Writer: Christina Lewis
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Alexandra Anderson
The beauty of a static website is in its simplicity, which is also true for the best free hosting for HTML sites. A free hosting provider will give your HTML website all the basics without bonus features or frills. Paid web hosting traditionally comes with plenty of add-ons, including a free domain name, unlimited bandwidth, and a free site builder. But if you don’t need these extra perks, a free account will put your site online at no cost.
The best free web host may not come with the same perks as a paid host, but it should still offer enough bandwidth to keep your site online with security and reliability. The hosting plan you choose will depend on what you want to do with your site. Whether you’re working on a project for school or you’re a beginner developer practicing your HTML and CSS skills, free web hosting is a wise choice to save money until you need a high-powered plan.
The providers on this list meet our criteria for reliability and security for small static web pages. Remember, however, that extra features and customer support aren’t the most robust with a free hosting plan. Regardless, if you’re looking for a web hosting service that doesn’t require deep pockets, or any pockets at all, check out our top picks.
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Best Free Trials for Developers
As developers know, sometimes it’s better to invest in quality web hosting than use an entirely free plan. But if you’re looking to host a web app for practice or personal use, we recommend checking out our recommendations for students. These providers will give your website enough resources and security to let you practice coding static web pages without paying.
If you have bigger plans for your static website than to use it for practice or a small personal project, we highly suggest checking out some inexpensive hosts that offer free trials. While this type of hosting isn’t entirely free in the long run, it’s very affordable and will give your website enough speed and bandwidth to succeed.
1. Kamatera.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Customize your cloud environment for FREE
- Work with a dedicated account manager
- Dozens of Windows & Linux OS choices
- Complimentary live chat support open 24/7
- Launch in less than 60 seconds
- Get started on Kamatera now.
That’s right, Kamatera gives new customers FREE access to high-quality VPS hosting for 30 days. Upgrade your bargain-basement shared hosting to a cloud server configured to your exact specifications for no cost. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-day FREE trial | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | New or Transfer | 3 minutes |
2. Cloudways.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Try managed cloud hosting for FREE for 3 days
- Optimize costs with custom server configurations
- Scale server resources up and down as needed
- FREE SSL certificates, site migrations, and CDN
- Use code HOSTINGADVICE for 25% OFF
- Get started on Cloudways now.
Cloudways doesn’t offer a dollars-per-month shared hosting plan. But the company still brings a significant bargain to the table, thanks to a (short) free trial. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-day FREE trial | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | New or Transfer | 8 minutes |
These hosts offer a range of free services, including free cloud hosting, a free domain name, and a free site builder. Whichever suits your needs best, rest assured you’re in good hands with either hosting company.
Best Free Trials for Small Businesses
As a small business owner, you’re busy taking orders and managing finances, and you may not have the time or know-how to build a site from scratch. Plus, the cost of hiring a web developer may be out of your budget. Regardless, creating your business’s online presence is essential if you want to succeed in today’s market. Thankfully, entrepreneurs can make a professional, fully functional website in no time with a website builder.
Website builders are HTML-based editors that let you create custom layouts and designs for your brand. While you can expect less functionality if you use a website template than were you to choose a site that uses custom JavaScript or PHP, your website will have plenty of functionality to showcase your business. These website builders offer free hosting when you use their platform to build your site.
3. Wix.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- No coding skills needed with drag-and-drop builder
- 100s of templates with niche-specific designs
- Add features via the App Market and Wix Events
- Easily create ecommerce functionality easily
- Great way to build small sites on a budget
- Get started on Wix now.
Website building is where Wix shines. The thousands of templates, the intuitive editor, the industry-leading designs that cater to a variety of specific fields and use cases — all these facets represent a platform that excels at facilitating easy web design for the non-tech-savvy user. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-day FREE trial | 2 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
4. GoDaddy.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Get started for FREE, no credit-card required
- Easy-to-use interface with tons of customization
- GoDaddy InSight™ provides tailored action plans
- 99.9% uptime with an award-winning support team
- Built-in marketing tools and expertise
- Get started on GoDaddy now.
