Writer: Laura Bernheim
Editor: Lillian Castro
Reviewer: Christina Lewis
Web hosting free trials are like those wonderful trips to the grocery store when you get to snack on free samples. Whether you’re wandering a giant warehouse store or a local shop, small bites give you a taste of the delectable flavors you could enjoy for a small fee.
Once you get your fill, you’re more likely to leave with a few tasty purchases. The same concept is at play in web hosting — free trials and introductory periods enable site owners to test a provider’s network, infrastructure, and customer support to make sure the host is a good fit to run their online presence.
Although some hosts offer more flexible month-to-month plans, they tend to be the most expensive. Here are the best risk-free hosting trials to consider whenever you find yourself in the market for a new host.
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Best Web Hosting Free Trials
Not all free trials are created equally. Some require your payment info, some don’t. Many hosts say they don’t offer free trials, but you can host your site with them for free as long as you request a refund during their lengthy money-back guarantees.
Here, you can score anything from 30 days of free cloud hosting with customized infrastructure configurations to 14 days of a drag-and-drop website builder with the world’s most popular (and incredibly user-friendly) design tools.
Let’s start off with the hosts with the best computing resources and web development tools. Sure, you’ll need to supply your credit card information — but you won’t be charged.
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.
Laura Bernheim
| 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.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-day FREE trial | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | New or Transfer | 8 minutes |
3. Wix.com
Monthly Starting Price $17.00
- Start designing FREE for 14 days
- 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.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14-day FREE trial | 2 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Free trials aren’t exactly common in the web hosting world, so these companies are true gems. Cloudways’ three-day free trial isn’t particularly long, but it should be enough time to test the waters.
Similarly, Wix’s 14-day free trial gives you a little more time to try the interface and design your website with its drag-and-drop editor.
It’s clear Kamatera’s 30-day free trial steals the show. It’s not common to get 30 days of free access to a cloud-based web server, but this host makes it possible.
As long as your server customizations cost less than $100, you can take advantage of this offer. Check out our full review of Kamatera to learn more.
Best Free Trials With No Credit Card Required
In the world of web hosting, free trials are largely broken down into two categories: those that don’t require a credit card or other payment information to get started, and those that do.
We’ll call that latter category “risk-free trials” because, while you’ll have to pony up some money up front, you’ll have at least 30 days to test the hosting services and request a full refund.
Free trials are an age-old tactic for businesses to attract new customers — but they don’t always work.
Certain types of businesses, especially those with offline, in-person presences, are predisposed to more success with truly free trials, while online companies that rely on recurring billing and payments typically require prospective customers to enter their credit card information when getting started.
The truly free trials that don’t require payment information are, of course, more appealing to customers. How many times have you typed in your credit card info to take advantage of an appealing introductory period, only to forget to cancel your account within the allotted time and get charged anyway?
Truly free trials that don’t require payment information can be rather hard to find. We’ll dive into the deep pool of risk-free trials and money-back guarantees in a bit, but here are some of the best free trials we’ve uncovered — from big names like GoDaddy, WordPress, Shopify, and others — that don’t require your credit card number.
- WordPress.com — Publish for free on a WordPress subdomain
- GoDaddy (Website Builder) — Publish for free on a GoDaddy subdomain
- Flywheel (Managed WordPress) — Free for 14 days
- Weebly (Website Builder) — Publish for free on a Weebly subdomain
- Shopify (Ecommerce) — Free for 14 days
- Volusion (Ecommerce) — Free for 14 days
- AccuWebHosting (Windows) — Free for 90 days
- AccuWebHosting (Windows VPS) — Free for 30 days
Taking advantage of free subdomains or limited plans is a great way to test your host, as is the case with Weebly and WordPress.
Upgrading to a premium plan with these hosting providers usually comes with a money-back guarantee, further extending your trial period. Look here for more free web hosting options.
Best Cheap Hosting Free Trials (With Money-Back Guarantees)
And so begins our tour of the best free trials that require credit card information. First off, don’t fret about having to fight to get your refund — the web hosts we list in this article are trusted companies that honor their money-back guarantees and process refunds promptly, with no questions asked.
Worst-case scenario, you get your money back (minus any setup fees or domain registrations) and get to look for another hosting trial; best case, you don’t have to lift a finger to move into a more permanent, reliable, and well-supported hosting experience once the trial expires.
Plus, the vast majority of hosts will prorate your refund if you choose to leave after the money-back guarantee.
