Writer: Sean Garrity
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Christina Lewis
Instead of worrying about accidentally being charged if you forget to cancel, the best free hosting services with no credit card requirement give you a stress-free space to explore new platforms.
Although free hosting platforms lack some essential features of paid hosting plans, they are an important resource for low-budget projects. I’ll help you weigh the options for free vs. paid web hosting services and recommend the best hosts with no credit card required.
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Free Hosting Services With No Credit Card
If you’re anything like me, you can’t stand “free” offers that require your credit card information. What’s more annoying than a bait-and-switch? To help you avoid falling into this trap, I’ve compiled several of my favorite free web hosts that don’t require a credit card.
1. WordPress.com
- Start with 1 GB of storage space
- Unlimited pages, posts, users, and visitors
- Jetpack essential features
- Dozens of designs and drag-and-drop layouts
- Automatic updates and spam protection
- Get started on WordPress.com now »
CHEAP
RATING
Free hosting plans at WordPress.com include managed hosting for the CMS from Automattic with Jetpack, an SSL certificate, and 1 GB of storage space. You get dozens of free themes for WordPress, but you can’t install third-party plugins.
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 $4 per month.
2. Wix.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- Start designing for FREE
- FREE domain with most plans
- Drag-and-drop templates, specific to industry
- Exhaustive knowledgebase of articles
- Huge app market available
- Get started on Wix now.
Wix is known as a web-leading site builder service that’s one of the most affordable — because getting started is absolutely free and about as easy as processes get. You can log in via Facebook or your Gmail account and be editing your new web property within minutes. 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 |
Wix is a website builder solution that offers free hosting with 500 MB storage and 1 GB 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.
The company provides niche web publishers with more than 500 free themes to build blogs and eCommerce sites for small businesses. With so many themes, you’re sure to find one that fits your vision.
3. Weebly.com
Monthly Starting Price $0.00
- All-in-one hosting and drag-and-drop builder
- Start designing for FREE, upgrade whenever
- Easily build a blog, personal site, or online store
- 100s of FREE templates for websites
- $100 credit toward Google advertising
- Get started on Weebly now.
Weebly is a well-known name in the cheap shared hosting space — not necessarily due to competitive pricing but because several of the web’s leading low-cost hosting providers have opted to include Weebly software for free, adding value to their existing offerings. It’s worth noting Weebly does offer a free plan, but websites are found on a Weebly subdomain and display Weebly advertising. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 500 MB – Unlimited | FREE (w/ paid plans) | 3 minutes |
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, a form builder, free templates, an image editor, fonts, an HD video player, and a mobile app script as potential add-on options for your store.
4. 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.
5. 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.
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.
6. 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 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.
7. AwardSpace
AwardSpace is another popular option for free hosting with the use of your own domain. The Free Hosting plan at AwardSpace includes 1 GB storage, 5 GB 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.
8. FreeHostia
FreeHostia provides one of the most generous free hosting plans. Its 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.
9. 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.
10. FreeHostingNoAds
FreeHostingNoAds is dedicated to the free hosting model, and its signature plan includes support for one hosted domain and three subdomains. You get 1 GB of storage, 5 GB 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.
Free Trials With No Credit Card
Let’s say you’re not impressed with the features and functionality of 100% free hosts, but you aren’t quite ready to commit to a paid plan either. That’s where free trials come in handy. These are some of my favorite companies that let you try their platforms risk-free without entering your credit card details.
11. 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 |
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 its platform.
Cloudways only needs to verify your account through email to get started and clearly display what your monthly or hourly costs will be after the trial ends. You can choose from several major cloud providers, including AWS, Linode, Vultr, Google Cloud, and Digital Ocean.
12. 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 |
GoDaddy’s website builder platform is a great place to start if you need a free trial with no credit card required. The website builder has hundreds of free website themes available. It also includes marketing tools and PayPal for eCommerce.
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.
Best Cheap Hosting — Plans Starting at $1.99/Month
Although free hosting sounds great to most people, these platforms have performance limitations that make paid hosting plans a more professional option. Low-cost, budget-friendly hosts can offer much more in a web hosting package than free hosts. Here are my top recommendations:
13. Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- Cheap shared hosting from a trusted provider
- Ideal for hosting a WordPress website
- FREE Weebly website builder and Cloudflare CDN
- Unlimited traffic and 24/7 live chat support
- Get 75% off today with our Bluehost coupon
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Bluehost pricing is about as competitive as the industry offers. Sign up for a shared hosting plan for as little as $1.99 per month, and WordPress hosting packages are consistently priced; a VPS plan starts at around $46.99 per month; and the dedicated hosting rates are as little as $141.19 per month. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 100 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 5 minutes |
Bluehost sets the standard for shared web hosting 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.
Bluehost’s lowest-cost plan supports one website with 10 GB of SSD storage. It’s a cost-effective alternative to free hosting platforms and will outperform any free hosting option.
