The Best Free Web Hosting Sites (2022)
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We all like freebies and it's no wonder that even web hosting has a lot of freebies if you know where to look. Not all things are the same for free, though, and this time I'm going to look at what these free (and "almost-free") web hosts offer.
Free Web Hosting at a Glance
| Free Hosting | Ad-free | Disk Space | Bandwidth |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hostinger * | 30GB | 100GB | |
| Weebly | 500MB | Unknown | |
| Wix | 500MB | 500MB | |
| 20i | 10GB | 250MB | |
| 000Webhost | 1GB | 10GB | |
| 5GBfree | 5GB | 20GB | |
| Awardspace | 1GB | 5GB | |
| Byethost | 5GB | Unlimited | |
| Dreamnix | 1GB | 1GB | |
| Freehostia | 250MB | 6GB | |
| FreeHosting.com | 10GB | Unlimited | |
| FreeHostingEU | 200MB | 4GB | |
| Freehostingnoads.net | 1GB | 5GB | |
| Freevirtualservers | 100MB | 200MB | |
| Freewebhostingarea | 1.5GB | Unlimited | |
| InstaFree | 10GB | 100GB |
16 Free Website Hosting to Consider
1. Hostinger
Hostinger was launched back in 2004 and was originally located at Kaunas, Lithuania. The company today has offices all over the world and offers a wide range of hosting plans which include Shared Server Hosting, VPS Hosting, and even a website builder.
With a strong localized team, Hostinger has been around for over 10 years and have steadily built an international user base that’s spread out across 39 countries. From beginner risk-free hosting to advanced VPS cloud infrastructure, Hostinger aims to cater to as wide audience as possible. As a result, Hostinger is now home to over 29 million global users.
- Easy website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Email hosting accounts
- 24/7/365 live chat support
- Full feature hosting at almost-free cost
- Disk Space: 30 GB SSD
- Bandwidth: 100 GB
- Database: 1 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: hpanel
Jerry's review of Hostinger narrows them down as a solid choice for users who want an ultra-cheap website hosting. Especially if they are a beginner or have a tight budget to work with.
We setup a test site at Hostinger and starter tracking its performance since May 2018. Our test site hosted at Hostinger has been scoring above 99.95% uptime constantly and rated as “A” in most speed tests.
Upgrade option
Hostinger Single Hosting is not really free but they are selling incredibly cheap price ($1.39/mo). Users who want better features (such as auto daily backup, host more domains, and run unlimited cron job) can upgrade to their Premium plan, which costs $2.59/mo.
What's the catch with Hostinger plan?
Hostinger's ultra cheap price tag comes with a price (pun intended). The single shared hosting plan does not come with a free SSL nor daily backup. Also, the $1.39/mo deal is only available if you signup for four years, which is longer than the standard recommended subscription period (24-months period).
Learn more about Hostinger in this review.
2. Weebly
When I first looked at Weebly, I was evaluating it as a site building tool and when I hit this article I realized it was in essence, an up-sold web host. Weebly is one of the new generation of site-builder-slash-web-hosts that is doing fantastically well, in fact holding an Alexa rank of 393 now.
However, I had to re-look at it this time round since there are different plus points for web hosts and site builders.
- Free website builder (Weebly!)
- Free SSL security
- Apps for your Weebly-built site
- Ad-free hosting
- Mobile app builder
- Disk Space: 500MB
- Bandwidth: Unknown
- Database: Proprietary
- Control Panel: Proprietary
Reliability and uptime guarantees
Weebly is well supported through a vibrant community and you can also reach out to them via email or live chat.
Upgrade options
Weebly tried hard to sell its online store builder, and as such tends to focus on transactional key points. Upgrade plans increase basic features, but the highlight is on how many products you’re allowed to sell at a time. Of course, if you’re just looking for hosting plans, it works that way as well. Prices range from $12 per month up to $25 per month.
What’s the catch with Weebly free hosting?
Weebly is big on… well, Weebly, and doesn’t really play nice with anything else. For example, it doesn’t support server-side scripting (such as PHP), nor database integration. And your free website domain will be in form of Weebly.com subdomain. True, it’s extremely powerful on its own, but this also means in terms of flexibility, you’re likely stuck with Weebly for good once you start using it.
