{"id":33567,"date":"2022-01-14T15:00:56","date_gmt":"2022-01-14T14:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/?p=33567"},"modified":"2022-02-02T10:09:43","modified_gmt":"2022-02-02T09:09:43","slug":"pros-and-cons-of-free-wordpress-hosting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/pros-and-cons-of-free-wordpress-hosting\/","title":{"rendered":"Pros and Cons of Free WordPress Hosting"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"wpb-content-wrapper\"><p>[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Whether you\u2019re using it to create a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-create-a-small-business-website-using-wordpress\/\">business website<\/a>, a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-set-up-a-wordpress-blog\/\">blog<\/a>, or a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/theme-category\/portfolio-wordpress-themes\/\">portfolio<\/a>, WordPress is a great content management system that comes with a plethora of customization options. It\u2019s completely free to use, too \u2013 core WordPress software is open source and readily available to be used for all your projects. There\u2019s just the small issue of taking care of hosting.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Hosting is where costs come into play, as you\u2019ll have to pay a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/how-to-choose-wordpress-hosting-provider\/\">hosting provider<\/a> to take care of it for you. The two ways around paying a hosting provider are to run your own server, which also requires an investment, and to use free WordPress hosting.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]We\u2019ll discuss the second option \u2013 free WordPress hosting \u2013 in this article. The topics we\u2019ll cover include:[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;22px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#pros\">Pros of Free Hosting<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#cons\">Cons of Free Hosting<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;5px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item qodef-toc\">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><a href=\"#tips-for-choosing-hosting\">Tips for Choosing Free WordPress Hosting<\/a><\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][vc_widget_sidebar sidebar_id=&#8221;new-top-picks-banner&#8221;][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;80px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"pros\"><\/a>Pros of Free Hosting<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pros-of-Free-Hosting.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Pros of Free Hosting\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pros-of-Free-Hosting.png 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pros-of-Free-Hosting-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pros-of-Free-Hosting-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Pros-of-Free-Hosting-620x355.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]First, let\u2019s explore some of the things that make free WordPress hosting a solid choice. Even though it has a bad rap, there has to be some upside to free hosting, right? Let\u2019s see how many we can find. [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">It\u2019s Free!<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Starting with the most obvious, and the most important, pro of free hosting \u2013 <strong>you don\u2019t have to pay a dime for it<\/strong>. While it\u2019s certainly possible to find paid hosting at very low prices, nothing beats knowing that you\u2019ll never have to pay anything to have the website up.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]Take a moment to appreciate just how important having access to free hosting can be. <strong>You can use your website to learn about WordPress, blogging, or affiliate marketing \u2013 free of cost<\/strong>. It can be a tool you can use to lift yourself from poverty, a tool for learning and experimenting.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>Free WordPress hosting can be your first step on a road to a career in marketing, web design, programming, or entrepreneurship<\/strong>. If this would be the only benefit of free hosting, it would be enough to justify its existence.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Access to a Variety of Services and Features<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]When you compare a couple of free WordPress hosting providers and their offers, <strong>you\u2019ll quickly realize that you\u2019re looking at a surprisingly wide scope of services that are on offer<\/strong>. You\u2019ll find that you can create email accounts, have many MySQL databases, support for SSL certificates, and access many other important features and services.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>The presence of some services and features in a free hosting offer might shock you<\/strong>. Some providers will offer access to live human support. Others might provide you with full server access. Need a <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/what-is-a-cdn\/\">content delivery network<\/a>? Some hosts will provide access to it for free.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Reputable Service Providers<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Contrary to what you might hear,<strong> free WordPress hosting providers aren\u2019t sketchy businesses that pop up overnight and offer you free hosting so they can steal your content or whatever<\/strong>. At least not all of them are.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You\u2019ll find plenty of reputable hosting service providers who have a free plan under their name, like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.accuwebhosting.com\/web-hosting\/free-wordpress-hosting\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">AccuWeb Hosting<\/a> does. Some offer free hosting through a sibling brand that\u2019s used specifically for free hosting, like Hostinger does through <a href=\"https:\/\/www.000webhost.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">000webhost<\/a>. <strong>While it would be impossible to claim you won\u2019t come across any nefarious actors among free hosting service providers, you can rest assured that they won\u2019t be all you come across<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Possibility to Upgrade<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<strong>One of the reasons why reputable hosting service providers might choose to offer hosting services for free could be because they want to upsell you a hosting package later on, as the need arises<\/strong>. Offering services for free can be a marketing model, but it\u2019s one where you get an added benefit, too.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]When your website\u2019s needs surpass whatever the hosting provider is offering for free, the question of transferring your website to another host will come about. <strong>However, if you have a good host and they have paid plans to offer you, transferring your website might be either unnecessary or managed by them if you choose to simply upgrade to a paid service<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"cons\"><\/a>Cons of Free Hosting<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Cons-of-Free-Hosting.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Cons of Free Hosting\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Cons-of-Free-Hosting.png 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Cons-of-Free-Hosting-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Cons-of-Free-Hosting-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Cons-of-Free-Hosting-620x355.