17 Free Hosting Services with No Credit Card Required (Dec. 2023)

Instead of worrying about accidentally being charged if you forget to cancel, the best free hosting services with no credit card requirement give aspiring site owners a stress-free space to explore new platforms.

Although free hosting platforms lack some essential features of affordable cPanel hosting plans, they are an important resource for low-budget projects. We’ll help you weigh the options for free vs. paid web hosting services and recommend the best hosts with no credit card required.

Although free hosting sounds great to everybody, most platforms have performance limitations that make budget hosting plans a more professional option. Low-cost, budget-friendly hosts can offer much more in a web hosting package than free hosts.

Budget hosting companies outperform free hosting platforms by offering a greater ability to orchestrate domain names, email/FTP accounts, database installation, and PHP settings for scripts on shared Linux or Windows servers.

Multidomain publishers will find more options for open-source web development on budget hosting platforms, such as the ones listed below, than they will on free hosting plans.

Bluehost company sets the standard for shared Linux web hosting with cPanel that other brands in the industry seek to match.

The well-known hosting company is Automattic’s top choice for WordPress hosting with a high-performance environment dedicated to security.

If you don’t have a credit card, you can pay with PayPal, check, or money order (U.S. customers only) at Bluehost.

Bluehost’s lowest-cost plan supports one website with 50GB of SSD storage, or spend a few more dollars to upgrade to the Plus plan and unlimited domains.

The cheap Bluehost Plus plan is a cost-effective alternative to free hosting platforms and will outperform any free hosting option.

The Plus plan includes a free domain name, unlimited add-on domains, with support for unlimited email, FTP accounts, and MySQL databases. Publishers can access over 400 free open-source scripts for one-click installation with Softaculous.

Unlimited domain hosting at Bluehost is best for WordPress development.

Hostinger is the lowest cost of the budget hosting options with unlimited domain name plans starting at $$1.99 per month with hPanel. Hostinger developed hPanel as a proprietary solution with all of the features of cPanel.

Since even web hosting companies need to pay for cPanel licensing, the use of hPanel as an alternative allows Hostinger to offer the lowest prices for web hosting in the industry.

The most affordable plan from Hostinger supports one website and email account with 30GB of SSD storage and free SSL certificate.

Hostinger will accept credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, or cryptocurrencies for payment on signup for a new account.

We regularly recommended Hostinger as the cheapest shared hosting plan. The inclusion of fast SSD storage, a free domain, and an SSL certificate complete the package for affordable online publishing.

Lock into a four-year contract at Hostinger for the lowest long-term prices in the industry.

In selecting the best budget host alternatives to free hosting plans, we rank HostGator highly on the basis of unlimited resources, low prices, and helpful customer support.

With HostGator, you get the security and power of cPanel hosting on shared Linux servers at a lower price per month than Bluehost.

HostGator is popular for small business web development with more than 2 million domains hosted on the platform.

With HostGator, you receive a powerful managed cloud platform with unlimited MySQL database support, storage, and bandwidth. The shared Linux servers come with extensions for PHP, Rails, Python, and Perl script installation.

You can connect to the server via Secure Shell (SSH) access to use command-line tools in site configuration in pro-software development teams.

The abundance of solutions for script and database deployment at HostGator is worth the upgrade price over free hosting for professional requirements.

Most free hosting users are aware of the features of more expensive cloud hosting platforms but need an independent solution for niche publishing requirements.

If you are looking for a free hosting service with no credit card at sign-up, make sure to distinguish between trial offers and ongoing free platforms. You may have to accept advertising or revenue sharing for ads on your web pages with the hosting company.

You may be limited to subdomain publishing without the ability to use a full range of developer tools on free plans.

The biggest risk of free hosting is the security environment for web hosting service providers. The companies below offer a free hosting platform — that will continue free over time — without the need for a credit card at sign-up.

We recommended these sites for personal blogs, web promotions, independent ecommerce sellers, SEO campaigns, and non-profit projects for volunteer groups.

If you are considering a free hosting solution, first compare it to the unlimited domain support available on shared servers at budget hosting companies, then proceed with one of the solutions below. A free website builder plan compares to the cost of cheap WordPress hosting.

Kamatera comes out strong with free web hosting, offering impressive cloud infrastructure and a wide range of custom configurations for experienced developers. The company gives you 30 days of hosting for free with a $100 credit.

First-time site owners may feel overwhelmed with Kamatera’s free trial, but developers looking for the most value will be right at home. Kamatera represents the perfect sandbox for trying new languages, frameworks, and other backend applications.