Learn more about Weebly in my review.
3. Wix
Wix is also a brand that has made its name in the website-building business and was one of the earlier new-generation of web tools. It’s great for newbies and is easy to use, plus offers enough for the starter-offs to get interested before they hop on to any paid plans.
- Free website builder (Wix!)
- Online Store
- Free templates
- Wix Apps
- Disk Space: 500MB
- Bandwidth: 500MB
- Database: Proprietary
- Control Panel: Proprietary
Reliability and uptime guarantees
You get what you pay for, and aside from an extensive knowledge base, for free accounts, you can email them and take your chances. Only premium accounts get ‘faster responses to any question or issue they may have.
Upgrade options
Because its plans are designed to scale up functionality to websites, Wix at the higher levels can get expensive. However, those prices include functions such as form builders, email campaigns and even site reviews by professionals. At the lowest it clocks in at $4.50 per month, going up to $24.50 per month.
What’s the catch with Wix free domain hosting?
Again, Wix is another proprietary engine which means it’ll try to hold on to you almost any way it can. The good news is that it plays better with other tools compared to Weebly, so is compatible with some tools such as Caspio, a free database platform. Oh yes, and Wix is not ad-free. If you’re not on a paying plan, it will plaster Wix ads on your site with alacrity.
Learn more about Wix in my review.
4. 20i
20i is a UK-based web hosting provider that’s been around for only a few years. The founders behind it, however, have a long and distinguished track record. The company currently maintains a decent product range which surprisingly enough, includes a free CDN of their own.
- Easy app installation
- Includes free Wildcard SSL
- Allows website monetization
- SSD storage
- Disk Space: 10GB
- Bandwidth: 250MB
- Database: 1 × 1 GB MySQL
- Control Panel: My20i
Impressive features for a free plan
This hosting provider ticks a lot of the right boxes on their free offering when compared to similar plans. Among their notable features is that not only do they offer you an ad-free experience, but you’re free to run ads on your site to earn money.
Upgrade options
The next logical step up from 20i’s free plan would be one of their standard shared hosting options. However, I suggest looking past the lowest tier and skipping straight on to the ‘Premium’ plan. You get tons more of every resource type – in many cases it’s unmetered.
What’s the catch with the 20i free plan?
While 20i is generous in its main areas, they’ve decided to limit bandwidth a bit tightly. All free users only get 250MB each month, an amount that will disappear faster than you can say ‘boo’.
Learn more about 20i in Timothy's review.
5. 000Webhost
Since 2007, 000Webhost has been offering free web hosting that are unencumbered by advertising requirements. Since they also offer paid hosting options, their business model revolves around offering free hosting services that are funded by the paid end of the business. This works out in everyone’s favour, since users of the free hosting also have the option to scale up their sites by becoming paid customers at any time they wish.
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 1GB
- Bandwidth: 10GB
- Database: 2 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: Cpanel
There is a 99% uptime guarantee for free accounts, but in the case of 000Webhost, you’ll have to consider that there’s an enforced one-hour sleep period per day. That means your actual server uptime starts at 95.83% – less any actual technical difficulties.
Upgrade options
000Webhost provides paid hosting plans through Hostinger which charges for paid hosting based on the length of time you sign up for. The longer term your contract, the cheaper the monthly fee will be. Prices start at $7.19 per month for one month contract.
What’s the catch with 000Webhost free plan?
Free 000Webhost platform users will have to put up with an enforced one hour of “sleep” time every day. This means that it will be unavailable to anyone – including yourself.
Learn more in my 000webhost review.
6. 5GBfree
As far as web hosting sites go, 5GBfree is relatively new, but that might be a good thing since they claim to offer the latest in technology including CloudLinux and equipment hosted a US-based, PCI and SAS 70 Type II certified data centre.
Again, this is another company that allows free accounts the option to scale up as they grow. Free accounts are supported in the form of a knowledge base (which was down at the time this article was created) and through a community forum.
