Free Web Hosting – Pros and Cons

Sometimes the best things in life come free. If you are looking to set up your own blog for the first time, you probably want to go with the free web hosting. Many web hosts offer free hosting services. However, https://www.000webhost.com/free-hosting is renowned among newbies as they don’t force anyone to run annoying ads on their websites.

Talking about free hosting, it may or may not match your requirements. Here in this write-up, we are going to take an objective look into – why some companies provide free hosting. Also, most prominently (which is the main topic) we are going to dip a toe into the pros and cons as well.

Before proceeding with the theme, let us understand what is it that referred to when it comes to free hosting.

Hosting entails web server’s space, located somewhere in the data center, made the free hosting service available without any cost. It can be anywhere around the corner of the world. It allows you to self-host your blog, files or, any supported computer program in a web server.

This process takes off with hosting on a server without needing to use your own computer. You are held responsible for creating, maintaining and installing these applications on the web server. The web server provides you the tools and free space to carry on with the procedure.

Some features and tools may or may not be included, depending on the limit placed in your web-hosting package. In this type of hosting service, one does not require to upkeep or setup anything other than their own account.

All you need is signing up into your account and go proceed with your blogging, product promotion, posting your services and showcasing your portal. Using a free hosted platform is just like using your office without needing to worry about the rent. With certain limits, of course.

Everything that you need comes free and is built-in in the space. All you got to do is, pick your stuff and move in and start proceeding with your work. However, it requires some construction work before starting your web page.

Why do companies offer free web hosting to their clients?

Hosting not just consumes Internet bandwidth, electricity and disk space on servers, but also devours a lot of other resources. Hardware maintenance, cost of maintenance, leasing of the office space, and staff wages are the expenses that included in it.

Free web-hosting may not cost a single penny to a customer, but the company has to deal with the entire nitty-gritty of the cost maintenance. The question is, should you wonder: “why would a hosting platform provide the hosting service for free?”

Below mentioned are the reasons;

1. Marketing tactic. A few hosting websites provide their clients a free tier and once they get their customer in the confidence, they offer the domain name and email at a competitive cost. Premium and business packages are offered to the established businesses. These packages include free domain name and other services. These upgraded plans help businesses to furnish their sales and encourage to dominate the market. This implies to start-ups as well, as it inspires them for more hosting services. In simple words, it is a marketing tactic meant to fetch customers by offering them the lucrative offers such as; free hosting.
2. Ad-supported strategy. The free services often have ad banners flash on the computer screens. These ads generate the much-needed revenue and help in the growth of the company. The generated revenue is then used in paying bills and buying more hardware for the better service. It is important to know that some hosts do not place ads on their free hosting. So, do not expect that you would get the ad in your package all the time. However, it depends upon which host do you choose, as some providers place ads and some do not. The ones do not place ads have other ways to recouping with the expenses and for generating revenues. It is essential to look out for the terms and policies, before selecting a host.
3. For testing purpose. Chances are, some hosts may provide you the free hosting as an agenda to test a newly embedded feature in their hosting service.
4. Part of business strategy. In order to sustain a distinction between paid service and a free one, sometimes these organizations create individually branded “sister host sites”. More often than not, they act as a different company. However, more often it is the same group of people operating the same machinery and works behind the curtains.

By understanding the above-told reasons you can set the desired expectation for your free hosting service. It would be unrealistic if you expect to get benefited with other features such as; free domain name, higher bandwidth, more disk space and things like that.

You need to get a paid service in order to get availed with more added features.

Pros and cons of free web hosting

Is free hosting right for you? Let’s take a quick tour into the advantages and limitations;

Pros.

The biggest and foremost advantage that you have in your hand with the free hosting is, you don’t pay at all. This is great especially if you are new to the hosting platform and want to accomplish your college assignment.

Also, if your requirements are minimal – free hosting is something that comes in handy. Apart from that, it is a good way to learn about the free hosting platform by poking around and fondling the features.

In addition to this, if you want to test some software script on a web hosting portal – this is something that costs you nothing. You do not even need to sign a contract and can terminate your account at any given time.

Other than that, these companies offer you domain registration free of cost. This is something that comes in your hand as a big advantage. Domain name is extremely important to you as it helps users to, come to visit your website.

If you are a small start-up, looking to set up a non-profit website or a blog, free hosting along with free domain is something that you never want to miss. This can be a huge plus point in having a free subscription if you are a student.

Cons

The key word is “limited”. By opting to a free service you are entitled to limiting resource usage only. Be ready to have a lack of several features which could be beneficial for the growth of your business.

Features such as editing DNS setting, one-click auto-installer, SMTP email, software script, root dictionary access and various others. Even if you are getting access to those features, your host has other ways to limit your usage.

It comes with a cap on the bandwidth and much-needed disk space. Thus, if you want to upload massive files your page may get offline or even get suspended prior to no notice. Also, the company sees your free service as the lowest priority.

As mentioned above, the majority of the web hosts support ads. A few others do not force them on your web page. However, they may ask you to become their affiliate sponsors. Chances are, they may ask you to become an affiliate by visiting the link associated with the ads.

Is free Web Hosting really meant for me?

Free hosting is the most prominent service if you are a learner, a beginner, the tester or, anyone who doesn’t want to resort to the contracts for the long run.

Who would benefit from free hosting?

If you are new to self-hosting and you wish to explore this derivative without wishing to shell out money – you certainly want to go with this option. You must know that many hosts offer the trial period for the customers.

Also, if you have a low budget and like to dive into the self-hosting with your project, this option helps you. Besides, you must get prepared for the risks involving the free hosting.

Apart from that, if you are okay with figuring things out yourself due to lack of customer support in the free-hosting package – you definitely wish to explore this free option.

Free web hosting is not for you if…

1. If you are expecting a quality and encouraging customer support service.
2. If you have zero tolerance for the ads, downtimes, server crashes and a limited account.
3. If you are a start-up or an established business and looking for a fully loaded account with all the required features to support your business.
4. If your plan is to create a huge website and expecting a huge traffic on your web portal.
5. If you are a highly profitable business, this option is certainly not for you.

What should I choose if I have big requirements?

If you have huge requirements which cannot be sustained by the free-hosting, you must select the premium and business packages. These plans offer you free domain name and several other features, required to support your business fully.

Verdict on free web hosting

Although, free hosting sounds great deal with regards to face value, do not jump right away. Just simply don’t fall for the hyperbole created by their marketing tactics. Take some time and assess your requirements and then see which host can fulfill your requirement. This way, you can set your expectations without regretting later.

About the Author

This article was submitted to us by a third-party writer. The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the views and opinions of ThisHosting.Rocks. If you want to write for ThisHosting.Rocks, go here.