Writer: Christina Lewis
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Alexandra Anderson
Key Takeaways
I like to consider myself a frugal person. I shop second-hand, drive a 2009 Toyota Camry, and I’m still rockin’ the iPhone 12. So, if you’re looking for a free PHP host instead of a paid solution — I get it. Who doesn’t like to save money?
I promise I’m going to share my recommendations for free PHP hosting, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t encourage you to check out some other options, too. You see, being the frugal person I am, I appreciate the value of a product, not just the price.
My team and I have personally tested some options for you, including 100% free hosts, free trials, and best-value hosts. Here’s what we found:
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Best Free Trials
If you’re holding out until payday, these free hosting trials can get you started at no cost. I hand-picked Kamatera, Cloudways, and AWS because they’re packed full of developer-friendly features and scalable cloud infrastructure. Take a look:
1. Kamatera: 30-Day Free Trial
Credit card required
Kamatera is a PHP developer’s dream. When I reviewed its server packages, I first noticed how customizable the host is. Kamatera lets you choose your exact server specifications, from operating system to vCPUs, RAM, and SSD storage.
If you prefer browsing prebuilt packages, Kamatera also offers nine preset server configurations for swift setup — these servers deploy in less than 60 seconds.
Kamatera.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.00
- PHP 8.3, 8.4, and 8.5 on Ubuntu Server 24.04
- Intel Xeon Platinum processors with NVMe SSD storage
- 20 global data centers across four continents
- Fully customizable CPU, RAM, and storage — scale on demand
- 30-day free trial, no commitment needed
- Get started on Kamatera now.
Surajdeep Singh
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30-day FREE trial | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | New or Transfer | 3 minutes |
The best part: Kamatera offers a completely free 30-day trial of its PHP hosting services. As long as your server customizations cost $100 or less, you can deploy your PHP application for free for a whole month.
A PHP developer will appreciate the infrastructure Kamatera has to offer. The host has 20 data centers distributed globally to ensure your PHP application has the best performance and speed.
Check out our full review of Kamatera to see why this hosting company is a performant PHP hosting provider.
2. Cloudways: 3-Day Free Trial
No credit card required
I just had to mention Cloudways for its developer-friendly features and robust cloud infrastructure. While it’s not the most budget-friendly option, you do get dedicated managed support. You can dive in for as low as $6.60/month and select from major cloud providers like AWS, Google Cloud, Vultr, Digital Ocean, and Linode.
Unlike free plans, Cloudways gives you 24/7 customer support and superb scalability. You can start with as little as 1 GB and one core and scale up to 64 GB and 16 cores. Plus, you get integrated caching solutions and SSDs for faster performance.
Cloudways.com
Monthly Starting Price $11.00
- Choose from AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, Vultr, or Linode
- PHP 7.4–8.4 with unlimited PHP workers and NGINX/Apache
- Built-in Redis, Memcached, and Varnish caching included
- Git integration, vertical scaling, and 1-click staging included
- 3-day free trial — no credit card required
- Get started on Cloudways now.
Jack Wallen
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-day FREE trial | 25 GB – 160 GB SSD | New or Transfer | 8 minutes |
I like that the provider lets you test drive its services risk-free. You can start for free with Cloudways using the signup link above — no credit card required.
In terms of downsides, it’s a little complex for beginners — it doesn’t come with cPanel or Plesk. So, if you’re new to development, you’re probably better off choosing a shared hosting plan like Hostinger, which makes it easy to manage your site through its in-house control panel.
3. Amazon EC2: 12-Month Free Trial
If you’re an experienced developer, AWS Free Tier is worth your attention. Yes, it’s a little more complicated to set up. However, you can get a t2.micro instance with 1 vCPU and 1 GB RAM free for a whole year, which should be just right for a low-traffic PHP application.
This setup is highly customizable, meaning you can install any PHP version, database, or Linux operating system. It also integrates seamlessly with other AWS services like CloudFront and RDS.
I should warn you, though: if you expect a moderate amount of traffic, you’re better off upgrading to a t3.medium instance, at least. The t2.micro isn’t meant to support tons of concurrent users or heavy sites.
Best Value PHP Hosting
If you want to talk about value instead of straight-up cost, a shared hosting plan should be your first consideration.
Here’s the scoop: A shared hosting plan is perfect for sites with low to moderate traffic. It’s affordable, a breeze to set up, and comes loaded with plenty of freebies.
What’s better, an affordable shared hosting plan comes with significantly more RAM, bandwidth, and security features than free web hosting. Take Hostinger, for example. Its most basic plan comes with 10GB of SSD storage compared to InfinityFree’s 5GB — and it only costs $1.99/month.