- Auto Installer
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 5GB
- Bandwidth: 20GB
- Database: 3 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: Cpanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
Regretfully, no mention of any uptime guarantees were found on 5GBfree, nor was there any information available regarding reliability. Small mercies abound however, since at least there are options to backup your files and databases in the back end. This appears to be the same for the Pro account plan as well.
Upgrade options
For $2.95 a month, the Pro account which the host offer is dirt cheap and seemingly offers what many highly reputable web hosts have.
What’s the catch with 5GBfree free website hosting?
Although the basic specifications of free accounts seem alright, 5GB free doesn’t host emails for those. If you’d like to have an email account with your domain, you’ll have to upgrade to the Pro account. Even more alarming is the complete lack of dedication to any form of Service Level Agreement. Sign up at your own risk!
March 2021 Update: 5GBFree no longer seems to be active. While there has been no official announcement, public comments indicate that users can no longer access the site.
7. Awardspace
Offering web hosting since 2004, Awardspace has been around the block a few times and is still standing. Over time they have been tweaking their free hosting offering and keeping up with the competition (and the times). Just last year they launched a completely redesigned site and streamlined their services.
- SPAM Protection
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- Free website builder
- Disk Space: 1GB
- Bandwidth: 5GB
- Database: 1 MySQL Database
- Control Panel: Advanced Control Panel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
The free version of Awardspace comes with a no uptime guarantee. For that you’ll have to sign up with one of their paid plans. At least for those there is a Service Level Agreement at 99.9%, plus a no-questions-asked refund within the first 30 days if you’re unhappy with the company.
Upgrade options
Awardspace comes in three flavours (aside from free), with prices starting at $5.20 per month up to $10.30 per month. For new signups, Awardspace offers a whopping discount of up to 98% off, which means you could be paying as little as 9 cents a month.
What’s the catch with Awardspace?
There’s really no glaring catch at Awardspace and it offers what could be called a fair to middling free account to newbies. I’m guessing part of the plan is to price their starter paying plans cheaply to slowly hook customers and reel them in. The benefits between paid plans are very incremental at the lowest tier.
8. Byet Host
Byet Host (Yes, it’s spelled correctly) is a bold one, laying claim to being the “fastest free webhost In the World!”. Part of the reason it might say that is because it’s depending purely on server processing time and doesn’t factor in anything else such as Time to First Byte. It’s the free arm of hosting provider iFastNet, which might also be an eye-raiser since their cheapest plans apparently come with six free domains! This free host offers a ton of goodies and might be worth a look at.
- 24/7 Support
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 5GB
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Database: 5 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: VistaPanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
It’s interesting to note that Byet Host offers 24/7 support even to free accounts. Even if they take some time to support tickets, it’s not often you see a free host that offers real support. Most of the time either knowledge bases are used, or at best, a user forum where you help one another.
Upgrade options
Since they offer so much to free accounts, what do you get from paying for hosting with Byet Host? Upgrades to SSD-driven performance, free domains and unusually enough – a different control panel (cPanel). Prices start from $4.99 per month all the way to $7.99 per month.
What’s the catch?
Although Byet Host sounds almost too good to be true, it might be good if you take some time to check what they offer in detail. I’ve found that the way many terms and services are worded to be a little shady and open to interpretation in various ways.
More details on Byet Host terms and conditions.
9. Dreamnix
Rather than a free server hosting, I’d consider Dreamnix to be “almost-free”, since they offer top-of-the-line features with sharp limitations in their free product. This is in line with their concept of “try before you buy”.
- SSD-powered servers
- Auto Installer (WordPress)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 1GB
- Bandwidth: 1GB
- Database: 1 MySQL Database
- Control Panel: Cpanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
It’s a pretty good bet that this is legit, since all-round Dreamnix stresses on its money-back guarantee. In fact, it doesn’t even take your credit card information until you pay for any service. As I said – try before you buy!
Upgrade options
Once you’re outgrown your free hosting plan, upgrades differ mainly in terms of add-on features such as access to Cron jobs, mailing lists and so on. The basics such as bandwidth and sick space go up to unlimited with even the lowest plan. Starts from $1.95 per month up to $4.95 per month based on annual subscription rates.
What’s the catch?
