Shocking 21 Free WordPress Hosting Disadvantages | What’s The Catch?

Among the most popular methods of getting your message out in the world is hosting a website. However, in the beginning, you may prefer not to spend so much on a website. If you are like most people, you want something, simple, free, and fast.

You could be a non-profit group that needs free hosting, or you are a student who needs a free service for a school project. While you could choose from several free web hosting providers, a smart person will be aware that nothing is really free.

Free web hosting services sound enticing, even for self-hosted WordPress. So you might wonder how these companies offer free hosting? For one thing, running a free hosting platform requires spending some money.

If the companies don’t make money, they will have to shut down. These free hosting companies make their money by restricting visitors, locking you to the service, upselling other features or services, or showing ads on your site. Many of the ads they display may represent your brand poorly or include a competitor.

 

What Are Free WordPress Hosting Disadvantages?

Understandably, novice website owners want low-cost services. Simply Google free WordPress hosting, and you’ll end up with hundreds of free hosting services offers.

But bear in mind some are better than others and be sure you read their Terms of Service before deciding which to choose. Also, read reviews and FAQs since they can help you determine which host is right for your personal or business needs. There are certain disadvantages to free web hosting as compared to premium/paid web hosting.

 

 

Below I will list some of these disadvantages so that you can be forewarned when you begin your search. Be noted that certain web host can have some of the cons listed below or neither. I just listed common issues that people encounter while using free webs hosting providers.

 

Extremely slow websites

The reason sites run slower on free hosts is because the server hosts thousands and thousands of websites. Slow websites may turn off potential customers and regular visitors (see tips how to improve WordPress site speed).

 

Unprofessional web address

The web addresses are not professional. When you visit a free website, look at the domain. If you haven’t noticed before, free sites tend to be something like yoursite.freehost.com.

Free sites can work in many cases, but if you run a business site, people will find it hard to take you seriously with an unprofessional domain. And when you ask these companies for a custom domain, you usually have to pay.

 

Trial service is not really free

Many of these free website services often turn out to be limited trials. After a while, you are asked to pay for it. In most cases, this price is usually way higher than standard WordPress hosting services.

Free trials are not really free. Free hosting services often hide in the fine print or never disclose the fact that when you sign up for a plan, it is in reality only trial.

The cost usually turns out to be much more than what you’d pay for standard hosting. Your credit card or debit card may get billed without your knowledge or emailing you a warning in advance.

 

They can lock down your data

The service can lock down data. Many novice website owners begin with a free host and decide to transfer their site later to a paid hosting service. These free hosts lack the tools you need for website transfer (see how to migrate WordPress site free), and you commonly have to pay extra fees for them to move the site, which can increase the bill.

 

 

Irrelevant advertisements on your website

The ads can be unrelated to your site. Running ads on the site is how they get paid. However, you may see ads not related to your website, and they are annoying and intrusive, which could ruin a business.

The worst part is, sometimes your savvy competitors can then pay these free website hosting companies to advertise on your website.

 

They can shut down your website

They can delete your site without warning. If you read the fine print, it usually states your site can be removed for any reason or no reason. It is nearly impossible for you to retrieve your content.

 

These companies can disappear anytime

Free web hosts are frequently popping. But, the downside to this is that many do not last very long and can disappear at any time, taking your data and files with you.

If you read through their Terms of Service, you will see that they have the legal ability just to shut down and disappear.

This is why it is so crucial for you to read their terms so that you are not lost when they do shut down. It’s not unusual for free web hosts to disappear, and as well as losing your data and files, you could lose your entire site.

For example, Yahoo once had GeoCities, a free site for web hosting. And then a few years after, GeoCities shut down taking all of the sites with it. People lost everything they had worked on, and at the time nothing was backed up.

We didn’t know as much about free hosting then as we do now. So when choosing your free web host, be sure to keep a record of anything that you put onto the internet in the event they shut down all of a sudden. This way, your hard work will not go to waste and disappear right along with the web host.

 

You will lose your site address

If they decide to close the service or shut down your website, then you will lose your web address. Most of the time, it is a subdomain associated with the service. You cannot replicate that address or redirect users to your new site elsewhere.

