Free vs Paid Website Hosting: Should You Really Pay For It?

If you're just getting started on your online journey and don't have any previous experience, any expense can be daunting. At the same time, nothing sounds sweeter than the word free.

The internet is filled with companies offering free website hosting. While most of them are typically unproven services, the allure of saving 100% of your hosting bill can be hard to resist.

So in this post, we're finally going to settle the question of whether you should pay for hosting or enjoy a free ride.

The Harsh Truth About Free Hosting

Technically speaking, it's very much possible for you to create a website without so much as spending a cent, or should we say centavo!

However, just because you can do something for free, it doesn't mean that you should. Unfortunately, free hosting is free for a reason: when you're not paying for a product, you are the product.

Sadly, that's the case with free hosting too. Here are some ways a host may make a profit while promising you a free service:

• Advertisements: Some free hosting companies slap advertisements on all websites that live on their servers rent-free. While a few companies split parts of the ad revenue with the owner, most don't.
• Branding: Almost every single free service out there promotes its service through the footer on the websites of its users. Many also limit branding options for the user. Collectively, these steps can damage your perceived value to your audience.
• Dishonest Practices: Unfortunately, there are also dishonest characters that use unethical ways of monetizing their “free” website hosting users. They secretly install cryptocurrency miners and adware to the website's audience. While this is not a common practice, it's still a possibility when dealing with an unknown hosting company.

Limitations of Free Website Hosting

Apart from those monetization efforts, all free service providers will limit your website's potential through the following restrictions:

• Limited Resources: From storage and bandwidth limitations to the number of pages and feature restrictions, you'll never have enough to run a proper website.
• No Support: It should come as no surprise that free hosts don't offer quality support, if any support at all. This means that you'll be on your own for every issue imaginable.
• Overloaded Servers: Having over a thousand websites sitting on the same server isn't unheard of in the world of free website hosting. As a result, your site can and will go down randomly without notice.
• No Customizations: Free hosts generally don't offer the flexibility of installing plugins and applications of your choice or even adjusting some minor server settings in case your chosen application needs it.

Free vs Paid Hosting: Settling the Debate Once and For All

The short answer is, you should never settle for free website hosting.

We say that because technology has made tremendous progress since the early days of the internet. Today, you can unlock all of the following benefits for as little as $1+ per month:

• 1Click WordPress Installation
• cPanel for management
• Free SSL Certificate
• Support from a Team of Experts
• Immediate Activation
• Reliable Uptime
• And free migration

If that sounds too good to be true, you should know that's exactly what our Individual Shared Hosting package offers. We don't put ads, shared branding, harmful restrictions, or any stifling limitations.

With WinkHosting, you can experience a premium hosting experience for as little as $1+ per month.