If I’ve sold you on spending a few bucks a month instead of a free plan, here are the hosts worth considering:
4. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- Supports Laravel, Symfony, CodeIgniter, and all major PHP frameworks
- PHP 8.x version switching and 100 PHP workers on top plans
- Git integration — deploy apps directly from your repository
- LiteSpeed, NVMe SSD, and Cloudflare CDN on all plans
- Access manager for team collaboration & granular permissions
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Sead Fadilpasic
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 50 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
5. Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- LiteSpeed servers with NVMe SSD storage and PHP up to 8.5
- AMD EPYC CPUs with automated daily backups
- Built-in WAF, malware scanning, SSL, and DDoS protection
- Free expert site migration handled by in-house team
- 24/7/365 in-house support via live chat, phone, and tickets
- Get started on hosting.com now.
Christina Lewis
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 15 GB – 100 GB | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
6. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.00
- PHP 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3 with JIT compiler and OPcache
- PHP Extended Support available all the way back to PHP 4.0+
- SSH, SFTP, WP-CLI, Git, and cron manager
- $1/mo for the first year — free domain, SSL, and email
- 99.99% uptime, daily backups, and DDoS protection
- Get started on IONOS now.
Christina Lewis
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
7. Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $3.79
- PHP 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4 with easy version switching via cPanel
- FastCGI for faster PHP execution and lower response times
- Customize your environment with php.ini and PHP handlers
- MySQL and PostgreSQL support with up to 20 databases
- Free Cloudflare CDN, WAF, SSL, and managed PHP updates
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Sead Fadilpasic
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB – 100 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
8. HostGator.com
Monthly Starting Price $3.75
- MultiPHP Manager — set different PHP versions per domain
- PHP 8.2, 8.3, and 8.4 with free PHP configuration plugin
- Unlimited MySQL databases with phpMyAdmin included
- SSH access, object caching, and staging on all plans
- Free domain, SSL, and Cloudflare CDN included
- Get started on HostGator now.
Lynn Cadet
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 100 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
See More PHP Hosts With the Best Value >>
Best Free PHP Hosts
Alright, here’s the deal with free PHP hosts. Yes, you can host your PHP site on them at no cost, but (and it’s a big but) these plans are pretty limited.
If you’re building a PHP site to test out some new code, or you plan to use it for a simple personal site, then great. There’s no reason you can’t use a free platform for that! However, if you expect a decent amount of traffic or you’re building a professional site, the free trials or paid plans above are superior.
I’ve compared some of the top PHP hosts so you can decide which option is right for you:
9. InfinityFree
InfinityFree is a top free hosting provider that supports free PHP and MySQL web applications. I like this hosting platform because it gives you access to features typically reserved for paid plans, including a free SSL certificate, unlimited websites, and no ads.
Pros
- Choice of a free subdomain from 25 extensions
- Industry-standard 99.9% uptime guarantee
- Softaculous auto installer and up to 400 MySQL databases
Cons
- Limited resources compared to a paid plan
- Doesn’t include a free custom domain name like most paid plans
- Some users complain about slow load times
Just looking at some of InfinityFree’s features makes it clear that this host outperforms most other free services. Plus, the host demonstrates its commitment to providing hosting access to everyone, regardless of their background or budget.
However, it comes with a lot of the usual limitations of free hosting, like slower load times and limited resources.
10. x10Hosting
x10Hosting gives you a limited but no-cost hosting option that comes with enough resources for a low-traffic personal site. It’s an industry veteran in the free web hosting space, so if you decide it’s right for you, you can rest easy knowing it won’t go belly up without notice.
Pros
- Free DirectAdmin control panel
- Lets you create up to 3 email accounts
- No ads on your site
Cons
- Only has .5 GB disk space compared to InfinityFree’s 5 GB
- You’re limited to 2 databases
- Free hosting support is limited to the community forums
If you outgrow the free x10 Basic plan, you can upgrade to x10 Premium for less than $4 a month. The upgrade will get you access to cPanel instead of DirectAdmin, as well as unlimited databases, disk space, email addresses, and domains.
11. FreeHosting
FreeHosting is another smart option for hosting small personal sites or developer test projects. It has twice the amount of disk space as InfinityFree, giving you plenty of space to host your site files. However, I’m surprised it doesn’t offer a free subdomain.
The company says you must purchase a custom domain through them or bring your own, which will add about $10 to $20 in costs each year.