In shared hosting packages, the free domain registration is nearly as ubiquitous as the 30-day money-back guarantee. And it makes sense — if you need hosting, you’re probably looking to start a website and will need a domain name anyway. If you already have a domain, this perk typically covers a hassle-free (and cost-free) domain transfer.
However, buyer beware: if you register a free domain name and cancel your plan, the host will deduct the cost of a domain from your refund. You will still own that domain name, though, so you’ll be able to use it with your next risk-free hosting trial.
We’ve listed our three favorite shared hosting free trials that offer affordable long-term plans, a free domain registration, and excellent domain management tools below:
4. 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.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB SSD – 100 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 3 minutes |
5. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.00
- $1/month for 12 months
- No hidden fees, pay just $12 at checkout
- Easy setup and 24/7 expert support
- FREE domain or transfer, plus FREE SSL certificate
- Unlimited storage and databases with most plans
- Get started on IONOS now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
6. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $1.99
- Free Cloudflare CDN and SSD speed boost
- Optimized caching and 1-click installs
- Unlimited email, domains, and databases
- Advanced security and free HackScan
- 24/7 support via phone, chat & tickets
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – Unlimited SSD | New or Transfer | 4 minutes |
You may find that purchasing a cheap hosting plan is worth the cost. After all, an entry-level shared hosting plan rarely costs more than $5 per month.
If you didn’t find what you were looking for from one of the above hosts, don’t stress it. Plenty of cheap shared hosting providers offer a 30-day money-back guarantee. Check out some of our favorites here.
Best WordPress Hosting Free Trials — 30-Day Refund Policy
WordPress aficionados of all shapes and sizes have tons of great options to sample in the hosting world — which is good, considering WordPress-specific hosting can vary wildly from one provider to the next.
Some plans simply offer the generic one-click installation of the ultra-popular content management system, while others have engineered powerful cloud-powered environments built for speed and scalability.
Given that WordPress is the platform of choice for 43% of the internet, attracting customers is a highly profitable and highly competitive venture. With 14% of products seeing a free-to-paid conversion rate of more than 20%, free trials of all shapes and sizes seem to be a worthwhile tool for hosting providers.
Most WordPress users will be best served with one of these next three options, which balance WordPress performance with customer-friendly pricing formats.
7. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.69
- Officially endorsed by WordPress.org
- Managed WordPress hosting & free site migration
- 1-click WP install, PHP 7+, HTTP/2, and LiteSpeed
- All-in-one security protections from BitNinja
- No price markup for WordPress services
- Daily backups, FREE SSL certificates, and AI Tools
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB SSD – 200 GB NVMe | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
8. SiteGround.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- WordPress performance optimizations
- FREE migration plugin or automated installation
- Pre-installed Git, 3 caching levels, and FREE CDN
- FREE WP setup wizard, staging, and auto-updates
- Fast, 24/7 support via custom chat system
- Get started on SiteGround now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 Year) | 6 minutes |
9. DreamHost.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.59
- WordPress hosting for up to unlimited sites
- FREE WordPress website migration
- Fully managed hosting with DreamPress plan
- NEW WordPress website builder tool
- Built-in traffic analytics and business advisor
- Get started on DreamHost now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 97 days | Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Premium WordPress customers looking for managed hosting, more computing resources, and services tailored more specifically to businesses, developers, and web agencies, may prefer to look at these three options for free-trial web hosting with WordPress.
SiteGround appeals to beginners and experienced WordPress users with a 30-day trial period of plans with tons of optimized features and top-notch customer support.
Flywheel offers a truly free trial by allowing potential customers to spin up a demo site and only pay once they’re ready to publish. WP Engine offers much longer money-back guarantee periods than the industry average, at 60 days.
10. SiteGround.com
Monthly Starting Price $2.99
- Managed services for all WordPress plans
- In-house-built technologies for speed and support
- WordPress kept up to date with automatic backups
- Easily test and deploy changes via staging area
- 3 levels of caching for optimal performance
- Get started on SiteGround now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB SSD – 40 GB SSD | FREE (1 Year) | 6 minutes |
11. Flywheel.com
Monthly Starting Price $13.00
- High-touch managed WordPress hosting
- FREE speed boost via built-in CDN and custom FlyCache technology
- One-click sandbox environment for staging
- In-house WP expertise and support available 24/7
- FREE 14-day demo site
- Get started on Flywheel now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 days | 5 GB – 50 GB | N/A | 4 minutes |
12. WPEngine.com
Monthly Starting Price $10.00
- Premium WP hosting with unlimited data transfer
- Proprietary caching ekes out extra performance
- FREE Genesis framework and StudioPress themes
- Automatic backups with 1-click restore
- 20% discount for HostingAdvice readers
- Get started on WP Engine now.
