Free web hosting services offer a no-cost way of storing website files for public access. We reviewed dozens of services to find the six best free web hosting sites based on bandwidth, storage, uptimes, whether ads are displayed, the ability to connect your own domain, and if they include email hosting.
While many businesses look for free hosting options, it’s actually recommended that you choose a low-cost web hosting provider over a free one—for significantly better reliability, security, and support. Providers such as Bluehost, for example, have plans starting at just $2.95 per month that include a free domain name, free email, and a free SSL certificate with near 100% site uptime. Learn more about Bluehost’s low-cost hosting options.
6 Best Free Web Hosting Sites 2019
Web Hosting Provider | Best For |
|---|---|
(Best Overall) Businesses seeking reliability and speed with unlimited disk space and bandwidth. | |
Businesses seeking no-strings-attached, ad-free web hosting. | |
Businesses looking for free cloud hosting with fast tech support included. | |
Businesses seeking a free drag-and-drop website builder and web hosting in-one. | |
Businesses building a blog in WordPress that are focused on search engine optimization. | |
Businesses interested in free web hosting and free reseller hosting in-one. |
How We Evaluated the Best Free Web Hosting Sites
It’s possible to find a number of free web hosting services, though many fail to meet the needs of businesses that want a truly professional online presence. To find ones that meet businesses’ needs, we evaluated more than 20 options based on bandwidth, storage, the ability to connect your own domain, inclusions such as free email, whether or not free accounts display ads, and the quality of their customer service.
Here are the criteria we used to find the best free web hosting sites:
- Free plans: We sought providers that offer free forever plans, rather than providers who offer short-term free trials.
- Reliability: Uptime is crucial in keeping a site live so customers can regularly access it, so we considered average uptimes when reviewing the best free web hosts.
- Domain options: Preference was given to providers who allow users on free plans to connect their own domain.
- Bandwidth: The amount of bandwidth was considered, with preference given to providers that offer the most free bandwidth.
- Storage: We sought providers who offered significant storage for their free plans, preferring those with the most.
- Features: We looked for hosts that include extras that are commonly included in paid plans, such as free business email, domain names, and SSL certificates.
- Ad-free hosting: Preference was given to those who do not display advertisements on hosted websites.
- Customer reviews: Wherever possible, we looked for user feedback on the hosts we considered, and preferred those with high ratings and positive comments.
- Customer service: While most free web hosting services do not include customer support, we sought those that do offer it—either through a customer service team or a help center.
Based on the above criteria, we chose Infinity Free as our number-one free website hosting service. Its free plan is not only feature-rich with unlimited disk space and bandwidth, but it also has fast load speeds, high uptimes, and allows businesses to connect their own domain name. Overall, it’s an ideal choice for small businesses with very tight budgets.
Infinity Free: Best Free Web Hosting Overall for Small Businesses
Infinity Free is a web host with a free plan and low-cost plans starting at $3.99 per month. It stands out as our best overall for offering unlimited disk space and bandwidth on its free plan, as well as a 99.9% uptime and the ability to connect your own domain. It’s best for businesses with content-heavy sites that want a provider they can scale with.
Infinity Free Pricing & Upgrades
Infinity Free offers a free plan as well as premium plans from $3.99 to $6.90 per month. The free plan includes unlimited disk space and bandwidth, ad-free hosting, and a high 99.9% uptime. It allows users to connect their own domain name and includes email hosting for up to 10 accounts.
Infinity Free Free Plan Features
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Price | Completely free |
Disk space | Unlimited |
Bandwidth (per month) | Unlimited |
Can you connect your own domain? | Yes |
cPanel | Yes |
Email included? | Yes, up to 10 accounts |
Free SSL certificate | No |
Do they display ads on your site? | No |
Uptime | 99.9% |
Customer service | Yes, via forums |
Infinity Free’s standout features are its unlimited bandwidth and disk space, which are great for sites with a lot of content and traffic that will grow in the future. Infinity Free also offers paid, premium plans starting at $3.99 per month. Premium plans include everything from the free plan, but with the addition of free SSL certificates, free site migration for those with an existing website, free tech support, and hosting for up to 100 business email accounts.
What Infinity Free Is Missing
While Infinity Free’s free plan comes loaded with features for a no-cost web hosting, it is lacking free tech support and free site migration. Those that want free tech support and site migration included will need to upgrade to a premium plan, which starts at $3.99 per month.
What Users Think About Infinity Free
Infinity Free has a 7.4 out of 10-star rating on Trustpilot. Positive reviewers comment that they feel like they are getting a high-quality service with a lot of features for a free product. On the other hand, negative reviews comment that they find support to be too salesy and that sites get suspended easily and without warning.
