Best WordPress Hosting - Fast & Secure
Last updated on January 19, 2025 by RGB Web Tech
In this post, we’re going to tackle head-on the confusion that seems to keep coming up in the world of hosting with the terms WordPress hosting vs Web Hosting.
Using some form of web hosting is essential if you want to take your business online. Picking the right host can boost your site’s SEO, increase your sales, and provide tools and packages to help your business. But what is the difference between WordPress hosting and web hosting, and which is the better option?
WordPress hosting and web hosting are two very different types of hosting and are not to be confused. There are a few key differences between the two, and each has its own advantages, plans, and providers. Here’s a guide to WordPress hosting vs. web hosting and how to differentiate and choose between the two.
What is WordPress hosting?
In a nutshell, WordPress hosting is a form of web hosting optimized to run WordPress sites.
By using a WordPress host, you’ll receive lots of tools and services that are specifically tailored to WordPress sites. These may vary depending on what WP hosting service you opt for, but often include features such as one-click-install, automatic software updates, and a team of support staff who specialize in WordPress to provide you with customized support.
What is web hosting?
Web hosting is a much more general term and describes the process of an individual or organization buying a spot online to make their website accessible on the Internet.
A web host works by allocating space on a server to store the files associated with your website and by providing internet connectivity for your site. This allows your website to go live on the Internet and appear in search results.
Web hosting is very much an umbrella term, and there are lots of different types of web hosting, as well as different providers and features. If you plan on creating a website for your business, you’ll need to use some form of web hosting because you won’t be able to get your site online without a host.
What’s the difference between web hosting and WordPress hosting?
The key difference between web hosting and WordPress hosting is that web hosting is a much broader, overarching service, while WordPress hosting refers to a specific niche tailored to WordPress installs.
Web hosting is a more generalized service and refers to any hosting service that stores a site’s files on a server to make the site live on the Internet. A web host will cater to a wide range of site builders, and the websites stored on one of their servers may be operating on thousands of different platforms.
WordPress hosting, on the other hand, is a specific niche in web hosting. WordPress hosting can also use shared servers to host multiple websites at once but, unlike web hosting, every website on a shared server will be a WordPress site. A WordPress host caters specifically to WordPress installs and offers customized solutions, services, and support optimized for WordPress performance.
How to choose the best hosting option for your business
With over 338,561 web hosting service providers available worldwide, it can be difficult to choose the right one for your business – especially if you’re still deliberating between WordPress hosting vs. web hosting.
Both options have their advantages and are available from a wide range of providers in a variety of plans. To choose the best option for your business, keep in mind the key things a business needs in a web hosting service:
- Dedicated 24/7 customer service
- Supported domain name management
- Basic security features
- Uptime guarantee
- Server accessibility
WordPress Quick Overview
WordPress powers 35% of all websites on the Internet right now – and with a 4% annual growth, this is set to rise. WordPress is a hugely popular site builder and is used by businesses such as eBay, The New York Times, and Sony to create and power their websites.
According to research, WordPress is the most used CMS, and more than 1.1 million new domains are registered every six months. If you’re looking to create a business website or migrate your existing one, WordPress is a leading site builder – and it’s a noteworthy hosting option, too.
WordPress is an easy-to-use, simple, and fully customizable hosting option, and using a WordPress hosting service alongside your WP site will optimize your site’s performance and results.
WordPress hosting benefits
1. Improved Security : WordPress hosts offer servers equipped against WordPress-specific threats alongside a dedicated team who will stay on top of security issues and ensure your site is safe and secure.
2. Fast set-up and Performance : The website set-up process is made incredibly quick using pre-configured web technologies and the WordPress servers ensure fast loading times and quick uptime from the moment your site’s live.
3. Better Plugin Function : You won’t need to use as many plugins with a managed WP hosting service, because performance, security, and caching will all be optimized by the host. And for the plugins you do want or need, WP hosted sites are optimized to work with the most popular of them, which can be automatically updated.
4. Easy-to-add SSL Certificates : Most managed WordPress hosting plans allow you to add an SSL certificate to your site in a couple of clicks, at no extra charge.
5. Automatic Updates : Your website will receive automatic updates and upgrades, and security packages can be added to every website on a server at once.
6. Tailored Support : When using a WordPress hosting service, you’ll be able to access dedicated customer support services, experts in resolving WordPress issues.
Who should use WordPress hosting?
If you built your website using WordPress, you’ll benefit hugely from using WordPress hosting. WP hosting integrates perfectly with websites built with WordPress and will improve your site’s functioning, security, and offer automatic updates. You don’t have to use WordPress Hosting if you have a WordPress website, but combining the two creates the ultimate package.