As far as we can see, nothing much, except that Dreamnix is limited to data centers in only three locations. These are nicely spread out around the world though, so there shouldn’t be any real issues here.
Learn more about Dreamix limitation in their ToS.
10. Freehostia
Freehostia proudly announces more than ten years of serving hosts in the industry and shouts out about ‘Load Balanced Cluster Technology’ versus standalone servers. It’s a large scale web host, meaning that aside from offering slices of hosting, it also offers high end solution such as dedicated servers. On the downside, Data Centre location is limited to only Chicago.
- Free website templates
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 250MB
- Bandwidth: 6GB
- Database: 1 MySQL Database
- Control Panel: Cpanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
Uptime for free hosts is mentioned to be 99.9%, which is usually an indicator that paid plans increase in reliability. Unfortunately, Freehostia doesn’t show uptime for paid plans, so it’s a bit of a hit and miss.
Upgrade options
Freehostia offers multiple plans of incremental capacities. The key thing here seems that there is much focus on amount of storage given; strange, since storage is pretty much dirt cheap nowadays and most web hosts are practically giving it away. Prices start at $14 per month up to $65 per month for their upgraded plans.
What’s the catch?
Storage space, storage space and storage space, Freehostia seems intent to cripple users through this alone. 250MB for a web host (even a free one) today seems unconscionable. Also, there are so many plans available just browsing through them is enough to confuse you.
11. FreeHosting.com
The first thing you’ll notice when you visit this site is that it’s plastered all over with the word “Free”. Great, since that’s what you’re after right? Not so much when you realise that long list of features offered is cunningly interspaced with non-free items just so that it looks longer.
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 10GB
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Database: 1 MySQL Database
- Control Panel: Cpanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
I’ve been round and again over this site but there doesn’t seem to be any mention at all an uptime guarantee, which is a little frightening. The only time money-back is mentioned is within its 30-day grace period of paid accounts.
Upgrade options
Freehosting.com only offers two plans – you pay, or you don’t. Paid accounts benefit from unlimited storage space and bandwidth at $7.99 per month.
What’s the catch with FreeHosting.com?
For the free service, not much that we can find. BUT, there is a caveat in their terms of service; There is an ‘out’ clause there that basically states that they can shut you down if you’re taking up too much (unspecified) resources.
12. Free Hosting EU
FreeHostingEU is not affiliated with Freehosting.com, but reminds us a little of Freehostia, in the sense that it offers a paltry amount of storage space in the hopes that you’ll get frustrated and upgrade. I’m not sure where the mentality of annoying your customer in the hopes he’ll pay you came from, but it seems successful for web hosts. It’s worth nothing though that this host offers .eu5.net domains even for free accounts.
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress and Joomla only)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 200MB
- Bandwidth: 4GB
- Database: 1 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: Advanced Control Panel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
All plans on Freehosting EU come with 24/7 Server Monitoring and a 99.8% uptime guarantee. As far as web hosts go, that’s on the low side. I guess for peace of mind though, they offer the same guarantee to free accounts.
Upgrade options
FreehostingEU comes in three flavours, free, BEST and PRO. The two paid plans cost $6.95 and $11.95 per month respectively and come with a 30-day money back guarantee. They do offer a discount for first time sign-ups though.
What’s the catch with Free Hosting EU?
Once again, it’s all in the small print and in the case of FreeHostingEU you’ll go ‘WOW!’ – if you don’t rip your hair out first. Compliance is expected in many areas that are a little unusual because, well, who thinks of some of these things? For example, you must agree to limit your space to consist of only 10% image files, 10% archives, etc. So, in reality, you’re getting a web host that you can dump… 20MB of images on.
Learn more in Free Hosting EU Terms of Service.
13. Free Hosting No Ads
FreehostingNoAds has been around for 18 years, I kid you not. This site is very generous in terms of what it offers, in fact, more than what some paid accounts go for. I guess part of it is subsidy through advertising though, since they plaster google ads all over their own website. They promise not to force you to carry their ads though.
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 1GB
- Bandwidth: 5GB
- Database: 3 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: unknown
Reliability and uptime guarantees
FreehostingNoAds appears to be another hosting site which doesn’t believe in uptime guarantees. However, users who join are offered technical support, even on the free plans. It doesn’t, however, clarify what nature that support takes – it could be a simply a reference to a knowledge base or FAQ.
