Here is a list of free website hosting options. I maintain this list because I want everyone to have access to hosting a website, regardless of their financial situation.
For each option, I have created a YouTube video tutorial (link in the last column) to show you exactly how to make a website on that hosting platform. Here is a playlist with all tutorials if you are interested.
The colored columns summarize some important factors when choosing a hosting platform including:
- Difficulty: beginner friendly, moderate technical ability, or highly technical
- Customization: how customizable is the hosting platform?
- Limits: some free hosting platforms have limits like monthly pageviews, storage space, etc.
- Bloggable: is it possible to have a blog?
- Watermarked: some free hosting platforms put their branding on your free website unless you upgrade
There are always trade offs when picking web hosting, so try to find a balance that meets your requirements.
What is the Best Free Website Hosting?
The list is in alphabetical order because I do not see one better than the other. It all depends on what kind of website you want to make. Likewise, all web host platforms are not created equal, and the same goes for free website hosting options.
My recommendations are as follows for beginners (i.e. no technical ability):
- Want a blog? Blogger
- Want a website for your business? Google Sites is better than Google My Business
- Want a simple website with social media links? Carrd
If you are technically inclined, Oracle Cloud and Google Cloud Platform (GCP) are both great options with root access for the ultimate customization, but they do come with resource limits. Google Firebase is just a wrapper around the GCP with stricter limits, but it’s much easier to work with.
For those of you who fall somewhere in the middle, GitHub Pages is a good option for a simple static website (i.e. a website without a database). AWS Lambda also falls into the static category, but its monthly limits make it an inferior option.
I see the rest of the options as too limiting and/or advertisement-infested.
Other Free Hosting Options
Another option to host a website without paying is to sign up for a free trial. This will give you a certain amount of time to experiment with the platform, anywhere from 30 days up to a year.
I also maintain a list of free trial web hosting at the bottom of my resource page.
Hope this helps!
–Tony
