What if you are looking for an easy way to create a website without knowing how web hosting works?
Or, maybe you know the process but don’t have the money or inclination to spend money on an online presence.
You can start websites without having to spend a cent. The catch is that it’s free. WordPress’s free web hosting services allow users to create a free website with a few clicks but do not provide anything unique.
Some of the disadvantages of free hosting are advertisements and traffic limitations that will get unexpected downtime and lack of customer support.
However, Free web hosting offers the same level of security and bandwidth, safety, and speed as paid hosting solutions.
Should you be looking to build an essential site that doesn’t have bells and whistles, I recommend paying less than $2.75 per month for a web hosting service that offers shared hosting.
I’ve listed the 8 popular types of web hosting services and top-rated services below if you choose to use a web hosting company.
The 8 popular types of web hosting Services
Discover the top 8 popular types of web hosting that cater to all your website needs.
What Is The best web hosting for wordpress?
Here is the comparison and ranking of the best web hosting providers:
1. Bluehost
Best Web Hosting Service With Free Domain Name.
You will probably consider using WordPress to build your website in less than a week. WordPress is used by 35% of websites, according to NetCraft. And that’s not surprising. For years, WordPress has been the industry leader.
So, if you are looking for the
g and domain name option for your WordPress website, trust Bluehost.
The prices they offer are competitive. The basic plan costs €3.30/month, and the Plus plan costs only €5.30/month to start. These prices are affordable, considering all the unlimited features they bring to the table.
Regarding site loading speed, provided you don’t fill your WordPress site with plugins, things should be fine. Also, you will be in good hands if you make a fatal error or overload your website with different plugins.
Their customer service is highly responsive. They have an active phone line and a live chat that you can rely on anytime.
Get Started With Bluehost
Sell Online, Start a Blog, or Get Hosting for your website, all backed by WordPress experts.
2. Dreamhost
Best Web Hosting Service.
Dreamhost has been in the web hosting business for a very long time. It was founded in 1996 and is among the oldest web hosting services for WordPress available online.
For some, this service must be outdated. However, this is far from being the case.
Precisely because of its ability to quickly adapt to new trends, it is still considered one of the best hosting companies on the market.
For them, your website is not just another website. They know that your website is your vision of the future.
And it’s not just words. The number of websites hosted by Dreamhost is over 1.5 million.
With these highly flexible services, you can change your business within hours.
That’s because Dreamhost knows that things change over time.
Maybe you want to try something new. Or maybe you’re sure that your current business model is outdated.
Get Started With Dreamhost
Because of its fascinating adaptability, Dreamhost will become your best friend when you make significant changes to your website.
3. HostGator
Best French Web Hosting.
HostGator is one of the most preferred options when it comes to blogs.
They are perfect if you want the most affordable way to start publishing online.
Pricing options start as low as $2.75/month.
Again, you can’t expect the best features for such a low price.
But it’s an excellent alternative for startups who want to get their website up and running.
And just like Bluehost, Hostgator has a responsive phone line with a live chat that you can access anytime.
You can also find a giant database with common startup questions and professional opinions and solutions to those problems.
Everything is explained and demonstrated step by step, and if you are still trying to figure out if you can do it yourself.
Get Started With Hostgator.
Just send them a message and start talking to their professional customer service.
4. WP Engine
Best Option If You Know Your Limits
Now we come to the most advanced options.
With WP Engine, you can customize and get your desired functionality.
Of course, their services are not as cheap as others on the list.
But if you’re confident of the exact features you need on a website, WP Engine has your back.
All you have to do is contact them and devise the best plan for your situation.
Of course, their experts will help you choose the right option without pushing you to things you don’t need.
It is an excellent web hosting service if you are looking to expand.
Get Started With WP Engine.
Don’t expect cheap services but high quality and support to make your business successful.
5. Squarespace
Best Free E-Commerce Hosting Platform
Squarespace is a free e-commerce platform for budding entrepreneurs always getting wet with online sales. Unlike the big names in the industry, Squarespace allows you to sell unlimited products without paying recurring fees.
To set up your online store hosted by Squarespace, you only have to answer a few questions.
The platform’s Artificial Design Intelligence (ADI) will then automatically generate a website with a design based on your answers.
The drag-and-drop editor only offers four customizable themes, but you can rest assured that each design follows the best practices in your industry. Without touching any code, you can create your online store with a responsive design that fits any device.
With a new feature called Squarespace Checkout, sellers also can sell their products and receive payment using only a link instead of a website.