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]See how free WordPress hosting doesn\u2019t sound half that bad when you focus on the pros? <strong>Unfortunately, we have to look at the cons, too, and when it comes to free hosting, it\u2019s easy to notice that the cons tend to outweigh the pros<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Hard to Find a Comprehensive Offer<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]We\u2019ve mentioned that you can have access to a variety of services and features with free hosting, so much so that you can almost find anything you\u2019d expect to get from paid hosting. While that\u2019s technically true, an important caveat applies \u2013 <strong>you probably won\u2019t get all those services in a single provider<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you were able to mix services from different providers, you\u2019d surely come up with something that would match any premium provider. <strong>You can\u2019t, however, so you\u2019ll have to identify the services and features you can live without<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Likely to Suffer from All Kinds of Resource Limitations<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Not being able to find free hosting that offers the same features as premium hosting is one thing. <strong>The resource and features limitation that are commonly implemented by free WordPress hosting providers is a completely different thing<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>Any resource your website needs that comes across your mind can be rationed or limited \u2013 bandwidth, disk space, number of visitors, processing power, memory<\/strong>. Sure, premium hosting providers might limit those resources, too. They might not, however, limit the number of subdomains or subdirectories you can create. They surely won\u2019t limit the number of pages your website can have.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Geographic Availability<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Geography comes into play with free hosting in a couple of ways. T<strong>he service, for example, might be available only to residents from a specific country or region<\/strong>. Seeing how countries have different laws regarding services, property, and the internet, it makes sense that there will be some geographic restrictions to services.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]You probably won\u2019t be able to choose where the server is located, either. <strong>Once again, this might put your website under a jurisdiction where you don\u2019t want it to be and without any way to change it to a different location while staying with the same service provider<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;72px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"qodef-h5\">Compensation Plans Might Involve Ad Placement<\/h3>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]Finally, you should be aware that service providers need to calculate the free hosting into their business plans and still come out on top. <strong>Sometimes, they do that through upselling different kinds of services or features, or simply attracting paying customers by offering them freebies to start with<\/strong>.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]<strong>In some cases, however, hosts will place ads on your website and use the ad revenue to remain profitable<\/strong>. If you\u2019re not willing to display ads on your website, especially ads you have no control over, you should make sure that the service provider you choose doesn\u2019t use them in their business model.[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;68px&#8221;][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"qodef-h4\"><a id=\"tips-for-choosing-hosting\"><\/a>Tips for Choosing Free WordPress Hosting<\/h2>\n<p>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;21px&#8221;]<div class=\"qodef-single-image-holder    \">\n    <div class=\"qodef-si-inner\" >\n                                    <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"970\" height=\"555\" src=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Tips-for-Choosing-Free-WordPress-Hosting.png\" class=\"attachment-full size-full\" alt=\"Tips for Choosing Free WordPress Hosting\" srcset=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Tips-for-Choosing-Free-WordPress-Hosting.png 970w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Tips-for-Choosing-Free-WordPress-Hosting-300x172.png 300w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Tips-for-Choosing-Free-WordPress-Hosting-768x439.png 768w, https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/Tips-for-Choosing-Free-WordPress-Hosting-620x355.png 620w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 970px) 100vw, 970px\" \/>                        <\/div>\n<\/div>[vc_empty_space height=&#8221;38px&#8221;][vc_column_text]So there you have it \u2013 the good and the bad of <a href=\"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/is-wordpress-free\/\">free WordPress hosting<\/a>. <strong>As you can see, this might be a great option for someone who doesn\u2019t have much money to spend on a website but also doesn\u2019t expect to have top-notch services in return. <\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;28px&#8221;][vc_column_text]If you\u2019re thinking about using free WordPress hosting for your website, here are a couple of things you should do: [\/vc_column_text][vc_empty_space height=&#8221;23px&#8221;]<ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item \">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Carefully consider whether your circumstances allow you to use free hosting<\/strong> \u2013 if your website is business-critical or important in another way, opt against free hosting.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item \">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Check any Terms of Use, Privacy Policy, or other legal agreements<\/strong> &#8211; be on the lookout for any kind of language that declares you forfeit your right to your website or your content.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item \">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Shop around even if you\u2019re choosing free WordPress hosting<\/strong> \u2013 get the best mix of features from the best service provider you can access in your area.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul><ul class=\"qodef-unordered-list-item \">\n    <li>\n\t        <div class=\"qodef-ul-title-holder\">\n            <span class=\"qodef-ul-title-content\"><strong>Think about any future use you might have for the website<\/strong> \u2013 choose a provider that makes upgrading or migrating the website easy.<\/span>        <\/div>\n            <\/li>\n<\/ul>[vc_column_text]<strong>The final tip would be, whatever free WordPress hosting provider you choose, always make regular backups of your website<\/strong>. Other than that, try not to forget that having a website can be exciting \u2013 have some fun with it![\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Considering to use free WordPress hosting for your website? We&#8217;ll point out the pros and cons to you, and help you make the choice. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9295,"featured_media":33581,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[59,4,13],"class_list":["post-33567","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-resources","tag-hosting","tag-tips","tag-wordpress"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/33581"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/qodeinteractive.com\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}