12 Best Free Website Hosting Compared (2020)

Free things are all that we need in life – from free food to free website hosting. While many people think that free website hosting is a myth, it’s not. Several companies offer free website hosting. However, not all five fingers are equal, and especially when they are free. In this article, we have compared 12 best website hosting services that are either free or almost free. We have discussed their pros as well as their cons, so let’s dig in.

Website Hosting Services

Nowadays, a business without an online presence has become a rarity. There are thousands of businesses that are solely internet-based without an actual brick and mortar shop.

The world dynamics have changed and the consumer feels more confident about a business when it has an active online presence.

That being said, most established businesses usually have an up and running bespoke website. However, it is not always possible for a newbie to invest a lot of money on a website in the beginning. All they need is a free, quick, and easy platform where they can showcase their services.

Luckily, there are several free website hosting companies that offer exactly what they need.

The only downside is that the “free” in free hosting is not exactly free.

These companies need to earn somehow so most of the time they display ads on free websites. These ads have nothing to do with that particular business and may even promote a competitor.

If this is not a problem for your business, then you should go for free website hosting in the beginning. However, once your business has established, you should switch to a low-cost website hosting service. This way, you will have better control over your website and access to more features.

Anyhow, for non-profit or beginners who want to explore the world of the web, free website hosting is a great idea.

Almost-Free Website Hosting Services

Get more, pay less!

1.    Bluehost

Officially recommended by WordPress, Bluehost is among the world’s largest website hosting companies.

The starting price for their basic plan is $2.75 per month. Their services include unlimited storage space, 1-click WordPress install, free email addresses, and free SSL certificates.

Moreover, they provide the following services to WPBegginer users:

• a free domain name
• free SSL certificate
• 63% discount on web hosting

2.    SiteGround

Another WordPress recommended website hosting service is SiteGround. Their customer support and pristine performance are highly praised by users.

Starting at $3.95 per month, their hosting plans offer:

• unlimited email addresses
• 1-click WordPress installer
• website builder
• Joomla

Moreover, SiteGround is perfect for students and teachers as their Student Web Hosting starts at $1.99 per month.

To WPBegginner users, they also provide hosting at a 60% discount.

3.    HostGator

Another top-rated website hosting service is HostGator. They are very well-known for three things:

1. low-price
2. reliable web hosting
3. quality customer service

Their basic plan starts from $2.64 per month and offers a lot at such a low price. Its services include free HTTPS/SSL, unlimited bandwidth and storage, and unlimited email addresses.

4.    DreamHost

Being the oldest in the business (it started in 1997), DreamHost is one of the most used website hosting services. At the moment, 1.5 million websites use DreamHost as their hosting service.

You can start using their hosting at $2.59 per month and they offer the following services:

• free domain name
• free domain privacy
• free SSL
• unlimited emails
• 1-click installers for popular website builders

5.    Just Host

Another prominent website hosting company is Just Host. They are quite popular among beginners for their low cost and shared hosting plans.

The starter plan cost is $3.95 per month and it offers the following:

• a free domain name
• unlimited email addresses
• multiple websites
• 1-click install WordPress

Free Website Hosting Services

Get everything, pay nothing!

6.    WordPress.com

(WordPress.com and WordPress.org are two separate entities)

One of the most popular free website hosting platforms is WordPress.com. The free hosting plan offers the following services:

• a WordPress.com subdomain (e.g. websitename.wordpress.com)
• 3 GB storage
• access to free website templates

The only downside to this service is the ads. Moreover, you cannot get a custom domain name unless you buy the paid version.

7.    Wix

Wix is another free website hosting platform. The free version provides:

• a Wix.com subdomain
• access to website templates
• 500 MB of storage
• 500 MB of bandwidth

Like WordPress.com, Wix also displays ads on websites. If you want to get rid of those, you need to upgrade to paid plans.

8.    Weebly

Weebly is another free website hosting platform that is quite popular among users. Its drag and drop feature for building websites and the built-in templates make it a favorite.

The free plan offers:

• a Weebly subdomain
• 500 MB of storage
• Weebly ads

They offer an ad-free version that comes with more storage and additional features in their paid plans.

9.    GoDaddy Website Builder

Not just the world’s biggest domain name registrar, GoDaddy is also a popular website hosting company. What’s more? It’s free. Well, for at least 30 days.

GoDaddy offers a 30-days free trial and after that, the user can upgrade to their paid plan. These plans start at $5.99 per month.

Although GoDaddy is quite easy to use, it is very limited in terms of features which is a drawback.

10.    Squarespace

Don’t have any technical skills? Worry not as Squarespace requires none. Anyone can build a website using its professionally designed built-in templates and the drag-and-drop feature.

Squarespace offers a 14-day free trial. In this time, you can explore the website’s features and other services. However, your website cannot go live unless you subscribe to their paid plan (smooth, right?).

Their paid plans start at $12 per month and offer:

• a free custom domain
• unlimited bandwidth
• storage
• ready-made website templates

11.    Google Cloud Hosting

Small businesses and students can also benefit from Google’s free website hosting solutions.

Their plans follow the pay-per-use policy. Moreover, it provides $300 free credit to every new user that lasts almost a whole year.

Google cloud hosting can host any type of website including WordPress.

12.    Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Another amazing free website hosting platform is AWS. It is especially useful for students and developers.

It gives 12 free months along with free products on the AWS Free Tier. These features make it one of the best hosting platforms for testing sites.

In a nutshell, all these almost free and free website hosting companies have pros and cons. So, before selecting one, conduct thorough research and then finalize the one that fulfills all your hosting needs.