Do you need a testing environment for your WordPress blog?
Free WordPress hosting is an excellent way of testing.
Most newcomers choose to start with free hosting to learn WordPress and try things out, and then go on to premium hosting services like Bluehost, A2 Hosting, or others.
Many of you might be surprised that there is a free version of WordPress. This is ideal for people who do not need to learn about hosting and simply want to try out the WordPress dashboard for writing purposes. WordPress.com allows you to achieve this and should be your first choice for a free site hosting service.
However, if you want more flexibility and want to test everything that a self-hosted WordPress has to offer, I’ve included some additional possibilities below.
Today, I’m going to share seven of the best free WordPress hosting options for beginners.
List of Free Hostings for WordPress
1. x10Hosting.com
It is one of the oldest hosting services, having been around since 2004 and offering great deals and free features. This is an excellent alternative for testing your WordPress website.
Here are a few of its features:
- It has the most latest version of Cpanel.
- Private Cloud Hosting.
- Advanced MySQL and PHP versions.
- There are never any forced advertisements.
- Offers good customer service.
2. AccuWebhosting (Free Hosting for students)
If you are a student at a well-known university, you can take advantage of Accuwebhosting’s free student hosting option. This package includes 2 GB SSD storage and 30 GB bandwidth. With a single click, you can install WordPress, access the database, and establish up to 25 email addresses.
If you have a.edu email address, you are more likely to take advantage of this free offer for students. You can use free hosting as long as you are enrolled in university.
3. 000Webhost
This free hosting service has been recommended multiple times by our readers, and upon greater study, I believe it is worth including on this list. This is free hosting with no promotions and is perfect for any WordPress starter. They also recommend Hostinger for individuals seeking greater power and willing to pay between $1 and $2 per month for hosting.
Here are the features of 000webhost:
- No script WordPress auto-installer
- No commercials
- 1 GB of disk space
- 10 GB of bandwidth
4. WordPress.com
What’s better than WordPress.com for creating a WordPress website?
For individuals wishing to gain hands-on experience with WordPress, this is one of the best free solutions available.
The free plan includes 3GB of disk space and the Jetpack WordPress plugin. You may also personalize your design by choosing from dozens of free themes. The assistance and onboarding procedure is user-friendly. You should read our tutorial on WordPress.com vs. WordPress.org to understand the difference between this free WordPress hosting and the one that requires you to provide your own hosting.
Highlights of Free WordPress:
- Free sub-domain (domain.wordpress.com)
- 3 GB of disk space
- Excellent support.
- Free WordPress themes.
Limitations:
- No FTP access.
- Cannot use 3rd-party WordPress plugins.
- No cPanel access.
5. ByetHost.com
It also offers great features, which is why it is included in the top ranking. It includes an FTP account, a file manager, a control panel, free technical support, add-on domains and subdomains, and many other features. It has the following excellent features:-
- The best thing is that you get the Softaculous Auto Installer.
- 200 GB monthly transfer
- 1000 MB of disk space.
- You can have 50 addon domains, 50 parked domains & 50 subdomains
- 5500 MB disk space
- 50 MySQL databases
- Free 24/7 support and also FTP account
- Control panel for your easy handling of the website.
- A good error page manager.
- Free hosting without any ads and pop-ups.
6. Biz.nf
Biz.nf lets you host your WordPress blog in two minutes. It also assigns you a.co.nf subdomain name. Its primary features are:-
- 1000 MB of web space
- 5000 MB of transfer of data
- Hosting one domain name is free.
- Free domain name (.co.nf)
- Biz.nf hosting options support free hosting of WordPress blogs and Joomla hosting provides automatic installation.
- It supports PHP versions 4 and 5. PHP7 support is missing.
- Free Site Builder Tool
7. AWS Amazon
Amazon offers one year of free VPS, which you can use to test WordPress or develop any other type of website. However, this demands a little more technical understanding than others. The good news is that there are well-documented instructions with screenshots to help you create your WordPress instance.
These are some of the top free WordPress hosting options. However, keep in mind that you should never use free hosting for a professional blog or high-traffic website. Because they can suspend your hosting account at any time without warning and for any reason.
Therefore, before you go ahead and acquire any of the above, let’s look at its disadvantages.
Disadvantages of Using Free WordPress Hosting Providers
- Limited Space and Bandwidth: Free hosting provides limited space and bandwidth. The bandwidth can be defined as the number of visitors permitted on your website each month.
- Very Poor Customer Support: The customer service for free site hosting is horrible. You will be helpless if you become stuck during the installation or encounter any problems.