Those looking for a managed hosting plan would benefit from WordPress hosting, too. WordPress hosts often offer managed services, where your site is run and maintained for you by WP experts. This is a great option for those with limited time or experience with running a website.
Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting Plans
Whether you choose to use WordPress hosting or web hosting, you’ll have to choose a hosting plan. Shared hosting, VPS hosting, Dedicated server hosting, and Cloud hosting are popular services offered by both WordPress hosts and web hosts.
WordPress hosts also offer some additional managed hosting services that can help with the running of your site.
Here are six of the most popular hosting plans available:
1. Shared Hosting : When you use a shared hosting plan, your website will share a server with other clients. This is a cheaper option and is easy to set up, making it ideal for those who are creating a starter website or who don’t have much site traffic.
2. Virtual Private Servers : A VPS plan is similar to shared hosting; you will share your server with other users, but you will be more isolated and have your own allotted space. This plan is ideal for those operating on a lower budget and who want a higher level of control and customization.
3. Dedicated Server : If you have a high-traffic website and need optimized performance and fast loading speeds, a dedicated server is a good choice. Dedicated servers offer you total customization, improved reliability, and the chance to scale your business up; but they are a high investment option.
4. Cloud Hosting : This is a relatively new type of hosting, where your website is hosted on a cloud infrastructure rather than stored on a physical server. This hosting plan has lots to offer to those looking for scalability and stability at a cheaper price, but pricing isn’t always fixed, so if your site experiences an increase in traffic, you might see an unexpected rise in costs.
5. Managed WordPress Hosting : Lots of WordPress hosting providers offer a managed service, where the host manages and runs all the technical aspects of your WordPress site for you. Managed Hosting plans can be run across any of the hosting plans listed above, and offer optimum security, performance, and configuration.
6. Optimized WordPress Hosting : If you’re looking for a hosting plan that offers pre-installed features and technologies to optimize your site, Optimized WordPress Hosting is a great choice. Optimized WordPress Hosting is a complete package plan and comes with pre-installed WordPress hosting, WordPress optimized servers, built-in WordPress security, and WordPress expert support.
Which plan you choose will depend on your budget, the amount of traffic your site receives, and how much help you want from your host in the running of your site.
List of WordPress Web Hosting Service Providers:
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Read More : You can explore here 30+ Best Web Hosting Providers 2023
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Affordable Website Hosting for your domainIf you found this article helpful, we encourage you to share it on your social media platforms—because sharing is caring! For more information about article submissions on our website, feel free to reach out to us via email.
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Written by RGB Web Tech
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17 Best FREE Web Hosting Services
Last updated on January 19, 2025 by RGB Web Tech
Is free website hosting any good? Well, “free” is always good but not always worth it in the long run. Let me explain:
In short, if you want to run a test website, you’re not expecting to get much from it, and you don’t want to invest any money into it at all, then free website hosting might indeed work for you!
In 95% of other cases, you’re going to be better off with a cheap website hosting plan like Bluehot, Hostinger etc. no more expensive than $2.75 or even $1.99 per month (small businesses or online stores often choose something in this price range).
If you’re in a hurry, here’s a summary of our findings based on the analysis below:
Free website hosting is okay for a hobby project or a proof-of-concept type of project. It’s okay if you want to run a site for a short while, get your data and then shut it off.
For any sort of serious website building project or a site that’s meant to stay online for a long while, you’re better off with an affordable web hosting plan or even a pick from the very best web hosting services out there.
For example, Bluehost is our recommended self-hosted website server. If you check them out through our link, you’ll unlock a special discounted price of $2.75 / mo vs the $3.75 standard entry-level price. You also get a free domain name bundled in.
Alternatively, you might opt for an all-in-one solution. For example, Wix is a good choice for a quick start, covering both hosting and website builder in one place. Although there is a free plan, you can try any premium plan offering 14 days of money-back.
Want to get the full story? We compared 17 best free website hosting options to help you make your decision.
The limitations of free website hosting
In life, you tend to get what you pay for, and web hosting is no exception. If you choose the free hosting route, be prepared for some common issues that come along with it.
Even the best free hosting tends to be fairly unstable, which can result in downtime. Also, providers typically place restrictions on storage space and bandwidth, limiting your site’s growth and traffic capacity. Your personal website or business website may also have slow performance.
That said, there are times you may want to consider free hosting. For a personal project, it may be all you need. The same is true if you’re practicing your web design and web development skills and just want a space to try out new ideas.
Perhaps you’re setting up an area to test new plugins or themes. In that case, the limitations of free hosting shouldn’t be a barrier to what you want to accomplish. Of course, if you simply need a staging site, you may want to use a local development tool, such as Local, and not worry about hosting at all.
However, if you need a live site and don’t want to deal with the drawbacks of free web hosting, there are some affordable alternatives to consider. A cheap host can help you keep your budget low while avoiding poor site availability.