Where to Find Infinity Free
Learn more about Infinity Free by visiting their website. There, you can get more details on what is included in its free plan, or compare its free plan to its Premium plan to find which suits your business the best. Sign up with Infinity Free today.
Byet Host: Best Free Web Hosting With No Ads
Byet Host is a reliable, no-strings-attached free web host for small businesses. You can set up a WordPress website, connect a custom domain, and even set up five business email accounts for no cost whatsoever. It is a great option for most small businesses, but especially for those that wish to utilize free business email addresses through their host and avoid third-party ads.
Byet Host Pricing & Upgrades
Byet Host is a web hosting provider that offers a free, entry-level hosting plan. The free plan is ad-free and comes with 1GB of disk space and a bandwidth limit of 50GB. It also offers low-cost premium plans starting at $4.99 per month with unlimited disk space and 250GB of bandwidth.
Byet Host Free Plan Features
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Price | Completely free |
Disk space | Unlimited |
Bandwidth (per month) | 50GB |
Can you connect your own domain? | Yes |
cPanel | Yes |
Email included? | Yes, up to 5 accounts |
Do they display ads on your site? | No |
Customer service | Yes, via a support ticket system |
The free plan comes with unlimited disk space to store your website and 50GB of bandwidth, which is enough to handle around 10,000 visitors per month (or approximately 3,500 visitors for sites with a lot of high-resolution images). It’s also unique in that the free plan also includes up to five free business email addresses. Upgraded premium plans offer more storage and bandwidth to accommodate growing sites.
What Byet Host Is Missing
Byet’s free plan includes limited bandwidth, which can be a hindrance to some businesses. If you would like a host that includes unlimited bandwidth to handle significant website traffic, your best bet is either Infinity Free or a low-cost plan like Bluehost, which costs only $2.95 per month and includes many other features, like a free SSL certificate and 99.9% uptime.
What Users Think About Byet Host
While users say the Byet Host servers run fast, even on the free plan, some have noted occasional downtime. Also, a couple of users claimed their websites were taken down at random and redirected to a Byet Host page. It seems that Byet Host is cautious of misuse of their platform, and will temporarily suspend accounts that act suspiciously—like uploading a lot of files in a short period of time.
Where to Find Byet Hot
Despite the risks mentioned above, Byet Host is great for entrepreneurs who want a simple, informational website, or developers who want to test out features. You will need to buy a domain name from a third party, then port it to Byet Host to create a free WordPress, Joomla, PHP, or Zen-Cart site. Get started with Byet Host today.
Freehostia: Best Free Web Hosting With Quality Tech Support
Freehostia is a leading free web host with a high 99.9% uptime. Most notably, it’s free and fast customer service makes it stand out among other free hosts. However, it comes with a limited amount of storage and bandwidth. These features make it best for non-tech-savvy businesses that want to host an informational site but need help getting started.
Freehostia Pricing & Upgrades
Freehostia’s free plan includes 250MB of storage and a small 6GB of bandwidth per month. This isn’t sufficient for businesses with larger, content-heavy websites, but can suffice for very simple sites or those with very little web traffic. Paid plans provide more storage and bandwidth; pricing starts at $2.95 per month.
Freehostia Free Plan Features
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Price | Completely free |
Can you connect your own domain? | Yes |
Storage | 250MB |
Bandwidth (per month) | 6GB |
Email included? | Yes, up to 3 accounts |
Do they display ads on your site? | No |
Server uptime | 99.9% |
Customer service | Yes, via a fast-response ticketing system |
While Freehostia’s free plan does not have much in the way of storage or bandwidth, its customer service is remarkable; a ticketing system gives users ready access to representatives and responses are reported to be fast. Freehostia also offers low-cost premium plans starting at $2.95 per month, which increases storage to 2GB and bandwidth to 50GB. By offering low-cost plans, Freehostia enables businesses an affordable way of growing their site.
What Freehostia Is Missing
Freehostia’s free plan has very little bandwidth at just 6GB and very low storage at just 250GB. Unlimited bandwidth is available with a premium plan for $7.95 per month, though this is high compared to Infinity Free, which offers unlimited bandwidth and storage at no cost.
What Users Think About Freehostia
Users are generally happy with Freehostia’s free service, and there aren’t any of the same complaints as Byet Host as far as accounts getting suspended. It’s a good option for entrepreneurs and developers who just want to get their feet wet with website building, although you will need to upgrade fairly quickly should your website start to grow.
Where to Find Freehostia
Visit Freehostia online to start using their free web hosting services. From their homepage, find the “Sign Up Now For Free” button in the upper right-hand corner of the screen to begin the process of getting free web hosting with Freehostia. Create your Freehostia account today.
Weebly: Best Free Web Host & Drag-and-Drop Builder in One
Weebly is a website builder and web host in-one that stands out for its user-friendly site builder that requires no coding or technical expertise. Its free plan includes free hosting on a subdomain, making it best for those taking the first step in building a professional-quality website with no web design experience.