Get Started With Squarespace.
Whether you’re an established physical store owner or starting from scratch, Squarespace has all the basics to help you easily navigate the unknown world of e-commerce.
6. Hostinger
cheapest web hosting for wordpress
Hostinger’s shared hosting services are unique; it’s the best and cheapest web hosting for WordPress. The rates start at $0.99/month. Of course, this is a minimal option, but it shows how much the company is willing to do to satisfy its customers.
Premium shared hosting with Hostinger has many benefits. We offer:
- Unlimited free SSL certificates
- DDoS protection
- Unmetered traffic
- Free domain name registration
- 100 GB of SSD storage
- Free automated WordPress migration
I would recommend choosing one of the higher-level options:
- Hostinger’s sweet spot is that for as little as $3.99/month, you can get unlimited access to everything.
- With 24/7/365 tech support available, you’re guaranteed professional technical assistance at all times.
It means less than $4/month in exchange for fast loading speeds and daily backups of your site. In other words, even if you make a mistake, you always have access to previous versions of your website.
Get Started With Hostinger.
This solution is the best option if you are specifically looking for an affordable and reliable shared hosting service.
7. Nexcess
Best E-Commerce Hosting
For a convenient hosting solution for your online store, Nexcess is an excellent choice.
It offers hosting options with specialized solutions for Magento, WordPress, WooCommerce, BigCommerce, Drupal, etc.
In addition, you get the benefit of:
- One-click auto-scaling to handle unexpected traffic spikes.
- 24/7 monitoring and customer support.
- Premium SSL certificates protect your site and your visitors.
- So you have everything you need to start, manage and grow your online store.
Beyond its unique features, Nexcess has been in business for 20 years and has over 500 thousand websites. As such, they know how to make your life easier.
Nevertheless, there are other options on this list. But you get more features, better support, and better performance for a higher price.
Therefore, if you need advanced security or plan to overgrow, Nexcess’ solution is an excellent e-commerce hosting solution.
Get Started With Nexcess.
WordPress hosting packages start at $15 monthly for an online store with 15 GB of space and 2 TB of bandwidth. However, prices vary depending on the platform you choose.
8. WordPress.com
The Best Free WordPress Hosting Service
Often confused with the open-source software WordPress.org, WordPress.com is a free platform where non-technical users can create websites.
Since it’s powered by the same robust, world-class infrastructure behind nearly half of the world’s websites, WordPress.com is the best place to learn how to run a website when you’re still not ready or able to pay for a hosting service.
Creating a website is easy. Select a WordPress subdomain and choose from one of the available themes.
Like Wix, WordPress.com also displays ads to support its free platform.
While the ads can be annoying at times, it’s a small price to pay for all the other features WordPress.com has to offer:
- 3GB of storage space so you can post text and beautiful images
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free SSL certificate for an extra layer of security
- Optional backups so you can save your files to your hard drive
- Although it offers excellent performance for a free hosting platform, WordPress.com can’t beat the paid version in terms of flexibility.
The WordPress CMS installed on websites in paid hosting plans gives you direct access to the server and the freedom to install plugins and themes of your choice.
Still, WordPress.com is suitable for beginners, especially if you just want a simple, uncluttered website to showcase your writing portfolio or personal blog.
What I Looked At When Choosing the Best Web Hosting Service
In the case of free web hosting, it has certain limitations that are different from everyone’s taste.
Free web hosting is designed to meet the needs of a niche market, such as a new hobbyist blogger who has no intention of making money with their website or a student looking for a free platform to test their web development projects.
You can use different criteria to select a paid hosting plan when focusing on the best free web hosting to meet your needs.
Remember, you get what you pay for. And in the case of a free web host, you shouldn’t expect to receive 24-hour support, daily or on-demand backups, and a 100% uptime guarantee, among other things.
However, some free options are a step above the rest. Use the following metrics to determine if a free web hosting service is worthwhile.
Regarding WordPress’s best web hosting services, you need to consider various essential factors.
If you jump in too quickly, you may get into something wrong for your business. But don’t let any of these doubts get to you.
Instead, please sit back and relax as we outline all the factors you must know before deciding.
You can weigh WordPress’s different web hosting services and decide which is the best solution for your business.
Here is what I looked at when choosing these web hosting services for WordPress:
Custom Domain Name
Most companies will host your website for free, as you are also willing to use a subdomain.
For example, Wix is a famous website builder requiring free users to use a subdomain (e.g., hostdebitmedia.wix.com).