17 Best FREE Website Hosting Services
The good news is that you can test drive free website hosting at no cost to see if it might work for you. If you’ve decided to give it a try, here are 17 options to consider.
1. InfinityFree
InfinityFree is a free web hosting service that boasts a 99.9% uptime guarantee. It offers users:
- An auto-installer with more than 400 different apps, including WordPress
- Free subdomains
- 5 GB disk space
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 400 MySQL databases
- Knowledge base support
You’ll also have access to the Softaculous Script Installer to set up WordPress. This hosting service provider doesn’t offer domain registration, but you can use one you’ve acquired from another registrar.
Once your website is published, your visitors won’t see ads. However, there will be ads in cPanel on the back end. Your site is also limited to 50,000 hits per day.
2. Wix
Wix is a drag-and-drop website builder – similar to tools like Weebly or Squarespace; and yup, you don’t need to be familiar with PHP, like you do with other solutions (e.g. – Joomla).
However, we’re featuring Wix on this list because it’s kind of an all-in-one solution for both a website platform and server space to host that website. Since Wix does come with a free plan, this makes it a free website hosting service as well. This free website builder is a unique way to enjoy awesome site-building features backed by enterprise-grade reliability. On that free plan, you get:
- Wix.com subdomain
- Beautiful templates
- 500 MB disk space
- 500 MB bandwidth
- Global content delivery network
- Free SSL and security monitoring
- Knowledge base and customer support
- Decent load times
Unfortunately, if you’re expecting no ads, you will be disappointed. Just like most of the free web hosting providers, Wix places their own ads on free plan sites. You can only connect a Wix subdomain and would have to move to a paid plan for connecting a custom domain.
The eCommerce functionality is also unavailable in the free version. However, you can still set up things like bookings, events, and forums, and fill in your site with SEO-friendly content with just a few clicks.
3. ByetHost
ByetHost is another free hosting service that you could use. Its plan features:
- Five subdomains
- 1 GB disk space
- 50 GB monthly transfers
- One MySQL database
- 24/7 support via ticket system and knowledge base
ByetHost offers solid support for its free plan, which can be rare. You can access a self-service knowledge base and video tutorials, but a ticketing system is also available.
In addition, you’ll receive usage statistics such as disk space, bandwidth usage, and daily hits. You can find this data in VistaPanel, which is ByetHost’s free hosting control panel. Then, you can use the information to help budget your resources.
4. 000WebHost
000WebHost is a free hosting option from Hostinger. Some of its features include:
- One website
- 300 MB disk space
- 3 GB of bandwidth
- One MySQL database
- Community forum
000WebHost comes with the Zyro website builder, which should make designing your site less intimidating. Like InfinityFree, visitors to your website won’t see ads, but there will be ads in your WordPress dashboard.
Free hosting from 000WebHost doesn’t even require a credit card to set up, and you can use it as long as you like. Also, if you outgrow your free plan, you can easily upgrade to a cheap plan from Hostinger. Hostinger plans start at $1.99 / month for your first billing cycle.
5. Google Cloud Hosting
Google Cloud Hosting isn’t technically free. However, it does offer a one-year free trial that includes:
- One website
- Unlimited storage
- Extensive support documentation
While Google Cloud Hosting is tailored towards large businesses, anyone can use it. To get started, all you need is a Google account.
The free trial lasts for 12 months, or until you’ve used up the $300 credit it includes. After this, you only pay for the resources you use. Google offers a price calculator to help you estimate your costs.
6. AwardSpace
AwardSpace offers a variety of hosting services. It’s best known for its free plan, which includes:
- One website
- Three subdomains
- 1 GB disk space
- 5 GB bandwidth
- MySQL database
- 24/7 live chat
Awardspace includes one-click content management system (CMS) installation as well as the Zacky website builder. Also, the 24/7 live chat is available to free plan users if you have questions.
Once launched, your own website will be ad-free. Plus, you can place ads to monetize it. AwardSpace provides you with the ability to monitor your bandwidth usage as well, which may help you budget your resources.
7. Freehostia
Freehostia offers paid and free hosting. The free plan, called ‘Chocolate’, provides:
- Five websites
- 250 MB disk space
- 6 GB bandwidth
- One MySQL database
- FAQ and ticket support system
Freehostia’s cluster platform aims to offer more reliability from its free hosting. Hopefully, this results in less downtime for your website.
You’ll have access to a website builder complete with templates. If you run into issues, you can have an answer to your support ticket in one hour, even with the free plan.