 

They can sell your information

Many companies can legally sell your email address, website, and other personal information. They can do this because their TOS legally allow them to. But many users do not realize this because they don’t read TOS.

Remember that these services need to make money somehow to remain in the business. A good rule of thumb is if you are not paying for it, then you are the product. Their terms and conditions which no one reads provide them total legal immunity.

 

No site building tools

While most reputable hosting companies supply users with web building tools for creating your website, some companies do not.

There are many companies out there that do not offer any real site building tools, and the tools they do offer can hurt your site causing it to look less professional than it would with a reputable web host.

 

No WordPress or limited

As popular as WordPress is, some of these free companies do not allow you to install WordPress on your free website. WordPress requires a little more resources than a free website service can afford.

There is a chance that they offer WordPress, but if you download and install it, their servers can sometimes not handle it so you will encounter errors. This does not make for a great web hosting experience at all.

 

Malware distribution

Unfortunately, many free web hosts often distribute malware to users sites. This could be because of low-grade security or for monetary value.

Either way, the possibility of malware being distributed could cause harmful effects to your website, and it may mess up your SEO strategy and online reputability.

 

 

You may become part of a link farm

Due to many of their unethical practices, your site could become just another link in a link farm. Unethical practices include selling your website to online gambling sites, spammers, fake drugs, online scammers, etc. What they do is sell pages, often by the thousands, to unethical users.

 

Limited bandwidth

While many sites will offer you unlimited bandwidth, there are several that have limits or caps on the bandwidth users are allowed to use every month.

Free web hosts often cannot afford the pricing for unlimited bandwidth, which is why you could be limited depending on the host that you chose. I have wrote post where I explain how much hosting bandwidth and disk space you actually need, so be sure to check that.

 

Low disk storage

Another negative issue with some free web hosts is the fact that they have limited disk space to allow their users to work with.

Due to the cost of disk storage, many free web hosts will offer you a limited amount of storage space, and once you reach your limit, you will be asked to pay for their premium services to expand your disk space.

 

Vulnerable to hacking attempts

Due to the low security some free hosts have, your website could be hacked at any time. They can’t afford the software to keep hackers from getting to your information and website.

Should this happen, since you do not have a lot of access to your data or information from certain free web hosts, you may not be able to recover files or website if hackers get to it.

 

 

No help or customer service

Lack of funding for certain free web hosts makes their customer service mostly non-existent, or terrible. On top of that, help or support for issues you may have are low quality. You’re pretty much on your own to figure things out.

 

You can’t run advertisements or make money

While you will be stuck with ads which your host will be displaying on your site, you are not allowed to create or run ads to make extra money. Certain free web hosts will not allow you to add affiliate links to your website either.

 

There are no backups

Free web hosts often do not offer to back up your website on their servers if something happens on their end. This means that if anything happens to your site, you have no way to recover it since they do not offer backups.

 

 

In this case you will need to use backup plugin like BackupBuddy, WPvivid, VaultPress, UpdraftPlus, etc. For more info check BackupBuddy vs UpdraftPlus vs VaultPress vs BlogVault comparison, WPvivid review, and UpdraftPlus vs BackUpWordPress vs BackWPup comparison.

 

No branded email

Even if you own your domain name, you will not be able to create a branded email with your domain name as many free sites do not allow it. Instead, you will have to use your email like Yahoo or Gmail, which doesn’t look as professional as a branded email.

 

Limited file upload features

With paid hosting companies, you can upload unlimited files to your site using an FTP client or media uploader in WordPress. Free web hosts only offer you an interface where you can upload one file at a time instead of multiple.

 

Best Free Hosting Sites

Here are some good free hosting providers for WordPress sites and any other kind of site:

1.WordPress.com

While WordPress.com does have premium services you can pay for, it is possible to create a free website using their host.

Of course, you will not have as many features as you would with the paid version, and there are ads that you will have to deal with, but as popular as WordPress is, it is one of your best choices for a free website host.

WordPress.com offers a free website hosting plan which gives you a WordPress.com subdomain (i.e., yourwebsite.wordpress.com ), 3 GB storage, and access to free templates for your website.