Pros
Cons
- You have to bring your own domain name or purchase one — no free subdomains
- No service for users in Brazil, Cuba, Iran, Sudan, Syria, or Vietnam
Despite FreeHosting’s limitations, you may decide it’s the best choice for you if you want the most free disk space and you already have a domain name.
PHP Host Comparison
| Host | Disk Space | Databases | Price |
|---|---|---|---|
| InfinityFree | 5 GB | 400 | FREE forever |
| x10 Hosting | .5 GB | 2 | FREE forever |
| Free Hosting | 10 GB | 1 | FREE forever |
| Kamatera | 20 GB SSD | No hard limits | FREE 30 days then $4.00/month |
| Cloudways | 25 GB | No hard limits | FREE 3 days then $6.60/month |
| AWS | 8 GB | No hard limits | FREE 1 year then $5.50/month |
| Hostinger | 10 GB SSD | Unlimited | $1.99/month |
| Hosting.com | 15 GB | Unlimited | $2.99/month |
| IONOS | 10 GB | Unlimited | $1.00/month |
| Bluehost | 10 GB | 15 | $3.79/month |
| HostGator | 10 GB | Unlimited | $3.75/month |
What Is PHP?
PHP is an open-source, server-side scripting language that powers the world’s most popular content management system, WordPress. The language is ideal for creating dynamic page content that displays a different output depending on the user’s action.
For example, a site built on WordPress uses PHP to connect your website to a SQL database. When a visitor searches your website for dessert recipes, the PHP code tells your site to go into the database, retrieve all the brownie and cake recipes you have, and display them for your visitor.
Because the language operates on the server, developers can use it to restrict user access. This requires users to log in to your website before viewing content. Facebook is a prime example of a website built using PHP, though it has changed over the years.
Some other useful features of PHP include:
- Adding, moving, and deleting SQL database files
- Storing website cookie data
- Collecting online forms
- Creating, opening, reading, writing, deleting, and closing files on the server
- Encrypting data
PHP is a relatively easy language to learn and has an enormous open-source community. Its compatibility with Windows, Linux, and MacOS servers makes it incredibly versatile, too.
What Are the Pros and Cons of Free Web Hosting?
Free plans have their perks, but they also have some drawbacks. Here’s what you need to know.
Pros
- It’s free
- Easy to set up
Cons
- You get very limited RAM and bandwidth
- Some free hosts place ads on your site
- You don’t get a free custom domain name
- The security features aren’t as strong
- You’ll have to deal with lower uptime guarantees
- You generally don’t get any customer support
It’s clear the cons outweigh the pros here. But for some people, this may not be a dealbreaker.
Who Should Use Free Web Hosting?
Free web hosting can be a great choice in certain situations. If you’re a student doing a school project or a developer experimenting with new code, there’s really no need to spend a lot on a high-powered hosting plan.
Here are some scenarios where free hosting may be a good fit:
- Students working on school projects
- Developers learning to code
- Professional portfolio/résumé sites
- Low-traffic personal sites
I should warn you: do not, under any circumstances, use a free hosting plan for your business! Poor performance and intrusive ads make for a crummy user experience.
How Do I Choose a PHP Web Host?
Since PHP is one of the most common scripting languages, you have hundreds of options. But as you may have guessed, some PHP hosting services are better than others.
When you’re shopping for a PHP web hosting provider, there are a few features you’ll want to keep an eye out for to make sure you’re choosing the right host.
- First, check to see whether your provider offers PHP support for the latest version. Using the latest PHP version (8.4 or higher) will ensure your code runs faster and more smoothly.
- Then, you should compare types of plans, like shared, VPS, cloud, or dedicated. One of the best things about PHP hosting is that you can typically get a high-quality service from a shared hosting plan.
- Explore what features the host has to offer. A shared hosting plan will come with many enticing features for a low monthly price. Customers usually get a free SSL certificate, a free domain, and ample storage and bandwidth to power small to midsize sites. If you plan to power a more extensive website, you could opt for a VPS hosting plan to give you more storage and bandwidth. Plus, a VPS will easily handle large databases full of content for your WordPress blog.
- Finally, look at independent reviews from real customers or from third-party sites like ours. You want to get a feel for what people are saying about the web host.
Make a shortlist of your top three providers and compare them to choose your winner.
Choosing the Right PHP Host for You
There you have it! I’ve shared my top picks for the best free (and cheap) PHP hosts. Now it’s up to you to decide which provider you’ll choose.
Before finalizing your purchase, make sure the web host checks all your boxes. Pay special attention to the provider’s price, storage, user-friendliness, and customer support.
A web host with a money-back guarantee goes far, too. If you’re still undecided, take a look at our in-depth reviews of each web host to learn more.
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