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 website building project or a site that’s meant to stay online for a longer period of time, you’re better off with an affordable web hosting plan or even a pick from the very best web hosting services out there. Alternatively, a website builder can be indeed a great option.

For example, Netlify is a good choice for a quick start covering both hosting and website builder in one place.

Bluehost is another recommended self-hosted website server.

Want to get the full story? I compared five 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 space and bandwidth, limiting your site’s growth and traffic capacity. Your personal website or business 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.

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.

Five 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 five options to consider.

• Netlify

• GitHub Pages

• Surge

• AWS Amplify

• Heroku

1. Netlify

Netlify is a web development platform that multiplies productivity. By unifying the elements of the modern decoupled web, from local development to advanced edge logic, Netlify enables a 10x faster path to much more performant, secure, and scalable websites and apps.

2. GitHub Pages

GitHub Pages is a static site hosting service that takes HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files straight from a repository on GitHub, optionally runs the files through a build process and publishes a website.

3. Surge

Surge is a cloud platform for hosting static websites, which is extremely simple to use but offers customization options for those who need them. Their generous free tier permits unlimited publishing, using custom domains, and basic SSL, with more features available through the professional plan.

4. AWS Amplify

AWS Amplify Hosting is a fully-managed CI/CD and hosting service for fast, secure, and reliable static and server-side rendered apps that scale with your business. Supports modern web frameworks such as React, Angular, Vue, Next.js, Gatsby, Hugo, Jekyll, and more. Deploy web content, fast.

5. Heroku

Heroku is a container-based cloud Platform as a Service (PaaS). Developers use Heroku to deploy, manage, and scale modern apps. The platform is elegant, flexible, and easy to use, offering developers the simplest path to getting their apps to market.

Honorable Mentions

• Firebase
• Vercel
• Render
• GitLab Pages
• Infinity Free
• 000WebHost
• Google Cloud Hosting
• AwardSpace
• Freehostia
• FreeHosting
• ByetHost

Conclusion

While your free web hosting platform might not be perfect, it can be a viable option in some scenarios. However, finding a quality provider that delivers on its promises is no easy task.

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