For me, the era of the free web host’s popularity is largely over (remember Geocities?). However, there are still dozens of sites on the internet that offer free web hosting. A quick Google search for “free web host” will bring you thousands of results. Free web hosts can range from full fledged online site building solutions, to blogging platforms, to no-frills web hosts. Of these, the blogging platforms (Blogger, WordPress, etc.) are the most popular, even though they don’t fall under the strict definition of a web host.

I found that on my journey towards setting up my own website, I encountered a choice between choosing a free web host or a paid one. After doing my own research about the pros the cons of a free web host, this is what I found:

Pros

1. Free – A free web host is just that – free. There are no hidden costs associated with it so its easy on your wallet.

2. Easy to Set Up – A free web host is usually very easy to set up. You can set up a blog or a website with no knowledge of web servers or website coding.

3. Scalability – You can set up literally hundreds of websites/blogs on a free web host. The blogging platform, Blogger, for instance, is used by many people to host dozens of blogs.

4. Good for ‘Practice’ – Students or hobby programmers can set up their own on these free web hosts to get a real world, hands-on idea of how websites and web programming works, without having to shell out money for a paid web host. Free servers are also a great way for developers to get their feet wet in working with scripts and servers, allowing you to experiment with a variety of coding and scripting methods with no worry about how their impact on the larger server.

5. Sitebuilder tools – Free web hosting services usually provide you with most of the sitebuilder tools you will need, which are usually user-friendly and easy to navigate.  It may also help you decide what is most important to you in a hosting company before committing to a larger plan.  

Cons

1. Can’t Use Own Domain – With a free web host, you end up building your site on a subdomain (for ex: abc.xyz.com) rather than your own domain name. Thus, there is zero customizability. Although I have come across a company that will give me free hosting if I buy my domain from them. I personally like having a domain, and I am willing to pay for it.

2. Lack of Control – You can’t control the software and programs you want to install on the web host. You have no control whatsoever on the back end, which, although it may appeal to the novice, can be a serious hindrance for the experienced webmaster.

3. Advertisements – Most free web hosts usually force you to display advertising in order to generate revenue. While this advertising is generally non-intrusive, it can be an eyesore and detract from your site/blog’s experience.

4. Unreliable – these servers are usually not nearly as reliable as shared or dedicated hosting, leaving you vulnerable for more potential downtime and slower loading of pages.  

5. Restrictions –  on how large your site can be are also restrictive, and you probably will have very little available bandwidth.  

6. Little or no Tech Support – Most free hosts do not provide free customer service or support, and usually provide a phone number you can call for fee-based support.

7. Limited Control Panel – The control panel on free servers is somewhat limited too.  Often, they will intentionally limit commonly used scripts, creating the need to use FTP (FTP is the upload capability to tranfser your website pages, images, etc.. from your computer to the server) to upload these scripts. To further complicate things, some of these servers have limited FTP capabilities too, which will limit you from full functionality.  

delete reply rosiefielding2 wrote on Sep 23, ’09 Yes  you really have to do your homework when looking  for web hosting.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 23, ’09 I never realized how complicated web hosting can be until I had to look into it for myself, but I find that for myself it’s worth paying for because I need the tech support.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Sep 23, ’09 Multiply is a nice setup actually /:-) Seriously have you checked ot register.com or prohosting.com ? Either way make sure you keep control of your domain /:-)

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 23, ’09, edited on Sep 23, ’09 pestep55 said Seriously have you checked ot register.com or prohosting.com ? Either way make sure you keep control of your domain /:-) Thanks I’ll check it. Yes, Multiply is great, but this post mostly pertains to setting up a website from scratch.Multiply is just a social network.

delete reply starfishred wrote on Sep 23, ’09 great info thanks laurita

delete reply caffeinatedjo wrote on Sep 24, ’09 Interesting stuff to file away.  I’d like to have my own site one day.  Thanks for the information, Laura.

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 24, ’09 It’s ok to start out with free web hosting, but if you want a professional site, I would pay for it. There are some very cheap web hosts with very a good technical support staff.

delete reply pestep55 wrote on Sep 25, ’09 Saw an ad for GoDaddy.com — have no idea what that’s about but it’s not listed here: http://www.top10hostinglist.com or here: http://www.consumer-rankings.com/hosting it did make this one: http://www.webhostingdifference.com/

edit delete reply lauritasita wrote on Sep 25, ’09 Thanks ! I’ll check it. I heard of them, but I think you still have to pay for your domain if you want one.