7 Best One-Page Web Hosting Plans With Free Templates (March 2024)

Pairing the best one-page website hosting and design templates can lead to a beautiful, high-conversion, mobile-friendly look for your online brand — but how do you know where to start?

While a multi-page format may work wonders for some companies and professionals, others may prefer a one-page website to best deliver your branding messages. Users often appreciate the pared-down design concept, which delivers important information without all the clutter. We’ll cover how to make the sleek and streamlined look work for you with minimal stress and tech expertise.

Launching a one-page website doesn’t need to be a struggle. With so many free design templates, drag-and-drop website builders, and powerful technologies at your fingertips — all of which we’ll highlight below — we’re here to ensure you get started on the right foot.

To understand website navigation, all you have to do is step outside. Traditionally, most sites resemble a tree: a centralized homepage stands as the trunk, with separate pages for a blog, contacts, online store, and information about the team spreading out from there like branches.

One-page websites, a more recent web design trend, instead consolidate all that information to a single stalk, more comparable to a flower. As with a sunflower, that single, scrollable design looms large and brilliantly with added flair, such as parallax scrolling and other graphics or animations.

Whether you’re looking to implement this look through a website builder, WordPress, or any other web design platform, you’ll first need to start with a web hosting plan with free templates. We’ve created this list of the most affordable, reliable, and easy-to-use hosting services that will help you get started. Even better, they connect you to a world of free themes via built-in website builders or simplified WordPress environments.

See other top affordable hosts »

What better solution for your single-page website than the world’s most popular content management system? WordPress dominates the market with more than 60% of the CMS market share and is responsible for more than 43% of all websites in existence.

The WordPress.org community offers at least 30 one-page site templates for free, plus countless others available commercially for a small fee. We especially like WordPress, which can be paired with visual designers and page builders that simplify the customization process for its portability.

One of the biggest benefits of having a WordPress website is the various plugins you can download for site performance and functionality. Though your content may live on one single page, you don’t have to have a simple website. Improve your site with Google Analytics, social media integration, and beautiful website design with a ready-to-go WordPress theme.

You’ll need to sign up for a web hosting plan to use WordPress, but you will have complete control over your site from there on, meaning you can move your site from one provider to the next — unlike most site builders, which lock you into their specific product.

The best WordPress hosting providers offer one-click installations or even set up the platform while you’re checking out. You’ll want to be sure to sign up with a web host that offers premium speed and security, along with helpful customer support staff available for any issues you may encounter. Whether you’re building a business or personal website, WordPress hosting is worth your attention.

We’ve tested these three providers below, giving them supremely high marks for WordPress hosting.

See other top WordPress hosts »

Although we tend to prefer the flexibility that web hosting offers its customers, beginners may appreciate the added simplicity that drag-and-drop website builders afford them. Website builders with free themes often come with a more limited collection of available site templates, but implementing and customizing them is usually a more intuitive process.

With their condensed user experience, one-page websites typically inspire higher conversion rates and a better mobile experience, so relying on a free, professionally designed template from the best website builder is a great place to start.

We’re particularly enamored with Wix, indisputably the best free website builder and one powering 200 million websites. The web host and site builder platform offers the widest range of templates and several more advanced features that give developers and adventurous site owners room to explore. Otherwise, many hosts have spent years painstakingly crafting custom website builders that are definitely worth checking out:

See other top site builders »

Aside from the time savings, a one-page design doesn’t dramatically affect your website’s cost. You can design one page or dozens on the same hosting and site builder plans — all that changes is your website template. Generally speaking, here is a breakdown of what you may expect to pay:

• Web hosting: Popular site builders, such as Wix and Weebly, will include web hosting as part of their one-stop-shop offerings. The best cheap web hosting options can cost as little as $1 or up to $5 per month.
• Domain name: Custom domain name registrations, which renew annually, are almost always included for free for your first year of a web hosting service. If you go the website builder route and don’t want to use the free subdomain (e.g., yourname.wix.com), you may have to spend upward of $15 to $20 each year.
• Website builder: See web hosting. Most hosted website builders, such as Wix, Weebly, or Squarespace, take care of your technical details. Good news: Weebly offers a free plan with limited features. Squarespace and Wix offer a 14-day free trial. Bad news: Premium plans with these platforms tend to be much more expensive than web hosting (upward of $16 per month).
• Website Template: How much do you want to spend? No matter the platform you choose, you should find at least a few dozen HTML template options for free. If you have a specific vision of what you want your site to look like, you can search for commercially developed themes that can cost anywhere from $10 to $100.

Web hosting prices can vary pretty dramatically depending on which type of service and server resources you choose, but the estimates above should steer you in the right direction. If you’re a beginner or have a small business, you will probably want to start with shared hosting. But don’t be afraid to move up to a VPS or cloud plan as you grow.

• Wix offers a free website builder and hosting plan: Pay $0.00 for the first 14 days.
• Hostinger website builder plans start at $2.49 per month.
• Bluehost website builder plans start at $1.99 per month.
• GoDaddy website builder plans start at $0.00 per month.
• 1&1 IONOS website builder plans start at $1.00 per month.
• HostGator’s aptly named Gator Website Builder costs $2.64 per month.

Of course, you’ll need content and images to launch your website. There may be an extra fee if you choose to hire a freelancer to create those paragraphs or graphics, but they can be expensive. Take the time to craft your brand’s own messages, and look for free images under the Creative Commons license.

Similar to beauty, ease of use is often found in the eye of the beholder. What may be easy for one person may be infuriating to the other, and vice versa. Fortunately, the drag-and-drop mentality is similar across all the major website builders, so you should have no problem adapting to whichever you choose.

The major options we’ve listed above will get you started in the right direction, but when finding the easiest one to use, don’t hesitate to try any free trials or demos available. Take each platform for a spin and browse the readily available themes to get a sense of if you can work with this website builder for the long haul.

One-page website templates enable you to skip much of the design phase and get right to customizing.

Professional-looking themes and an intuitive user interface are at the top of our lists. Your template will give visitors and potential customers their first impression, so make it a good one. Be sure to look for responsive designs that are friendly to mobile devices, as roughly half of all web traffic comes from smartphones and tablets.

While Google is amazing for many things, we don’t recommend it for even basic static website creation. You’ll likely want a platform with more aesthetically pleasing templates if you’re creating a professional website, even one with a single landing page.

We also find the lack of customer support for other Google apps, including Google Analytics and Google My Business, to be pretty offputting. Put simply, wait until the tech powerhouse puts out a few more product updates before putting your landing page hopes in a Google site.

We get it: Why pay for something if you can find it for free? We understand the cost-efficient draw of free products, but not all are created equal. We tend to encourage readers to stay away from most free web hosting services, but website builders may be the one time where the $0 price tag is a bit more acceptable than other solutions.

Free web hosting plans typically use shoddy, outdated technologies that lack the strong security, support, or performance metrics you can find for a very nominal investment. Even with their free forever plans, website builders perform more admirably than their hosting competitors. Where those platforms restrict customers, however, is the number of features that are available without an upgrade.

To us, a custom domain name is a must-have feature for any website or professional serious about growth and professionalism. Site builders’ free subdomains often come with forced advertising, and you likely won’t have full access to the company’s full suite of eCommerce, SEO, and marketing tools.

Free website builders are a fantastic option for those just getting started with a new brand, small business venture, or idea, but be ready to upgrade as your one-page site gains traction.