Looking for the best free web hosting service to get your website up and running? We frequently receive emails from readers asking if there is a way to get free website hosting. And the answer is, of course, YES. We all enjoy getting things for free, but it’s important to remember that not all freebies are created equal.

In this article, we will compare the best free (and nearly free) website hosting services, along with their benefits and drawbacks.

The “Reality” of Free Website Hosting Service

Creating a website has become the most important way to spread your message around the world. However, if you are just getting started, you may not want to spend money on a website. The majority of people simply want something quick, simple, and free. There is numerous free website hosting providers on the market. However, as a wise consumer, you should be aware that there is no such thing as a free lunch. There is always a snag.

It is very expensive to run a website hosting service. Companies that provide free website hosting must make money in some way or go out of business. They accomplish this by displaying advertisements on your website, limiting your website traffic, causing downtime, locking you into their platform, and/or upselling their other services. Some of the ads displayed may not accurately represent your brand, and they may even be advertisements for your competitors.

Except for a test website, using free website hosting is almost always a bad idea. We’ve compiled a list of 36 reasons why free websites are a bad idea, especially for businesses.

But what if you’re on a shoestring budget?

Maybe you’re a non-profit looking for free WordPress hosting, or maybe you’re a student looking for free website hosting. Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered with this article.

As the largest free WordPress resource site for beginners, it is our responsibility to point out the fine print so you make the RIGHT decision.

Every free website hosting company on our list guarantees that you will be able to keep your website for free for as long as you want. However, we strongly advise anyone serious about their website to use a low-cost full-featured website hosting provider.

For $2.75 – $5 per month, the majority of these shared hosting companies will provide you with a free domain, free emails, free SSL, eCommerce functionality, and much more.

That’s essential “almost free,” given that you’ll make a lot more money from your website.

By paying this small fee, you gain access to expert support and overall better service. Above all, it gives you complete control and ownership of your website. This means that you can choose to show no ads on your website and keep it completely ad-free to provide the best user experience.

That being said, let’s start with some of the best almost-free website hosting providers. Following that, we’ll take a look at the best free web hosting sites.

What is the Best “Almost-Free” Website Hosting Value?

These service providers have a good reputation and are a good place for small businesses to start their websites.

Because of their high level of quality and service, some of them are even officially recommended by WordPress, WPBeginner, and other large organizations.

If you are serious about your website, we recommend that you begin with one of these five providers.

Bluehost

Bluehost is one of the world’s largest hosting companies. They are a WordPress hosting provider that is officially recommended. They have agreed to provide WPBeginner users with a free domain name, a free SSL certificate, and a 63% discount on web hosting. In essence, you can begin for $2.75 per month.

Their hosting packages include free branded email addresses, unlimited disk space, a free SSL certificate, one-click WordPress installation, and other features.

You can enable additional add-ons such as site builder, Cloudflare CDN, SEO tools, and other powerful website features from their control panel.

Bluehost is ideal for creating personal and small business websites, as well as blogs.

To learn more about Bluehost, read our in-depth Bluehost review, in which we assessed their hosting performance, features, and services.

SiteGround

Siteground is yet another excellent free website hosting alternative. They are well-known for their excellent customer service and lightning-fast performance. SiteGround is also a WordPress hosting provider that is officially recommended.

They are providing WPBeginner users with a hosting discount of up to 73%. Essentially, you’ll be able to begin for $3.99 per month.

SiteGround hosting plans include a website builder, a 1-click installer for WordPress and Joomla, SSD storage, unlimited email accounts, excellent customer service, and more.

They’ve also developed advanced website performance features like ultra-fast PHP and MySQL databases, site optimization, and security plugins.

SiteGround has data centers all over the world (4 continents), and they guarantee 99.99 percent uptime.

SiteGround is ideal for building your website for a small business or store. As your website grows in size, you can upgrade to their VPS web hosting plan for increased speed and scalability.

For more information, see our in-depth SiteGround review, in which we ran actual tests to assess their performance and uptime.

HostGator

HostGator is one of the market’s leading hosting service providers. They’ve been around since 2002 and have gradually grown to become one of the world’s largest hosting companies.

Their rapid growth can be attributed to their low-cost, dependable web hosting and excellent customer service.

Their hatchling plan begins at $2.64 per month. Each plan includes a free domain, an unlimited number of subdomains, an unlimited number of email addresses, free HTTPS / SSL, an unlimited number of FTP accounts, an unlimited amount of storage (disk space), and unmetered bandwidth.

All hosting accounts include cPanel, which includes an auto-installer for WordPress and other popular website building software.

For more information, see our HostGator review, which includes pros and cons as well as detailed performance tests.