Weebly Pricing & Upgrades
Weebly’s free plan includes full access to its ultra-easy website builder, customizable templates, 500MB of storage, and unlimited bandwidth. The free plan does display Weebly ads and does not include the ability to connect a custom domain or any extras. Paid plans email, additional storage and bandwidth, and more starting at $5 per month.
Weebly Free Plan Features
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Price | Completely free |
Storage | 500MB |
Bandwidth (per month) | Unlimited |
Can you connect your own domain? | No |
Email included? | None |
Do they display ads on your site? | Yes |
Customer service | Yes, via live chat and phone |
While the free plan gives businesses a good way of building a site with unlimited bandwidth and an easy site builder, businesses looking to launch a professional website will need to upgrade to one of Weebly’s premium plans to secure email and more storage and bandwidth. Paid plans start at $5 per month for the ability to connect a domain name, or $12 per month for the ability to connect a domain name and to remove Weebly branding.
What Weebly Is Missing
While Weebly has many great features, users on the free plan are required to use a Weebly subdomain (yoursite.weebly.com). If you want to use your own custom domain, you’ll have to upgrade to a paid plan starting at $8 per month. Weebly also displays small ads on free websites, but these can be removed by upgrading to a paid plan.
What Users Think About Weebly
Weebly’s free plan is perfect for personal websites. However, for a business, the Weebly ads and Weebly subdomain will come off as unprofessional. You can always upgrade to the $5 plan to get around these limitations, but at that point, Bluehost is a more cost-effective solution, offering a free domain, email, and more for just $2.95 per month.
Where to Find Weebly
Visit Weebly online to start using their free hosting services. Not only do they offer an industry-leading website builder, but they also offer a number of great templates that are easy to customize for any business, without any web development skills required. Get started with Weebly.
WordPress.com: Best Free Web Hosting for SEO
WordPress.com is a leading blogging platform that offers free web hosting for entry-level websites and blogs. With WordPress.com, you can create and host your site in one place for free using a subdomain. It’s best for those building a blog who want to optimize their content for top ranking in search engine results pages (SERPs).
WordPress.com Pricing & Upgrades
WordPress.com offers a free plan with 3GB of storage, dozens of customizable templates, and built-in SEO tools. It does not allow custom domains, and it also displays ads and banners. Businesses wanting a site with a domain and no ads will need to upgrade to a premium plan, which starts at $5 per month.
WordPress.com Free Plan Features
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Price | Free |
Can you connect your own domain? | No |
Bandwidth (per month) | Unlimited |
Storage | 3GB |
Email included? | No, email forwarding only for free plan |
Do they display ads on your site? | Yes |
Customer service | Yes, via forums |
WordPress.com’s free plan stands out for its search engine optimization tools, like meta descriptions, tags, and custom titles for posts. Premium plans starting at $5 per month further offer the ability to connect a custom domain and access 24/7 support. Those looking to launch a professional business website will want to at least choose the $8 per month plan, as it removes ads and banners from displaying on your site while offering a custom domain and 24/7 support.
What WordPress.com Is Missing
WordPress.com’s free plan is lacking the ability to connect a custom domain, ad-free hosting, and direct support. They do provide what they call “Community Support,” which is their version of a troubleshooting forum specific to using WordPress.com. However, this may not always be the most helpful—especially for those who aren’t particularly tech-savvy.
What Users Think About WordPress.com
WordPress.com is a highly rated blogging platform where users frequently note that they like how customizable web pages are and that their built-in SEO tools help make their blogs discoverable. There are some negative comments around WordPress.com’s interface, which isn’t the most user-friendly and can involve a learning curve for those new to building websites. See user reviews in detail at our WordPress.com reviews page.
Where to Find WordPress.com
Visit WordPress.com online to start building your website. They have dozens of free customizable templates to choose from, giving you a good starting point to create a professional-looking website. Build your site with WordPress.com today.
AwardSpace: Best Free Web Hosting With Free Reseller Hosting
AwardSpace is a well-known web hosting company that offers a free plan. What makes it unique is that it also offers free reseller services, or the ability to resell hosting on your plan to a third party. Given this unique feature, AwardSpace’s free plan is a good choice for those who may be interested in starting web host reselling, such as web design businesses building sites on behalf of clients.
AwardSpace Pricing & Upgrades
AwardSpace’s free web hosting plan includes access to its site builder, 1GB of storage, and 5GB bandwidth. The free plan also allows you to use your own domain, provides one business email address, and does not display ads on your website. Premium plans start at $4.80 per month and add additional storage and bandwidth.