Offering a great middle-ground option between hard-to-manage cloud instances and high-powered managed hosting, Cloudways gives prospective new customers three days free to explore the company’s platform

Cloudways only needs to verify your account through email to get started and clearly displays what your monthly or hourly costs will be after the trial ends. Even better, enter our promo code — HOSTINGADVICE — for 25% off the first three months of service.

GoDaddy’s website builder platform is a great place to start if you need guaranteed free hosting with no credit card required. The GoCentral builder has hundreds of free website themes available. The site builder includes marketing tools and PayPal for e-commerce.

Free hosting at GoDaddy is limited to subdomain support with the Website Builder platform. If you need to use your own domain name, you’ll pay less than $10 for the account upgrade.

7. WordPress.com

Monthly Starting Price $0.00

• #1 site-building software is FREE
• Install in 1 click with top hosts
• FREE themes to customize your WordPress site
• Works for eCommerce, blogging, galleries, and personal sites
• Trusted by millions of website owners
• Get started on WordPress

CHEAP
RATING

4.6

★★★★★

Free hosting plans at WordPress.com include managed hosting for the CMS from Automattic with Jetpack, an SSL certificate, and 3GB of storage space. You get dozens of free themes for WordPress but cannot install third-party plugins. The platform supports WordAds for advertising.

Millions of people blog on the WordPress.com site using their username for subdomain support — meaning their website is www.username.wordpress.com. The upgrade cost for a Personal plan, which unlocks a free domain, is less than $5 per month.

Wix is a website builder solution that offers free hosting with 500 MB storage and 500 MB monthly bandwidth on a username.wixsite.com subdomain. The Wix publisher tools include free CDN integration for fast page load speeds with global caching and marketing tools for analytics.

Website builders like Wix do not require the use of a database. The company provides niche web publishers with more than 500 free themes to build blogs and ecommerce sites for small businesses.

Weebly is a sub-brand of Square, now known as Block, founded by former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. The company offers a free web hosting platform that is used by 30 million people. Weebly will guarantee that your site stays online across any level of web traffic spikes.

With Weebly, you get a code editor, email marketing tools, form builder, free templates, image editor, fonts, HD video player, and a mobile app script as potential add-on options for your store.

10. AtSpace

The free hosting plan at AtSpace includes support for a single domain name, three subdomains, one MySQL database, and one email address. You get 1 GB disk space, 5 GB monthly bandwidth, and 30 MB database storage for free. Use Zacky App Installer for WordPress sites.

You can use your Facebook or Google login to sign up for the free Atspace hosting plan. Between custom domain support and unlimited free hosting, Atspace is one of the best options for custom domain name requirements.

11. FreeHosting.com

FreeHosting.com is the best solution for hosting your own domain name with cPanel for free. You can support one website on the Free plan with all of the features included in more expensive platforms, including the installation of 400+ open-source scripts with Softaculous.

The main advantage of FreeHosting.com is using your own domain with support for PHP, MySQL, email, FTP, and SSL certificates. The platform also includes a free website builder.

12. AwardSpace

AwardSpace is another popular option for free hosting with the use of your own domain. The Free Hosting plan at AwardSpace includes 1GB storage, 5GB monthly bandwidth, MySQL database support, and options for PHP 7.

There is no time limit to the Free Hosting plan at AwardSpace, so you can use it for domain support on an ongoing basis. You can install three subdomains with any TLD extension.

13. FreeHostia

FreeHostia provides one of the most generous free hosting plans. Their platform supports up to five unique domain names with 250 MB storage and 6 GB monthly bandwidth. You get one MySQL database with 10 MB storage and three email accounts on the plan with a free script installer.

At FreeHostia, you get webmail support with RoundCube, a free SSL certificate from Let’s Encrypt, FTP accounts, File Manager, and PHP/Python script support at no startup cost.

14. ByetHost

ByetHost is another free hosting option with support for custom domain names on LAMP servers including the Softaculous script installer. At ByetHost, you get five MySQL databases that can be configured through the VistaPanel using PHPmyAdmin and other open-source tools.

ByetHost offers users the choice of hosting on the yoursite.byethost.com subdomain or seven other options. You can add hosting for your own domain names using custom DNS settings.

15. GoogieHost

GoogieHost delivers a free hosting plan with support for a single domain on LiteSpeed servers with 1 GB of SSD storage that does not require a credit card to use. The platform implements server administration using Direct Admin for add-on domains with allocation for a single site.