DreamHost

DreamHost is one of the oldest web hosting companies, having been founded in 1997. Currently, they host over 1.5 million websites.

Their entry-level plan is $2.59 per month. It comes with a free domain name, free domain privacy, free SSL, unlimited emails, 1-click installers for popular website builders, and other benefits.

To learn more, read our full DreamHost review, in which we rated their services, support, and performance

Hostgator

Hostinger is a low-cost alternative to free website hosting services. They provide shared hosting plans that are ideal for starting a website.

You can get started for as little as $1.99 per month. Their $2.99 starter plan includes a free domain name, free business email addresses, the ability to create up to 100 websites, and a 1-click installation of CMS software such as WordPress.

To learn more, read our full Hostinger review, which includes both pros and cons.

WPBeginner readers can save up to 85% off Hostinger by using our Hostinger coupon code.

What are the Best Free Web Hosting Providers?

While free is appealing, it is always limited in terms of website hosting. Keeping this in mind, we’ve hand-picked the best free website hosting sites for you to get started.

These hosting sites are completely free to use.

If you’re serious about your website, we strongly advise you to read our in-depth guide on how to choose the best WordPress hosting before making your final choice.

With that said, here are the world’s best free hosting companies.

WordPress.com

WordPress.com is a well-known free hosting platform that provides a distinct flavor of WordPress. WordPress.com is not to be confused with WordPress.org, which is the home of the well-known self-hosted website builder, WordPress.

WordPress.com provides a free website hosting plan that includes a WordPress.com subdomain (i.e. yourwebsite.wordpress.com), 3 GB of storage, and access to free website templates.

This free plan places advertisements on your website. You can pay to remove ads, use a custom domain name, and gain access to additional features by upgrading to their paid plans. At that point, any of the “almost free hosting” services mentioned above is a better choice.

To learn more, check out our comparison of WordPress.com vs WordPress.org, which includes the benefits and drawbacks of each platform.

Wix

Wix is a fully-hosted website builder that also provides free website hosting.

It is supported, like most free hosting services, by displaying ads and Wix.com branding on your free website. You can remove it by upgrading to one of their paid plans.

The free plan includes a Wix.com subdomain, website template access, 500 MB of storage, and 500 MB of bandwidth.

For more information, see our Wix vs. WordPress comparison, which breaks down the pros and cons of both platforms.

Weebly.com

Another popular free website builder that you can use is Weebly. It includes an easy-to-use drag-and-drop builder and pre-made templates for creating a website.

Their free plan comes with a Weebly subdomain, 500 MB of storage, and Weebly ads. You can upgrade to their paid plans to remove advertisements, increase storage, and unlock features.

You might be interested in our detailed comparison of Weebly vs WordPress, which shows the benefits and drawbacks of both website platforms.

GoDaddy

GoDaddy is the world’s largest domain name registrar as well as a well-known hosting provider.

They provide the GoDaddy website builder, which is a drag-and-drop website builder with pre-built templates. It is available for a 30-day free trial, after which you can upgrade to one of their paid plans, which starts at $5.99 per month.

It is inexpensive and simple to use. However, as your website grows in size, you may find GoDaddy Website Builder’s features to be quite limited. Moving GoDaddy Website Builder to WordPress or another website platform is also difficult.

Check out our list of the best GoDaddy website builder alternatives as well.

Squarespace

Squarespace is a popular website builder platform that does not require any technical knowledge. It has lovely professional templates and an easy-to-use drag-and-drop interface.

They provide a limited 14-day free website hosting trial. This grants you access to their website builder so you can experiment with its features. Unless you pay for a paid plan, your website will not be publicly accessible.

Paid plans begin at $12 per month and go up from there. Each plan includes a free custom domain, unlimited bandwidth and storage, and pre-built website templates.

For more information, see our article on Squarespace vs WordPress, which includes pros and cons as well as feature comparisons.

Google Cloud Hosting

Google provides many free website hosting options for small businesses and students. It includes all of the powerful features that you would expect from a world-class company like Google.

Because their plans are pay-per-use, it’s a simple place for students to get started. If you’re just looking for free website hosting for test sites, Google offers $300 in free credit for new customers, which is enough to last you a year.

Google Cloud can host any type of website, and they even provide WordPress hosting on Google Compute Engine.

Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Amazon Web Services, also known as AWS, powers some of the world’s most popular websites. While it is difficult to use for small businesses, it is an excellent platform for students and developers who are just starting.

Amazon’s AWS Free Tier provides 12 months of free and always-free products, making it by far the best free website hosting for testing sites.

Students can learn and master their development skills by utilizing Amazon’s powerful platform.

Conclusion

We hope this article has assisted you in locating the best free website hosting service for your upcoming project.