Ryan Frankel
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 days | 10 GB – 50 GB | New or Transfer | 6 minutes |
There’s no shortage of WordPress hosts — managed or unmanaged — on the market. Check out our favorite WordPress hosts here.
Best Windows Hosting Free Trials (With Money-Back Guarantee)
Even for beginners who probably don’t know the difference, web hosting is naturally predisposed to Unix-flavored operating systems.
The open-source operating system powers almost 85% of all sites online, often under Linux, Fedora, Debian, CentOS, and Ubuntu branding. Linux-based operating systems are typically easier and more cost-efficient for hosting providers to run because the licensing fees are much smaller.
Developers and organizations who rely on programming languages such as ASP.NET or C++, however, need to use servers running the Windows operating system to run effectively and at peak performance. These services are typically a few dollars per month more expensive than their Linux counterparts, making a free trial all the more valuable.
We’ve already told you about AccuWebHosting’s free trial for Windows shared hosting and their option for free Windows VPS hosting, so here are three other options from well-known hosts that rely on risk-free money-back guarantees.
13. InterServer.net
Monthly Starting Price $8.00
- ASP.NET, ASP, MSSQL, Silverlight, and MVC6
- FREE RAID-10 storage and SSD caching servers
- Unlimited storage, transfer, and email
- Automated weekly backups and FREE CDN
- NO contracts and price is guaranteed for life
- Get started on InterServer now.
Laura Bernheim
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | Unlimited SSD | New or Transfer | 4 minutes |
14. GoDaddy.com
Monthly Starting Price $17.99
- Windows Server with 24/7 security monitoring
- Recommended for ASP.NET, ASP, and SQL users
- Unlimited MySQL or MS SQL databases
- 1-click installs for 50+ FREE apps
- FREE domain from the world’s top registrar
- Get started on GoDaddy now.
Ryan Frankel
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 25 GB – 100 GB | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
15. IONOS.com
Monthly Starting Price $6.00
- Performant hosting on Windows Server 2022
- Support for ASP.NET 4.8 & .NET 8.0
- FREE professional email included
- DDoS protection and free SSL certificates
- Cloudflare CDN
- Get started on IONOS now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Money Back Guarantee | Disk Space | Domain Name | Setup Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 30 days | 10 GB – Unlimited | FREE (1 year) | 4 minutes |
Windows users will be pleased to know our web hosting experts have tested and reviewed 2025‘s best Windows hosting plans. Take a look at our latest recommendations.
Best VPS Hosting Free Trials (With 30+ Days to Request a Refund)
A virtual private server, or VPS, offers site owners a sweet spot between crowded shared hosting and high-powered (and super expensive) dedicated servers. The added resources and flexibility are extra appealing to developers, agencies, and small businesses that require high availability, fast page loads, and room to grow.
Even more so than free shared hosting services, though, companies offering free VPS hosting are largely considered scams.
You know the saying, “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is”? Meet free VPS plans. Services are promised and rarely delivered as the companies dangle free VPS plans while requiring you to refer the company to others, click on ads, and enter personal data the companies can later resell.
For VPS solutions, you’ll be much better served by signing up for a free trial with a trusted host. Sure, you’ll have to enter your credit card number (usually — don’t forget AccuWebHosting’s free trial for Windows VPS), but the hosts below give you ample time to request a refund or cancel service without paying an arm and a leg.
16. Hostinger.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.49
- NVMe SSD storage and 1GB network speed
- Automatic weekly backups and Kodee AI assistant
- FREE dedicated IPv4 and IPv6 addresses
- Custom control panel for reboots and OS installs
- 1-click operating system template and API access
- HostingAdvice readers enjoy more than 50% off
- Get started on Hostinger now.
Laura Bernheim
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 50 GB NVMe – 400 GB NVMe | 1 – 8 cores | 4 GB – 32 GB |
17. InterServer.net
Monthly Starting Price $3.00
- $0.01 for the first month using code HOSTINGADV
- Then $6 monthly with no contracts, no changes
- Latest of PHP, MySQL, Perl, Python, and Ruby
- 7 operating system options for Linux or Windows
- Full root access and choice of datacenter
- Get started on InterServer now.
Laura Bernheim
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 minutes | 30 GB SSD – 480 GB SSD | 1 – 16 CPUs | 2 – 32 GB |
18. Kamatera.com
Monthly Starting Price $4.00
- Cloud VPS that’s more flexible and affordable
- Load balancer, firewall, and managed services
- Premium Intel CPUs with 300% more power
- Choose between monthly or hourly billing
- Sign up today for a 30-day FREE trial
- Get started on Kamatera now.