GoogieHost plans offer free Cloudflare CDN integration, two MySQL databases, two email accounts, two FTP logins, Softaculous, and the Site.pro website builder as part of their platform services.

16. FreeHostingNoAds

FreeHostingNoAds is dedicated to the free hosting model and its signature plan includes support for one hosted domain and three subdomains. You get 1GB of storage, 5GB monthly bandwidth, and one FTP account, email account, and MySQL database.

With script installation on FreeHostingNoAds, you are limited to a choice of WordPress, Joomla, or Grav on the free hosting plan. MySQL database storage is limited to 30MB for all sites.

17. FreeWebHostingArea

FreeWebHostingArea (FreeWHA) is one of the oldest free hosts, providing continual services since 2005. The company supports international domain names with special characters as well as all standard TLDs. You get free MariaDB database options that run well with PHP scripts.

FreeWebHostingArea struggles as an independent brand to maintain community website support through free hosting plans. FreeWHA options like SSD storage are worthwhile, but the company needs to develop better support for SSD certificates on plans in its control panel.

Free web hosting services can include free trial offers, website builder platforms, and shared hosting with custom domain support.

Free trial offers are great to test a web hosting platform before committing to a long-term deal but often require a credit card and identity verification for sign-up.

Website builder solutions like Weebly, Wix, Site.pro, GoDaddy, and Shopify offer free hosting for anyone without the requirement of a credit card, but publishing support is limited to subdomains. Site builders offer pre-made templates and themes that make web design easier.

Types of Free Hosting Plans:

• Limited-time offers: Some companies offer a free trial for one month before sign-up
• Website builders: Template-driven websites for ecommerce or portfolios
• Subdomain hosting: Free accounts are limited to username.subdomain.com only
• Custom domain support: Use custom DNS settings to host your own domains for free

The best free hosting plans will include support for custom domain names with MySQL and PHP runtime environments. There is some variance between the total amount of disk storage, database options, available monthly bandwidth, and other features between free hosting platforms.

Only a few companies offer free hosting with cPanel due to the cost of licensing the software. Similarly, VPS and dedicated server plans are rare to find available under free plans due to the cost.

If you need one of these services, look for free credits on signup at a public cloud host as the best option.

A free web hosting trial normally requires a credit card and identity verification for the purposes of anti-fraud at the major web hosting companies.

You may be required to submit a driver’s license or a copy of your passport to navigate anti-fraud at companies like A2 Hosting, InMotion Hosting, and Liquid Web.

Popular hosting companies like WPX Hosting and the Cloudways free trial offer allow you to test platform services before committing to a long-term contract.

AccuWeb Hosting has a free Windows VPS plan that is available for one month on a free trial deal that is recommended for developers. Most free trial deals are designed for upgrades to paid hosting.

Free Hosting Plans vs. Free Trial Offers

• Credit card required: Most free trial offers require a credit card to sign up.
• Renewal fees: Free hosting plans do not force upgrades to paid services.
• Obligation to upgrade: Site builder plans limit free offers to subdomains.
• Limited resources or support: Look for more storage, databases, and bandwidth.

A web hosting free trial offer is available from public cloud service providers like Digital Ocean or Google Cloud Hosting using free site credits at sign-up. Free trial web hosting at other companies is time-limited to 30 days or less on average.

The free credits from public cloud hosts may be valid for 90 days or one year. Check the term on the credits before they expire.

If you need a Linux VPS plan or exclusive hosting offers like those Google, AWS Free Tier, and Azure offer to developers, the free credits for a hosting trial at public cloud service providers are the best option.

A hosting provider like Lithium Hosting or WPX Hosting may offer a free trial offer comparable to the shared hosting services at industry leaders like InMotion Hosting or A2 Hosting to compete for market share and attract new customers.

Public cloud services like IBM Cloud are not the best web hosting solution for the free tier of products for most users.

A web hosting company is often a major risk of platform security threats from attacks by hackers, spammers, and other malicious script users when operating a multitenant environment.

A free cloud promotion is used to draw in new users who must verify their credit card and identity for the purposes of anti-fraud as web hosting company owners implement “Know Your Customer” (KYC) rules.

A free trial offer of a Virtual Private Server (VPS) hosting plan will usually require a credit card and identity check to verify.

Free trial hosting is designed for the market sector that is seeking managed WordPress, VPS hosting, or shared hosting with unlimited storage and bandwidth from a web hosting service.

By verifying the identity and credit card, the customer is more likely to upgrade to professional services and less likely to be a security risk through hacking or spamming under “zero trust” policy constructs.