A subdomain does not look professional and needs to be better for branding. Therefore, unless you just want a stripped-down website for fun, choosing a company that can host your custom domain for free is best.
A custom domain is a domain you own (for example, hostdebitmedia.com). You can purchase it from a domain name registrar or a hosting provider offering domain registration. Domains are inexpensive, and you will need to renew them annually.
If branding is your priority, find a free hosting provider that allows you to stand out in a sea of other free-hosted sites.
SSL Certificate Availability For Web Security
Although advanced security features do not exist in free web hosting platforms, they should offer a free SSL certificate.
SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) is a technology that encrypts the information that passes through your website. It protects your site visitors’ sensitive data, such as passwords and credit card information, from outside intrusion.
If you are launching a primary e-commerce site on a free hosting platform, a free SSL certificate is non-negotiable. However, some free web hosting services for WordPress only offer a self-signed SSL certificate, leading users to believe it is the same as the industry standard SSL certificate.
A self-signed SSL is issued by the servers and not by trusted authorities like Comodo, DigiCert, and Let’s Encrypt.
Because it is not a standard version, Web sites with self-signed SSL always display security warnings to visitors.
Therefore, a self-signed SSL defeats the purpose of an SSL certificate, even though it offers the same level of encryption.
Especially if you plan to sell a product through your Web site, a self-signed SSL is no better than no SSL.
Storage Capacity and Bandwidth
As a general rule, only use free web hosting if you use it for an essential website with little or no traffic.
A free web host is not designed to handle massive traffic. That’s why reading the fine print of the host’s terms and conditions is essential before signing up.
Unfortunately, many free hosting providers mislead users who don’t know what they are talking about by including “unlimited storage space” and “unlimited bandwidth” in their list of features.
Disk or storage space is the amount of server space allocated to your website files, while bandwidth is the amount of data allowed to be transferred from the server to your visitors in a given time.
If your website is hosted on a free platform, your disk space and bandwidth are usually small and never “unlimited.”
Unlimited bandwidth is a promotional tactic of free hosting providers based on the assumption that sites on a shared server do not use available resources, which is rarely the case.
Instead of being swayed by these superficial features, focus on file size and CPU limits.
The file size limit refers to the maximum file size your website can upload, while the CPU limit refers to the amount of server CPU your website can use.
Free web hosts may temporarily shut down your site without warning, so make sure you know your limits and how much they are.
Built-in Advertisements
The only reason free web hosting continues to exist is the business behind it. And a business needs a revenue stream.
Some of the most popular free web hosts support their platforms via advertising space. This monetization method can be effective, but it comes at the expense of your visitors.
You have no control over what appears in the ads or where they appear. Not to mention that ads generally tend to be intrusive and take away the pleasure of consuming your content.
The conclusion is that there is no such thing as free web hosting without ads or free web hosting with a domain name.
Server Availability and Reliability
If your hosting is down, no one can access your website.
And obviously, you want your website to be up 24/7.
Fortunately, in 2021, this is a manageable problem since most web hosting providers offer a 99.99% network availability guarantee.
This means that your website would only sometimes go down.
And even when it does, you can contact your hosting service and get compensation.
Most of the time, this would be in the form of hosting credits.
If you want to prepare for the worst, you can check out our website’s downtime survival guide.
One of the best practices to ensure that everything runs smoothly, even when you take a break, is to sign up for a tracking tool such as an availability bot.
If your hosting service crosses the line, this tool will notify you that you need to find a new webserver to host.
Server Speed
Website loading speed was highly crucial for SEO in 2023.
If your pages load slowly, people will return from your website, and your rankings will drop.
It would be best to have a trusted hosting provider that can guarantee optimal website loading speed.
You can’t know the exact loading speed until you try the hosting service yourself.
But you can continuously optimize your website’s loading speed with the help of free tools and effective loading speed practices.
And the best news is that even if your budget is tight, you can still get a good loading speed.
But don’t expect anything spectacular for, say, $4/month.
Generally, the higher the price, the faster your pages will load.
Anyway, we’ll include our personal experience with the loading speed for each option below.
Support and Customer Service
Good customer service will come in handy if you have a problem.
Especially if you are new to websites, you are bound to make mistakes that may cause your website to crash for a while.
And the more time, the more it will cost you.
So, a good support team will help you solve the problems quickly.
Even if you’ve made a significant mistake that can’t be undone…
Most support teams will have a complete backup of your website so you can get back to a working version.
You still want your support team to have a live chat or phone that you can call.
