Free web hosting
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What is free web hosting?
Free web hosting is a web hosting service that's free for users. Because it's free, web hosting providers use methods other than account fees to make the service financially feasible. Most free web hosting is supported by advertising on the sites. Some free web hosting providers require a link back to their site and have advertisements on their home page. Paid web hosting providers might offer free web hosting with the expectation that many clients will upgrade to the provider's paid hosting services.
Free web hosting services are available for websites as well for specific types of content such as blogs and photos. This page focuses on free web hosting for websites.
Advantages of free web hosting
- It's free.
- You probably don't need to register a domain name for the service (although you may have that option).
- You don't need to know much about web hosting or (in some cases) websites.
- It provides opportunities to learn web design and web development without having to pay for web hosting.
- It's convenient for groups or families that want to share information but don't have a web hosting budget.
Disadvantages of free web hosting
All free web hosting accounts
- Features offered may be limited.
- A daily bandwidth limit may apply, and when it's reached, the site may be offline for the rest of the day.
- The web hosting provider might not provide backups (but the same is true about some paid web hosting providers).
- If your site is at a subdomain of the web host's domain (e.g., myfreespace.freewebhost.com), you won't be able to use that domain if you ever move your website.
Free web hosting with ads
- Professional websites look less professional when they have ads on them.
- If any ads appear above the fold (in the part of the screen before visitors have to scroll down), you're losing prime web page space.
Factors to consider when choosing a free web host
These are some factors to consider:
- Company reputation: read reviews before choosing a web host, even a free web host.
- Types of ads: consider how intrusive they are and how much space they take up.
- Disk space and bandwidth limitations: compare these with what your website needs.
- Terms of use and privacy policy: read the fine print carefully before signing up to be sure that it's all acceptable to you.
See also
Web Hosting Wiki article text shared under a Creative Commons License.