Upgrade options
Upgrade options are available, and they are dirt cheap here. The most expensive plan you could go for only costs $1.99 per month, and that offers you almost everything you could wish for. In fact, for the $1.99 plan, they even throw in $125 worth of ad credits for you!
What’s the catch?
Aside from non-existent uptime guarantees and cloudy reference to technical support, nothing else. This seems to be aimed mainly at people who are seeking a free or cheap hosting solution and that’s all. Given that they have an entire page dedicated to HTML5 site building that ends up directing to Wix, they might be a subsidiary of affiliate.
Read FreehostingNoAds ToS here.
14. Free Virtual Servers
FreeVirtualServers is one of the brands owned by Easy Internet, which provides web hosting and SEO services. They are another serious provider which offers everything from free hosting up to dedicated server hosting plans. Something good to note here is that they integrate a popular website builder in their hosting plan; Weebly.
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 100MB
- Bandwidth: 200MB
- Database: 1 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: Cpanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
FreeVirtualServers offer the standard 99.9% uptime guarantee, and all free accounts are supported by a knowledge base and FAQ. There are also some tutorial flash videos if more help is needed. 24/7 online support is reserved for paid accounts only.
Upgrade options
There are multiple upgrade options here ranging from standard shared hosting all the way to dedicated servers. Prices range from $6.45 per month to $155.20 per month (which is for a dedicated server). It’s worth noting that this is a UK-based company with servers located there. Prices are also charged in British Pounds (converted to US$ here for your convenience).
What’s the catch?
This host seems fully above board as far as we can see, with no big surprises even in the Terms and Conditions.
See Free Virtual Servers TOS here.
15. Free Web Hosting Area
Another longstanding company in the web hosting arena, Freewebhostingarea is generous in its basic terms for free accounts. It also offers a curious option between two different control panels, one of which seems extremely feature-light.
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Conditional Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 1.5GB
- Bandwidth: Unlimited
- Database: 1 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: FreeWHA Panel / Cpanel
Reliability and Uptime guarantees
There is no mention at all about either an uptime guarantee or technical support. In fact, although a forum is listed, it doesn’t really exist. A cursory search returns many comments that this is not an entirely reliable host.
Upgrade options
Upgrade options here are the first we’ve seen that prices mainly according to different control panels. FreeWHA seems to be a proprietary modification of an open source control panel script. Prices range from $1 per month up to $6.99 per month.
What’s the catch?
The list of catch clauses is a mile long and personally I would dread hosting even a free site here. There are no real limitations stated in black and white, yet at the same time they claim the right to terminate accounts for almost any deemed infractions, even over-usage of resources. Definitely not the way to win friends. Even their ad-free claim is conditional, since they say they will impose ads on sites that they wish to.
See FreeWebHostingArea.com terms of service here.
16. InstaFree
InstaFree offers potential website owners a pretty good deal, going by their word. Even free accounts are hosted on SSD-based storage and they are generous in both their terms of service as well as feature offerings. In fact, not only is there free shared hosting, but there is even free reseller hosting and free VPS!
- Free website builder
- Auto Installer (WordPress, Joomla, etc)
- Ad-free hosting
- PHP & MySQL database support
- Disk Space: 10GB
- Bandwidth: 100GB
- Database: 5 MySQL Databases
- Control Panel: Cpanel
Reliability and uptime guarantees
There is the standard 99.9% uptime guarantee along with a relatively active user community in the forums. Technical support is included, but is restricted to immediate issues relating to the hosting service.
Upgrade options
All free accounts have their corresponding paid account, which is basically a step up from what the free account offers. Prices range from $1 per month to $5 per month. InstaFree also offers website transfer support, even for free accounts, provided you’re using Cpanel.
What’s the catch?
There are a couple of quirks here, such as the fact that InstaFree has a list of countries that it has banned users from. This includes among them countries such as China, Russia and Poland, but also (surprisingly) Singapore.
Read Instafree Terms and conditions here.
Thanks for this news..❤️
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