AwardSpace Free Plan Features
Features | Details |
|---|---|
Price | Free |
Storage | 1GB |
Bandwidth (per month) | 5GB |
Can you connect your own domain? | Yes, free hosting for 1 domain |
Email included? | Yes, 1 email account included with spam filter |
Do they display ads on your site? | No |
Customer service | Yes, via live chat and a support ticket system |
While the bandwidth and storage for the free plan are low, its free, no-obligation reseller hosting program is a unique offering that allows businesses to supply hosting (both free and paid) to clients at whatever price they choose. It also offers low-cost plans starting at just under $5 per month. These plans give users unlimited disk space, bandwidth for up to 50,000 site visitors per month, 24/7 support, a free domain name, and a free SSL certificate.
What AwardSpace Is Missing
AwardSpace is lacking when it comes to providing quality customer support with its free plan. They do offer free support, but it often has a lengthy turnaround time (up to one week). Also, their free web hosting service comes with very limited bandwidth—the lowest of our top free web hosts.
What Users Think About AwardSpace
AwardSpace is highly rated, with users frequently commenting on how they like the ease of use and that they see a good uptime. Negative reviews most often revolve around customer support issues, so AwardSpace may not be a good choice for those who often use customer support for assistance. Freehostia is likely a better option for this.
Where to Find AwardSpace
Visit AwardSpace online to learn more about their free web hosting service and to sign up for your free web hosting plan. AwardSpace includes a free website builder tool to help get your site up and running quickly and easily, and has affordable premium plans available in case you outgrow their free plan. Get started with AwardSpace today.
3 Low-cost Web Hosting Alternatives
It may be appealing to use a free web hosting service, though it’s often not a great solution for businesses needing a custom domain, email, and other features. Lost-cost hosts, however, often feature high reliability and security on top of many extras like free SSL certificates and responsive customer support. Choosing a low-cost web hosting provider such as Bluehost, HostGator, or Dreamhost can save a business money and time in the long run.
Top 3 Low-cost Web Hosting Provider Alternatives
Dreamhost | Hostgator | Bluehost | |
|---|---|---|---|
Plans start at | $2.59/month | $2.75/month | $2.95/month |
Storage | 50GB | Unmetered | 50GB |
Bandwidth | Unlimited | Unmetered | Unmetered |
cPanel | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Free domain | __ | __ | ✔ |
Free SSL certificate | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Email hosting | Not included | Yes, unlimited | Yes, up to 5 accounts |
One-click WordPress installation | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
24/7 Customer support | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
Uptime guarantee | Yes - 100% | Yes - 99.9% | Yes - 99.9% |
Learn more |
The best web hosting services are not only affordable, but have ample storage and bandwidth limits, high uptimes, fast site speed, and come with many inclusions businesses need to build their online presence. Learn more about the best web hosting companies and find the one that’s right for your business.
– Keri Lindenmuth, Marketing Manager, KDG
“Think about investing a little bit more in a hosting partner who can offer support to your business. Some IT teams provide support, bug fixes, updates, and more in their hosting packages. It costs a little bit more than a simple hosting plan, but it ensures your site is protected and up to date with little to no effort on your part.”Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
How do I build a small business website?
There are two main ways businesses build a website: with a content management system, such as WordPress, or with a drag-and-drop site builder, such as Squarespace. Businesses building a site using WordPress will need to first get web hosting and a domain name before choosing a template and customizing it. Get the step-by-step details on how to easily build a small business website.
How can I get a free domain name?
Typically, domain names cost around $12 to $14 per year to register. It’s possible to get a free domain name through a web hosting service, though. Many of the leading web hosting providers, such as Bluehost, as well as drag-and-drop website building platforms, such as Squarespace, include a free domain with their plans. Bluehost has web hosting plans starting at just $2.95 per month. Learn more about how to get a free domain name.
Does my website need an SSL certificate?
SSL certificates are a must-have for sites that collect personal information and accept online payments; they allow you to protect sensitive information from hackers. Regardless of the type of site you have, it is advised that every site has an SSL certificate. It gives your site more security while also helping to improve your ranking in search engine result pages (SERPs). Learn about the easiest ways to get an SSL certificate.
The Bottom Line: Free Web Hosting Sites
Free web hosting providers are a good starting point for new businesses as they provide a way of storing site files and building a website with no upfront investment. However, as a web presence is critical to brand awareness, lead generation, and sales, small businesses with limited budgets should plan to start with a free option but upgrade quickly to secure professional assets like a custom domain and custom email addresses.
If you’re ready to get all of the benefits of a low-cost hosting plan—and bypass the reliability issues often experienced with free hosts—then consider a provider like Bluehost. For only $2.95 per month, you can get web hosting, a free domain name, five free business email addresses, an SSL certificate, and one-click WordPress installation. See what Bluehost can do for your business today.
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