The plan includes a free domain name and unlimited add-on domains, with support for unlimited email, FTP accounts, and MySQL databases. Plus, you can access over 400 free, open-source scripts for one-click installation with Softaculous.
14. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.69
- Unlimited everything, from storage to databases
- FREE site builder & WP performance upgrades
- FREE daily or weekly backups
- Custom control panel and auto-installation scripts
- SSH access & unlimited FREE SSL certificates
- Get started on Hostinger now.
As the shared hosting market becomes increasingly saturated, unlimited storage, bandwidth, and email accounts have become surprisingly average. Hostinger, however, extends the routine, expected metrics to greater lengths — the number of websites, databases, FTP users, subdomains, and parked domains are all unrestricted for most customers. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB SSD – 100 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
Hostinger is one of the lowest cost of the budget hosting options, with unlimited plans starting at $2.69 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 pass its savings onto you.
The most affordable plan from Hostinger supports one website with 25 GB of SSD storage and a free SSL certificate.
Hostinger will accept credit cards, PayPal, Google Pay, or cryptocurrencies for payment on signup for a new account.
I regularly recommend Hostinger as one of the cheapest shared hosting plans. The inclusion of fast SSD storage, a free domain, and an SSL certificate complete the package for affordable online publishing.
You can lock into a four-year contract at Hostinger for the lowest long-term prices in the industry.
15. HostGator.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.29
- Host up to unlimited websites on a single plan
- FREE SSL certificate included on all plans
- Unlimited bandwidth & email addresses
- 1-click WordPress installs & FREE blog tools
- Get 77% OFF by buying 36 months upfront
- Get started on HostGator now.
HostGator is a great compromise between performance and price. The company offers unlimited emails, MySQL databases, disk space, and bandwidth, plus one-click installs of popular open-source projects, in addition to a 99. Go to full review »
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
I can’t recommend HostGator enough because it offers 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 most.
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.
See More Cheap Hosting Plans >>
What Is Free Hosting?
Free web hosting services can include free trial offers, website builder platforms, and shared hosting with custom domain support.
Free trial offers are great for testing a web hosting platform before committing to a long-term deal, but they often require a credit card and identity verification to sign up.
Website builder solutions like Weebly, Wix, and GoDaddy 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, the best option is to look for free credits when signing up for a public cloud host.
Who Should Use Free Hosting?
Free hosting is great for some, but not for others. It doesn’t come with a custom domain name and is generally very limited in developer tools — a big drawback for businesses. However, it does have its merits.
Pros
- No cost
- Easy to set up
- No commitment
Cons
- Strict resource limitations
- No custom domain name
- Lack of customer support
- No advanced developer tools
I only recommend free hosting for non-business uses, such as personal blogs, students, and nonprofit projects for volunteer groups.
Professional users and developers are better off choosing a cheap shared hosting plan if budget is a concern.
How Is A Free Trial Different From Free Hosting?
A free web hosting trial normally requires a credit card and identity verification to prevent fraud at 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 Cloudways and GoDaddy allow you to test platform services before committing to a long-term contract.
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: Free plans don’t have as much storage, databases, and bandwidth as free trial offers.
Why Do Some Providers Require Credit Cards With Free Hosting?
A lot of web hosting providers use credit card information to verify your identity and make sure you’re not up to no good. You see, some hackers and scammers will sign up for free web hosting plans to conduct their nefarious deeds, and requiring credit card info is a good deterrent.
In addition, by verifying their identity and credit card, real customers are more likely to upgrade to professional services and are 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
Free-tier products such as website builders do not require a credit card like most free hosting trials do.
How Do I Choose the Best Free Hosting Plan?
When you’re choosing a free hosting plan, take a look at the fine print. The web host may place ads on your site and will certainly restrict your storage and bandwidth allowance.
I like to pay special attention to how much storage I get (at least 1 GB) and whether or not it comes with a subdomain. To me, these are essential.
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
After you narrow down your selection, check out user reviews online. I recommend searching Reddit for real, firsthand experiences.
Why Should I Choose Free Hosting Services?
While it doesn’t compare to paid hosting for professional use, free hosting has its merits, particularly for independent developers.
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
If any of these uses resonate with you, it’s worth exploring free hosting.
Is All Free Hosting Run on Shared Hosting Platforms?
Most free hosting plans are run on shared servers. I’ve never seen a 100% free virtual private server in my life — if you do, it’s probably a scam.
The exception to this rule is public cloud providers that offer limited free credits upon signup, like AWS and GCP, for example. Cloudways’ 3-day free trial is also a good example of temporary free cloud hosting.
Save Cash With Free Hosting Service Providers
Free hosting solutions are the best way 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, making the design process easy.
Once you’ve decided what features are most important to you, choosing the best web hosting company will be easy as pie.
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