This free plan displays ads on your website. You can upgrade to their paid plans to get rid of ads, use a custom domain name, and additional access features.

 

2. x10Hosting.com

Established in 2004, x10hosting offers its users several features that other hosts do not provide with free sites. This is a great site to take your WordPress for a test drive with.

Some of its features include but are not limited to:

• It has the latest version of cPanel (check difference between using cPanel vs vDeck)
• Private cloud hosting.
• Advanced versions of MySQL and PHP.
• There are never any forced ads.
• Provides good customer support.

 

3. 000Webhost

This web host does not bombard you with ads and costs nothing to build your site with. If you are a beginner Word Press user, this site may be exactly what you need to build your confidence with.

Some of their features include:

• No script WordPress auto-installer
• No ads
• 1 GB disk space
• 10 GB bandwidth

 

4. AccuWebhosting (Free Hosting for students)

AccuWebhosting is ideal for students as they can build their websites for no charge. This is especially good for those students enrolled in a well-known university. As a student at some universities, you can take advantage of all of their great free features.

Their free plan includes 2 GB of SSD, as well as 30 GB of bandwidth, perfect for any student that needs it.

Users are capable of creating at least 25 email addresses and installing WordPress with one click. As long as you have an EDU email, you’re allowed to use this service however long you are enrolled in the university.

 

5. ByetHost.com

ByetHost is at the top of the list for many reasons which include, it’s free of charge, it consists of an FTP account, file manager for keeping track of your files, as well as free tech support that is very helpful, along with add on domains, and sub-domain capability.

Other excellent features include:

• Softaculous auto Installer
• 200 GB monthly transfer
• 1000 MB of the disk space
• You can have 50 addon domains, 50 parked domains & 50 subdomains
• 50 MySQL databases
• Free 24/7 support and also FTP account
• Control panel for your easy handling of the website
• Free hosting without any ads and pop-ups

 

6. Wix

By far, one of the most popular free web hosts with excellent benefits and several great features that users can try out. It does, however, host ads with free accounts, but it’s how they keep their prices so cheap.

Their website builder is simple to use, and even someone with little internet experience could figure it out. Naturally, you can eliminate ads by purchasing a paid plan, but it isn’t necessary.

Their free hosting includes the following features:

• A Wix dot com sub-domain.
• Access to hundreds of website templates to help with building your ideal site.
• 500 MB of storage.
• 500 MB of bandwidth.

 

7. Weebly

Weebly is another quite popular free web host that offers many features with their free packages as well as with their premium packages.

Their website builder is simple to use, and you have access to several website templates as well. A popular feature of their website builder is the drag and drop functionality, making it very easy to use.

Their free plan includes a Weebly subdomain, 500 MB of storage, and displays Weebly ads. You can upgrade to their paid plans to get rid of ads, get more storage, and unlock features.

 

WordPress Hosting Providers Compared

 

Free WordPress Hosting Disadvantages Final Words

By signing up for a free WordPress hosting, you can practice and take it for a test drive. Once you’re confident enough, you always have the option of purchasing paid hosting packages.

This is especially helpful if you’re new to WordPress or new to creating a website. While there are several options out there for free web hosting, you should consider trying out free WordPress.com hosting first.

Their features and site are reliable, and you have access to all the help you could need. This is perfect for those who don’t need to learn about hosting but only wish to start their website easy as possible.

WordPress.com lets you do that and is the first place that you should consider as a free web host. However, you should probably consider a paid host should you decide to create a business site, e-commerce site, or a branding site.

By choosing a free hosting, you risk not getting the support that you would receive for being a paid member. I hope now you have some insights in free WordPress hosting disadvantages and what to be carefull when choosing one.

So in a nutshell use free hosting for a simple hobby / no-commercial-intent project but for anything more serious consider paid hosting providers like 10Web all in one solution, GreenGeeks, SiteGround, HostArmada, InMotion Hosting, HostPapa, WP Engine or Cloudways.

Be sure to also check WordPress hosting guide where I have explained which type of hosting should you choose and what features to look for as well as best cheap WordPress hosting options.