Free Web Hosting

Free web hosting has been around for years and was more popular in the past when hosting your own web site wasn't as cheap or as easy as it is now. It is still a great way to get started when you're learning the basics and want something out there to show friends and family, but it is not something you would want to start a business or serious project with.

The allowed storage, bandwidth, overall features provided are very limited compared to other paid hosting packages available and because servers and bandwidth are not free for the hosting provider you may find banner ads or pop-up ads automatically displayed on your web site to offset the cost.

It is likely you will not be able to use your own domain name such as "www.Example.com" on a free web site, instead you will be given a co-branded name like "Example.hostname.com" or "hostname.com/Example/" which is one of the main reasons not to start a business or a business web site with this type of hosting..

Advantages:

Cost $0
Ease of Use *

Disadvantages:

Banners or Pop-Ups
Low Storage Capacity
Low Bandwith per Month
Lacks Advanced Features (server side scripting, databases)
Ease of Use *
Co-Branding

* Ease of use in this case can be a double edged sword, web interfaces to upload and manage files are straightforward and need little to no technical knowledge but at other times can be hindering/slow compared to an FTP program which excels at uploading dozens or hundreds of files at a time.

	Hosting Primer Main How-To Guides Getting Started: Bringing a Web Site Online Managed DNS Guide Server Side Includes with Apache or PHP Monitor Site Uptime Hosting Types Domain Hosting Standard Shared Web Hosting Reseller / VDS / VPS Web Hosting Dedicated Hosting Servers Blog Hosting Free Web Hosting Other Tools and Scripts		Free Web Hosting Free web hosting has been around for years and was more popular in the past when hosting your own web site wasn't as cheap or as easy as it is now. It is still a great way to get started when you're learning the basics and want something out there to show friends and family, but it is not something you would want to start a business or serious project with. The allowed storage, bandwidth, overall features provided are very limited compared to other paid hosting packages available and because servers and bandwidth are not free for the hosting provider you may find banner ads or pop-up ads automatically displayed on your web site to offset the cost. It is likely you will not be able to use your own domain name such as "www.Example.com" on a free web site, instead you will be given a co-branded name like "Example.hostname.com" or "hostname.com/Example/" which is one of the main reasons not to start a business or a business web site with this type of hosting.. Advantages: Cost $0 Ease of Use * Disadvantages: Banners or Pop-Ups Low Storage Capacity Low Bandwith per Month Lacks Advanced Features (server side scripting, databases) Ease of Use * Co-Branding * Ease of use in this case can be a double edged sword, web interfaces to upload and manage files are straightforward and need little to no technical knowledge but at other times can be hindering/slow compared to an FTP program which excels at uploading dozens or hundreds of files at a time.