Email just doesn’t solve the problem if you want to resolve the issue quickly, which you should want, given that your website is down.
We have ensured only to include web hosting services with solid communication skills.
The Different Types Of Web Hosting Services For WordPress
Free web hosting comes in many forms. Let’s explore these different free web hosting options and what they are for.
There are many different types of web hosting services. The most commonly used are:
Free Web Hosting
Freemium means anyone can access the web host for free anytime. But there is a catch: the features are minimal, and your website will probably be littered with ads.
Wix and Weebly are free website builders that use this strategy to acquire customers. You can upgrade to premium plans to remove the ads or continue to use the product for free for as long as you like. Either way, the hosting company wins.
Free Trial Web Hosting
This “almost free” web hosting allows users to use all or a limited number of its paid hosting features during a given period. The period during which you can enjoy free web hosting usually lasts from seven to 30 days.
Choose this type of free web hosting if you intend to pay for a hosting plan but are anxious to find out if the host can meet your expectations.
Free Web Hosting Service For Developers
There are free hosting services specifically designed for students and web developers. The type of hosting you choose depends on whether you are testing a static or dynamic website.
Static websites are the most basic websites with fixed content built from HTML, CSS, and Javascript files.
These are the most accessible sites for developers to create because they don’t need a web programming design like dynamic sites.
GitHub Pages is an excellent example of a free hosting service for static sites.
To publish a static site via GitHub.io pages, you must first extract the HTML files from GitHub’s open-source code repository, run it through a generation process, and then publish the website.
Although websites are usually hosted on your username.github.io, hosting them on a custom domain is also possible.
For dynamic sites, hosting companies offer free use for a limited time.
For example, Google Cloud allows developers to have a hands-on experience with their products for free if they don’t exceed the free usage limit.
They also have the option to fully explore the Google Cloud Platform using a free credit of $300 and will only be charged when they choose to upgrade.
Amazon AWS is a similar product that gives access to its free tier products for 12 months. After that, you only have to pay for what you use.
Shared Hosting
This means your website will be stored on the same server as many other websites.
This is a cheap option for startup websites.
You can have customizable options and average loading speed with the right one.
Don’t consider shared hosting a long-term solution because shared hosting can’t handle high traffic levels.
It is undoubtedly a good solution for people who simply want their website up and running quickly.
VPS Hosting
A VPS (Virtual Private Server) server is a better option than shared hosting.
This is because each website is hosted in its own virtual space, which allows for faster loading speeds and increased traffic to your site.
This is the best option if you plan to grow your website quickly.
Again, this is not a long-term option if you want to be one of the best websites in your industry.
For the simple reason that it still has limitations in terms of site traffic.
Dedicated Hosting
This solution is considered the most reliable and, overall, the best. Indeed, you have a dedicated server only for your website, with total control over everything. However, you should expect an expensive solution.
This formula is mainly for the best of the best. If you plan to increase your traffic to extremely high levels, this is your only option. On the other hand, if you are just starting, we recommend one of the other two options.
In any case, the web hosting services allow you to choose between different hosting services. So choose the one that best suits your business and your budget.
Best Web Hosting – FAQs
What is an Internet Web Host?
A web host is an organization that sells or rents out storage space on its servers. Typically, web hosting is done in a data center, which provides customers with services that allow them to publish websites on the Internet. A web host can also provide space in a data center and an Internet connection for servers owned by others.
How to Choose Your Web Hosting?
Before you choose your web hosting, find out about the features of the server, such as its speed, storage space, bandwidth for traffic, the presence of necessary tools and not to mention the efficiency and availability of customer service.
VPS or Web Hosting?
A VPS offers you more resources in terms of RAM, disk space and processor cores than a shared or cloud hosting. Compared to normal web hosting, your website will be hosted with others on the same server sharing the same resources.
Conclusion
Nothing beats a paid hosting plan for all the extra support, features, and functionality.
Nevertheless, if you need free web hosting or want to try out different web hosts before committing to an investment, some good free options are available.
The best free web hosting depends on what you are looking for. This guide will help you narrow your choices so you end up with free web hosting that meets your unique criteria.
Make sure you make a well-thought-out decision. You will likely have a long-term relationship with the hosting service you choose.
Carefully consider each option that caught your eye today and choose the one that best suits your needs.
So, whether you choose one of my top recommendations or you’re looking for your own, use the tips and best practices we’ve discussed to make an informed decision… as the future of your business depends on it.
Because it does!
Have you ever used web hosting services? How did it go, and did you get the expected results?