8. FreeWebHostingArea
FreeWebHostingArea is a volunteer-maintained free hosting service. It offers:
- 1.5 GB disk space
- Unmetered traffic
- MySQL databases
- Free email support
9. W3Schools Spaces
W3Schools Spaces features of the free plan:
- Free templates
- Allow 500 requests/month
- Allow 100MB data and storage/month
- Free SSL
10. Glitch
Glitch features of the free plan:
- Provide 4000 requests/hour
- The server processes 512MN of RAM
- Storage capacity 512MB
- Unlimited static sites
- Support import/export Github function.
11. Fleek
Fleek features of the free plan:
- Support to edit domains
- Provide services https
- 3GB of storage
- Unlimited websites
- Automatically deploy on Git
- 250 minutes to build and 50GB of bandwidth
- Free SSL
12. Netlify
Netlify features of the free plan:
- Automatically built from Git
- Deployed on the global edge network
- Bandwidth: 100GB/Month
- Number of websites: Unlimited
- Restorable to any version
- Provides a free CLI.
13. Render
Render features of the free plan:
- 100GB/month for bandwidth and storage
- Lightning-fast CDN
- Can custom domain with full SSL functionality
- Automatically deploy on Git
14. Surge
Surge features of the free plan:
- Provides 404.html page functionality
- Unlimited websites and APIs
- Can custom domain
- Easy to deploy via CLI
- Unlimited websites.
15. Vercel
Vercel features of the free plan:
- Improve website performance with Edge Network
- Unlimited websites and APIs
- Can custom domain with full SSL functionality
- Provides Serverless Functions
- 100GB bandwidth/month
- Automatically optimize images (1000 images for the free version)
16. Firebase
Firebase features of the free plan:
- 10 GB of storage
- 360MB Bandwidth/day
- You can edit your website’s domain name
- Allows multiple pages to be added to the same project
- SSL support.
17. HyperPHP
HyperPHP is a free hosting and domain service for personal websites. Its plan offers:
- 1 GB disk space
- Free subdomains
- MySQL database
- Free tech support and community forums
HyperPHP offers a few ways to make launching a new website easy. Firstly, a free domain transfer is available. This host also offers an automatic script installer, which you can access through VistaPanel.
FAQs - Free Web Hosting
1. Is free web hosting reliable?
Answer : No, free web hosting isn’t reliable. Most free web hosting has absurdly limited resources and you’re also likely to run into multiple issues. This includes poor performance, complicated interface, compromised security, and ads on your website. Not to mention questionable terms of service.
2. Can I get free hosting and a domain?
Answer : Free hosting and domain is rarely possible, none of the providers here has such a deal. However, many hosts offer free subdomain hosting. You can choose a desired name for your site, but it will look something like this: desiredname.freehosting.com.
3. Can I use free hosting for selling online?
Answer : Yes, as long as you can host WordPress and install WooCommerce on your paid plan, it's possible to sell online using free hosting. Yet, it’s extremely likely to cause many problems and potentially ruin the seller/buyer relationship. If your online store is always down or very slow, the buyers will simply go to more professional sites.
4. Can I host my own website?
Answer : Yes, you can host your own website if you have the tech skills and 100% uninterrupted network. It will require significant skills, technical know-how, resources, and time among other things. Plus, many Internet service providers also forbid personal hosting.
5. Does it matter where you host your website?
Answer : Yes. With a bad hosting provider, your website may be plagued with slow loading times, a lack of proper security, and extensive downtime. It’s really important to choose a web host with a discerning eye.
Conclusion
While your free web hosting platform might not be perfect, it can be a viable option in some scenarios. However, finding a quality provider that delivers on its promises is no easy task.
In this article, we shared our opinions on the 17 best free website hosting options available. You have nothing to lose by giving one a try. Our top pick in the category of best free web hosting is AwardSpace for its 24/7 live chat support and easy WordPress installation.
However, for any type of serious project, we recommend using at least a cheap paid shared hosting service. In our collection of cheap web hosting sites, you’ll find services that cost just a few dollars per month.
As we mentioned earlier in this post, you can get quality, affordable website hosting like Bluehot, Hostinger etc. for $2.75 or even $1.99 per month
Recommendation - Paid Web Hosting Service Providers
If you are looking for safe and secure website hosting, we recommend to use paid web hosting services.
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Read More : You can explore here 30+ Best Web Hosting Providers 2023
Video - Best Web Hosting For Small Business
Affordable Website Hosting for your domainIf you found this article helpful, we encourage you to share it on your social media platforms—because sharing is caring! For more information about article submissions on our website, feel free to reach out to us via email.
Send an emailWritten by RGB Web Tech
Latest Technology Trends
Latest technology trends shaping the future, including AI advancements, blockchain innovation, 5G connectivity, IoT integration, and sustainable tech solutions. Explore breakthroughs in quantum computing, cybersecurity, augmented reality, and edge computing. Stay ahead with insights into transformative technologies driving innovation across industries and revolutionizing how we live, work, and connect.