- No Backup System: Free users are not permitted to back up their websites. If something goes wrong with your blog, you will be unable to back it up.
- Account Ban or Suspended Risk: Using free hosting raises the possibility of being banned or suspended. They can ban your account at any time and without giving any explanation.
- Affects SEO: If you are hosting your blog on any of the free hosting companies, then uptime is not guaranteed. Every downtime of the site adversely affects the ranking of your website.
1. A free-hosted blog can die at any time.
Hosting companies might discontinue their free service at any time. They will notify you before terminating their service according to the terms and rules, but what is the point of this?
You should migrate all material to a new server. Also, if they just close new registrations while keeping already hosted domains, you can redirect your links to your new domain. If they entirely discontinue their service, you will be unable to change your previous links. As a result, all of your old links will be broken.
A look at a great example:
Yahoo Geocities discontinued its services in April 2009. They stated that new registrations would not be permitted, but existing domains would remain operational. Upgrading to Yahoo’s premium hosting was suggested. Unfortunately, Yahoo later asked to transfer all data before the date (October 26, 2009) and stated that GeoCities was being wiped rather than terminated!
You may wonder what this signifies.
Let me inform you.
This means that any data, whether personally backed up by the owners or readers, will not be recovered. Ever.
2. You cannot sell your free-hosted blog.
It’s difficult to accept the truth. And the truth is, my friends, your free hosted blog is not your own. For example, read Blogspot’s terms and conditions. It indicates that you may not sell, share, or transfer your Blogspot blog to another individual.
“No resale of the service. Unless specifically allowed in writing by Google, you take on not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell, or exploit for any commercial purposes (a) any portion of the Service, (b) use of the Service, or (c) access to the Service.”
You could sell your blog secretly to someone. However, if Blogspot identifies it, your blog will be shut down and deleted from the search.
3. There is no safety
I don’t say this to threaten you over and over again. I say this from experience and knowledge. Free hosting service providers can’t spend much on security issues.
I remember a company (2ip) that provided free hosting services. Hundreds of thousands of users started blogs on it. However, their servers were soon compromised by hacking professionals. I have their email, which they sent to me a few days after the hack. In the email, they indicated that they were unable to recover the data and asked me to contact HostGator if I had a backup.
4. There is no control over the server resources.
All free hosting businesses provide limited disk space and bandwidth. As I previously stated, this form of hosting is suitable for testing purposes but not for hosting a major website.
Even a minor rise in traffic will cause your WordPress site to crash because the resources available are limited.
I did my best to select this list by only including free web hosts that have been around for a long time and can be trusted for testing. However, you should be aware that they may discontinue their service at any time or convert it to a paid model. So, just utilize them while you test, and when you’re ready, you may look into obtaining one of the cheap WordPress hosting plans, which cost approximately $3-4 per month.
A2 Hosting is a fantastic option because it includes a free domain, saving you an additional $12 each year. They also provide free SSL, which is a must-have in today’s market.
Final Thoughts – Our Recommendation
We recommend that you exclusively use free WordPress hosting to learn WordPress-related topics such as themes, plugins, blog customization, and anything else you can think of. Otherwise, always acquire premium WordPress hosting from a reputable firm to ensure that your blog or website runs easily and safely.
If you know of any decent free WordPress hosting companies, please share them with others by commenting below. And if you liked this content, please share it with your friends.
Free WordPress Hosting FAQs:
-
Is it free to host a website on WordPress?
WordPress is open-source software, meaning it is free to use. However, you will need to pay for a name, hosting, and premium themes and plugins. You can also establish a free website on WordPress.com, but if you’re building a site for business, a paid plan will most certainly be more beneficial.
-
Is WordPress free on GoDaddy?
Yes, GoDaddy offers WordPress for free, as do practically all hosting companies. GoDaddy’s managed WordPress hosting services make WordPress installation even easier than their basic Linux hosting plans.
-
Can I host my website for free?
Yes, platforms like Wix, Weebly, AwardSpace, and InfinityFree allow you to host websites for free. Each offers varying levels of storage, bandwidth, and server access. WordPress.com also provides a basic free hosting package that is ideal for personal blogs and small websites.
-
Can Google host my website for free?
Google Sites are free to create, host, and administer using a Google or Gmail account.
-
How can I host a website for free 24/7?
Wix’s free web hosting protects your data on all platforms. With 24/7 security monitoring, HTTPS, and SSL protection, your website is always safe and secure. Our thorough hacker testing and DDoS protection ensures that your site’s servers are secure and trustworthy.