Laura Bernheim
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 minutes | 20 GB SSD – 4 TB SSD | 1 – 32 cores | 1 GB – 128 GB |
We feel pretty confident you’ll like one of the above virtual private servers, but if you’re not sold, you can take a peek at these instead.
Best Dedicated Server Hosting Trials With Money-Back Guarantees
Free trials at web hosting’s top echelon can be quite challenging. Configuring and deploying a dedicated server often requires a lot of individualized, manual attention from the hosting provider, even with their highly automated systems.
Orders for dedicated servers often come with high degrees of customizations, meaning hosts understandably don’t want to do all the setup only to take it all down a few weeks later.
Plus, dedicated hosting is usually a more permanent solution when compared to shared or cloud services — you’re looking for top-notch power, reliability, and room to grow.
However, cautious site admins and business owners may want to make sure the specific hardware performs as advertised and is worth the larger budgetary investment. Here are three companies with the resources and processes in place to support free trials and money-back guarantees on dedicated servers:
19. A2Hosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $130.00
- Root access and 3 levels of server management
- Expertly managed servers deployed instantly
- Choose from 4 datacenters across 3 continents
- FREE redundant SSD storage in RAID-1 arrays
- Choice of 13 Linux operating systems
- Get started on A2 Hosting now.
Alexandra Anderson
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 1 TB SSD (RAID-1) | 4 – 16 cores | 16 GB – 256 GB |
20. Bluehost.com
Monthly Starting Price $141.19
- Instant provisioning for all Bluehost server plans
- Minimum 3 dedicated IP addresses
- Modern hardware, built and maintained in house
- 24/7 expedited support from a dedicated team
- Sign up to save 25% on your first term
- Get started on Bluehost now.
Ryan Frankel
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 8 minutes | 500 GB – 1 TB (RAID-1) | 4 cores, 4 – 8 threads | 4 GB – 16 GB |
21. InMotionHosting.com
Monthly Starting Price $35.00
- Bare-metal or managed servers available
- 1-on-1 time with a server administrator
- 99.99% uptime via Smart Routing™ technology
- Tier 1 network with redundant bandwidth
- SSH root access and DDoS protection on all servers
- Upgrade for cPanel, migration, and auto backups
- Get started on InMotion now.
PJ Fancher
| Setup Time | Disk Space | CPU | RAM |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7 minutes | 1 TB SSD – 3.2 TB SSD | 12 – 32 cores | 192 GB DDR4 – 512 GB DDR4 |
If one of the above providers doesn’t suit you but you still want a low-risk option to try a dedicated server, consider IONOS. It offers some of the cheapest dedicated hardware available, with plans starting for $48.00 per month.
What Is Web Hosting?
Let’s say you’ve designed a website, built it from scratch, and did hours of quality assurance testing before the official launch. The day of the big launch, you’re ready to publish and you suddenly realize you didn’t buy a hosting plan — oops! Hey, don’t feel bad. It happens to the best of us.
But without web hosting, people simply can’t visit your website. All your hard work is essentially useless without a server to host your website on.
At its core, web hosting is when you rent space on a server for your website to live. It lets people from all over the world visit your site.
There are a ton of different kinds of web hosting plans that appeal to beginner bloggers and enterprises alike. Finding the right one for your site may take some searching, but with the options I’ve laid out above, you can at least take advantage of a free trial before you commit to a plan.
Test the Hosting Waters With Risk-Free Money-Back Guarantees
From Bing Crosby to Janet Jackson, crooners around the world have sung about how “the best things in life are free.” While that may not hold true for long-term web hosting solutions, free trials and leveraging money-back guarantees are the best way to ensure your hosting happiness.
Don’t let supplying your credit card number at signup deter you from trying out hosts that don’t offer truly free trials. Companies like InMotion Hosting and DreamHost give customers a full three months to inspect and test every feature of their service and still be able to request a full refund.
Free trials are a great way to open your mind to new companies and products — but please be wary shoppers and remain vigilant to any potential scams or shady upsells.
Although the hosting providers we’ve highlighted here are highly regarded and well-respected industry veterans, smaller and sometimes international hosts aren’t as upfront about the conditions of their free trial. The Federal Trade Commission lays out the steps you can take to protect yourself.
All that said, however, happening onto a free trial that exposes you to a company or product that helps your company or online presence scale quickly and easily is a score that’s tough to beat. You’ll certainly want to shop around for the best options — just like with the free food samples at the grocery store.
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