GoDaddy uses a custom website builder and easy access to dozens of content management systems to offer a user-friendly site-building solution to customers. Most of GoDaddy’s hosting plans include these options at no additional cost. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Unlimited | New or Transfer | 5 minutes |
The downside to free hosting with a website builder is that you may encounter ads. After all, these companies must pay for the hosting services somehow. But if advertisements don’t bother you, using your site builder as a hosting provider is an excellent choice to consolidate your online presence.
Best Free Hosting for Students
We know students are often tight on cash, so it’s a huge perk to save money where you can. If you’re practicing web development for school and need a free web host, these services will do the trick.
5. Cloudflare Pages
Cloudflare Pages is a one-stop shop for students who need free static web hosting for school projects. This service’s free option is one of the most feature-rich we’ve seen. Few free services offer unlimited bandwidth like Cloudflare does, which is a significant differentiator. It also supports edge and serverless functions, A/B testing, and two-factor authentication.
The Cloudflare Pages platform commits to managing your HTML website’s speed, scalability, and security so you can focus on creating amazing content. But, if that’s not enough to convince you, Cloudflare is 100% carbon neutral with sustainable edge computing services and energy-efficient features.
6. GitHub Pages
GitHub Pages is the holy grail of free web hosting for HTML sites. As you may already know from your studies, GitHub is one of the leading collaboration platforms for coding students and web development professionals worldwide. More than 83 million contributors use GitHub’s collaboration and version control platform.
The tool is free to access and deploy your code to a remote repository for sharing with classmates and instructors — all you need is an email account to sign up. If you want to see your staged changes in a live environment (i.e., if you want to host your site), you can use GitHub Pages. It’s easy to deploy your static website, plus you can customize your domain name to your liking, so you’re not stuck with the default github.io extension.
7. 000webhost
Powered by Hostinger, 000webhost is next on our list of best free hosting for HTML sites. This web hosting service offers a range of cheap plans, but its free account for static websites is a top choice for students looking to save money. While the free plan may not offer unlimited bandwidth and disk space, it does provide ample resources for a school project or portfolio website.
The free plan provides users with one FTP account, one SQL database, and a 99% uptime guarantee, which is plenty for low-traffic, static websites. If you decide to upgrade in the future, you can use one of 000webhost’s premium plans for just a few dollars monthly. With instant account activation and no advertisements, this web host is an enticing option for students.
If neither of these hosts suits your needs, consider checking out our recommendations for cheap web hosting for students. You may find that a small monthly cost is worth the investment.
What Is Free Website Hosting?
Free website hosting is a no-cost option for website owners on a budget. This service is ideal for students, developers working on personal projects, or website owners that need a simple site to showcase their brand.
Free hosting comes in many shapes and sizes, including:
- WordPress hosting
- Cloud hosting
- VPS hosting
- Shared hosting
The terms and conditions of free accounts will vary with each provider. Some may offer always-free packages, and others offer free trials. While a free web hosting service may not provide the most robust packages, it can still put your site online with decent security and performance for low-traffic sites.
As a word of caution, we generally don’t recommend entirely free hosting for websites that you expect to grow. Providers typically invest minimal resources in a free hosting plan because hosting perks are expensive for the company. Add-ons such as 24/7 customer support, a free email account, and a custom domain aren’t the norm for free services. Instead, you’re more likely to find basic features, including an FTP account, a non-custom domain name, and limited disk space.
But if you truly want a free service, you’re in good hands with our recommendations. For more information on cheap hosts instead, check out some of our top picks.
What Is HTML?
Hyper Text Markup Language (HTML) is the building block of almost 95% of websites. This static coding language tells the browser what information to display on a user’s screen. This language is static because of its limited capabilities. Aside from creating simple navigation menus, check boxes, and forms, the language is primarily used to display information. But HTML is often supplemented with other coding languages, such as JavaScript, to add functionality and interactivity.
Is Free Website Hosting Safe?
A quality, free web host may skimp on fancy features but should never sacrifice security to save money. While most free plans aren’t as secure as dedicated or VPS hosting, they should offer the same security as standard shared hosting. The providers on this list have good reputations in the industry, so you can host your free website with peace of mind. If you’re still unsure about the best web host for your web app, you can check out some of our other recommendations for a cheap hosting company instead.
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