Reasons for Credit Card Verification:

• Attackers: The main risk to free web hosting platforms is malicious scripts
• Spam: Many spammers can be eliminated through credit card verification
• ID verification: Requirements for a driver’s license or passport reduce fraud risks

A free VPS plan is difficult to find in the marketplace, especially Windows VPS plans. AccuWeb Hosting is the best of the solutions providers and does not require a credit card for its free trial offer.

The inclusion of unlimited bandwidth on a Windows VPS or Linux VPS plan is also not common. Most free trial web hosting offers for VPS plans will require a credit card and identity verification due to anti-fraud rules implemented by the web hosting company.

Free tier products like website builders and hosting provider platforms do not require a credit card like a hosting trial offer.

Free cloud services and managed WordPress hosting are also more strict for anti-fraud verification by requiring proof of credit card on signup, but this is the best way to find free VPS plans.

Free hosting plans have significantly less allocated resources than VPS options. They are best used for projects with no budget to otherwise support hosting services.

The best free hosting plans have all of the same features as those found with shared hosting with cPanel, which is provided by the top brands in the industry. Because cPanel licensing can cost as much as $15 per month if purchased separately, a free cPanel hosting plan is the best value.

Most free host platforms use their own administration panel or a solution like DirectAdmin.

Free plans with Softaculous allow for over 400 open-source scripts to be installed on MySQL and PHP. Free plans that limit script usage to WordPress, Joomla, and Grav may be a valid alternative.

Top Features to Look for in the Best Free Hosting Plans:

• Support for custom domains: Free hosts offer support for as many as five domains
• Free cPanel license: $15 per month if purchased independently for use on servers
• Multiple database support: Most free hosting plans only provide one MySQL database
• SSD storage: Get the best performance speeds on web server hardware

The best free hosting plans will support custom domain name configurations. Most website builder platforms limit customers on the free tier to subdomain hosting.

While this is still a good deal and a great offer for millions of users, many projects require the use of a custom domain.

When you can support up to 5 domains on a free hosting plan with multiple MySQL database installations, including one-click managed WordPress installs with Softaculous, then it is the best deal on free hosting plans.

Platforms with SSD storage options will perform the best in production in support of ecommerce sites and CMS scripts like WordPress, Joomla, and Grav.

Free hosting services that provide cPanel administration for multiple domain names and SSD storage facilities are a great deal for independent developers. Many web publishers are building niche ecommerce websites on free hosting with shopping cart and store scripts.

Website builders offer the ability to develop keyword-driven campaigns for SEO advertising on blogs.

If you use managed WordPress and free hosting resources with solutions like Google AdSense, it is possible to monetize content in niche publishing.

Personal blogs can also be built on SSG scripts that can be hosted at sites like Netlify, Vercel, and Render with GitHub integration.

Advantages of Free Hosting for Web Development:

• Try something new: Experiment with a new language or application without paying for resources
• Host MySQL and PHP scripts: Run WordPress, Joomla, or Grav CMS on free plans
• Promote your business: Site builder software is easy for beginners to launch sites
• Build SEO campaigns: Use subdomain services to support your main brand identity
• Niche ecommerce solutions: Test the market with small business ecommerce sites

WordPress is the most popular web development script in the world, used on over 40% of all active websites. The ability to procure managed WordPress hosting is possible at free hosts running LAMP servers, although many companies place tight restrictions on database storage use.

If you install many plugins for WordPress, it may quickly exceed the limits of free hosting. Look for offers that include free Cloudflare or other CDN options to save the strain on free hosting resources when running a CMS website.

The ability to install scripts on MySQL and administer the database with phpMyAdmin can build experience in web development.

Most free hosting platforms run on the same technical basis as shared hosting solutions with the exception of free trial offers at public cloud hosts and website builder plans. Most website builders do not require the use of a database.

Shared hosting platforms normally support unlimited domains, websites, databases, email, and FTP accounts.

These are more sharply limited on free plans to encourage the upsell to more expensive subscription products.

In most instances, developers and small business owners will have better options on shared hosting. Free website builder platforms will usually perform better for niche ecommerce publishers.

Varieties of Free Hosting Plans:

• Public cloud hosts: Free credits from AWS, Google Cloud Platform, and Azure Cloud
• Shared hosting platforms: Free hosts compete with trial offers of major brands
• Website builder solutions: Static websites with free themes for ecommerce stores
• Custom domain support: Run your own domains for free with MySQL + PHP scripts

The list of free hosts above does not include free web hosting trial offers or free credits for services from public cloud hosting companies. Free hosting platforms offer a long-term solution for low-budget projects.

