Expert's Review
Whether you're a first-time website owner or a web veteran, iPage’s excellent hosting services and fantastic list of extras make them one of the best values in web hosting.Unlimited disk space, bandwidth, and emails are just a part of what makes iPage’s...
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Cheap Hosting Plans |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | www.ipage.com/shared |
4.A2Hosting.com
- FREE Cloudflare CDN and SSD speed boost solution
- A2-optimized caching and 1-click CMS installs
- Up to unlimited email addresses, domains, and databases
- Advanced security features and FREE HackScan
- 24/7/365 "Guru Crew" support
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
A2 Hosting: Our Expert's Review
There are plenty of excellent cPanel shared hosting providers out there, so what sets A2 apart from the rest? Not only do they offer a ton of features, they've custom-built their packages for enhanced performance, speed, and security — putting your...
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Cheap Hosting Plans |
---|---|---|---|
30 days | Unlimited RAID-10 | $14.99 | www.a2hosting.com/cheap |
5.HostGator.com
- FREE Weebly site builder
- Easy-to-use control panel
- Unlimited disk, emails, and bandwidth
- 24/7/365 premium support
- 50% off your first month, plus domains starting at $5!
- Get started on HostGator now.
HostGator: Our Expert's Review
HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. They offer unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus 1-click installs of popular open-source projects, in addition to a 99.9% uptime guarantee on their shared hosting...
Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Cheap Hosting Plans |
---|---|---|---|
45 days | Unlimited | New or Transfer | www.hostgator.com/shared |
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