They are most suitable for niche ecommerce and blogging sites. Website builder solutions are usually limited by the restriction of custom domain use to paid upgrade plans.

In contrast, free hosting companies provide a database service (MySQL or MariaDB) with PHP runtime that can be installed with WordPress or other CMS scripts.

If Softaculous is offered, there are 400+ open source scripts available for installation on LAMP servers. This allows students and independent developers to gain experience in building websites without any annual or monthly costs for services.

Public cloud credits and free trial offers will convert to paid plans or expire. Free hosting plans that support custom domain configurations are the best deal.

To find free VPS and cloud hosting, rely on free credits on signup at public cloud hosts for the most powerful configurations. Microsoft Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) all offer around $200 in free credits good for the first year on sign-up for a new account.

Digital Ocean also gives a free credit promotion to new customers. If you require cloud or VPS hosting for a nonprofit project, it is possible one of the service providers will donate free hosting to your project under special request.

Otherwise, high-performance hardware is difficult to procure under a free plan by design. You can get a 1-month discount with a free trial on a VPS plan.

Free trial offers allow prospective customers to test a VPS or cloud hosting platform for a limited time in advance of purchase.

When the free trial expires, you need to upgrade or find another solutions provider to continue operations.

Most of these services also require a valid credit card to sign up for and use. That’s why free hosting solutions are primarily based on shared hardware as an upsell tactic for other products and services. Website builder platforms charge extra for custom domain support.

Free host plans require you to upgrade for more storage, bandwidth, or database support. Free trials on cloud and VPS plans are time-limited and will expire upon completion, while free host plans continue year to year without service charges.

Free hosting solutions are the best way for niche publishers to save money on web hosting. Site builder solutions limit free tier users to subdomains but have other advantages for ecommerce and blogging.

Many website builder platforms like Weebly, Wix, and GoDaddy provide hundreds of free themes for independent web development.

Free trial offers generally require a credit card on signup and will automatically convert to paid subscription services unless you cancel the account. Free hosting platforms specialize in no-cost solutions with no credit card required to use and no fixed term limit for expiration.

You can adapt free hosting platforms for single or multisite requirements according to the policies of each company with limits on storage and database installation primarily. For most users, budget hosting plans are better options.

The most popular website builder platforms have 20 to 30 million users. With free hosting solutions, the top brands average 2 to 3 million domains under management.

These statistics show the huge user demand for free hosting solutions in the small business and niche publishing sectors. Many bloggers use WordPress or other CMS scripts with AdSense to monetize their content in keyword advertising campaigns.

Signing up with a free hosting company that supports custom domain usage allows you to get all of your sites published at no cost to maintain over time. Make sure the free web host supports custom domain use.

The lack of requirement for a credit card on free hosting platforms favors adoption by students, nonprofits, and international users.

Site builders with free themes allow beginners to build eCommerce and portfolio sites without ongoing costs to test the market on side ventures.

Website builder and free host resources support brand identity in SEO campaigns for use in sales and marketing networks. Google AdSense, Bing Ads, and other solutions allow niche publishers to monetize blog content with WordPress on free hosting to maximize value.

Once you’ve decided which of these feature is most important to you, choosing the best web hosting company will be easy as pie.

Whatever type of hosting plan you’re looking for, Bluehost is a solid choice no matter the scale. Our reviewer Ryan Frankel recently took Bluehost for a spin, and rated the popular host a 4.7 in the Cheap Hosting category out of a perfect score of 5.0. Here’s what Ryan had to say about Bluehost:

Bluehost has a rock-solid reputation in the shared and WordPress hosting communities, and the host is a long-time favorite of mine. Today, Bluehost powers more than 2 million websites, and the team touts years of experience. With well-maintained servers, competitive pricing, and excellent customer support, Bluehost is hardly a pick you’ll regret.

Before signing up for Bluehost, it’s a good idea to read through Ryan‘s full review to learn about all the features Bluehost offers. You can also compare it to other web hosts to ensure you’re getting the best deal possible:

• Bluehost’s Full Review
• Bluehost: 4.7/5.0 vs. Others
• Bluehost: $2.95/Mo. vs. Others

If you decide Bluehost is the right choice, keep in mind that it takes just minutes to deploy your Bluehost server space. And at $2.95 per month, it’s a bargain considering the many great features that come in any Bluehost plan.