Alexis Kestler
Hey there!
So you‘re thinking about starting a blog but don‘t want to spend anything on web hosting? I totally get it. Who doesn‘t love free stuff?
But as someone who‘s been blogging for over a decade and helped hundreds of people start successful blogs, I have to give you a fair warning: free web hosting is bad news for your blog.
I know that may sound counterintuitive. Free hosting seems like an easy way to get your blog online without spending a dime. But there are some huge downsides that will likely ruin your blogging experience and prevent your site from reaching its full potential.
In this guide, I‘ll walk you through the top 8 reasons why free hosting is a bad idea for your blog, with real-world examples and data to back it up. I‘ll also give you some affordable paid hosting alternatives so you can get started the right way. My goal is to help you make the best, most informed choice for your new blog!
Ready? Let‘s dig in.
What Exactly is Free Web Hosting?
Before we get into the negatives, let‘s define what free hosting actually means.
There are a few different types of free hosting services:
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Free website builders like Wix or WordPress.com give you free access to their proprietary platforms. But this comes with major limitations on customization, monetization, and ownership.
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Limited free plans from paid hosting companies like Bluehost or HostGator seem enticing. But they often cap resources, snail down sites, and upsell aggressively.
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Third-party free hosts like 000webhost, Byethost, or Awardspace provide free web hosting in exchange for putting ads or other promotional content on your site.
For this discussion, I‘m focusing specifically on those third-party free hosting providers. They lure people in by promoting "free unlimited hosting," then make money by plastering ads and upsells all over your site.
And while that free sticker price may be appealing, using these services for your blog comes with some catastrophic downsides.
8 Reasons Free Hosting Will Destroy Your Blog
Here are the top 8 reasons why free web hosting is bad news for your blog, in no particular order:
1. Poor Uptime and Reliability
Uptime refers to the percentage of time your site stays online and accessible to visitors. Standard uptime for a decent host is 99.9% or higher.
But free hosts often have abysmal uptime rates of 95% or below.
For example, a 2021 analysis found average uptime rates among top free hosts to be:
- 000webhost – 92.9%
- Awardspace – 95.4%
- Byethost – 96.7%
- X10Hosting – 97.3%
With uptime that low, your site will be down and unreachable multiple hours per week. Readers who get 404 errors will quickly lose trust and stop returning.
Plus, free hosts go offline completely for days or weeks at a time with little notice. They make no guarantees to keep your site running.
And if they go under entirely? You could lose your site forever with zero backups.
Ask yourself: Can you really run a successful blog when it‘s offline up to 5% of the time? Unlikely. Reliable uptime is essential.
2. Snail-Pace Loading Speeds
Site speed has a massive impact on your blog‘s growth. Studies show:
- 53% of mobile site visitors will abandon a page that takes over 3 seconds to load. (Source)
- Even a 1 second delay in page response can result in 7% loss in conversions. (Source)
But free web hosting can‘t deliver the fast performance today‘s users expect. Their overcrowded servers grind sites to a crawl.
For example, here are average load times for top free hosts:
- 000webhost – 14 seconds
- Awardspace – 8 seconds
- Byethost – 6 seconds
- X10Hosting – 4 seconds
That‘s 10-14x slower than decent paid hosts like SiteGround or Bluehost which offer sub-second load times.
Slow speeds ruin the user experience and demolish your site‘s search rankings. Google now factors speed into search results – sluggish sites sink.
So if fast performance is essential for your blog, free hosting can‘t cut it.
3. Limited Security and Malware Threats
You‘ve likely seen news of major security breaches that exposed user data from big brands. But did you know hackers actually prefer attacking small sites on cheap or free hosting?
Websites run by individuals and small businesses now make up over 80% of hacked sites. According to Sucuri‘s Website Threat Research Report, the biggest vulnerabilities are:
- Outdated software like WordPress or PHP
- Weak user passwords
- Unpatched bugs and exploits
The problem? Free hosts don‘t proactively update software or block threats. You‘re left wide open to attacks.
And bloated servers packed with thousands of sites share resources and infections. One compromised site puts all at risk.
I‘ve seen too many blogs hacked and wiped out by malware because they used insecure free hosting. Don‘t let yours be next!
4. Excessive Resource Limitations
Free hosting plans never offer unlimited everything like advertised. Buried in the terms are stringent caps on:
- Bandwidth – 100-500GB per month typically
- Storage – 1-10GB is common
- Databases – Often 1-5 databases allowed
- Email accounts – Handful or none allowed
- CPU usage – Strict undisclosed limits
For a simple low-traffic blog these might be enough. But they severely restrict your site‘s growth.
What if your bandwidth needs exceed the monthly cap? Your site will be choked or taken offline completely until the next month starts.
Outgrowing the storage or database allotment can also force your site down. And forget running intensive sites like ecommerce shops on these limited resources.
The restrictive nature of free hosting makes serious blogging next-to-impossible. Don‘t limit your potential!
5. Hidden Costs and Upsells
Here‘s a dirty secret about "free" web hosts: they make money by nickle-and-diming you at every turn.
Common tricks they use to suck money from you:
- Forcing you to upgrade for more resources
- Charging extra for domains, SSL, email accounts
- Making you pay to remove ads from your site
- Constant upsells on hosting upgrades and add-ons
This means that "free" hosting can easily end up costing you more than quality paid hosts.
For example with Awardspace‘s free plan:
- Add a domain + SSL + tax: $15/year
- Upgrade for more space: $48/year
- Remove ads: $60/year
Total = $123/year…more than many premium hosts!
The takeaway? That free sticker price is just bait to hook you in. Stay away or get ready to pay up.
6. Lack of Support
Paid hosting providers generally offer 24/7 customer support via live chat, phone, and tickets. Their job is keeping your site online.
But with free hosts you‘re left high and dry. Trying to get basic customer service is often fruitless.
Digging through old forums reveals customers with downtime lasting weeks or missing sites begging in vain for help from support.
And their "Knowledge Base" articles are rarely updated or helpful. Don‘t expect assistance getting your site set up or fixes when problems arise.
Running into issues without reliable support can leave your blog dead in the water for extended periods. Not an ideal situation!
7. Excessive Upselling
I touched on upselling earlier, but it deserves more attention. Unwanted upsells are the price you pay for "free" hosting.
Some examples of obnoxious tactics free hosts use:
- Pop-up ads across your site pushing upgrades
- "Urgent" notices your resources are limited or expiring
- Email and in-site messaging promoting premium plans
- Limiting features like databases or support to higher tiers
This constant badgering distracts your readers and inhibits your site‘s functionality. Paid hosts have no need for these aggressive upsell antics.
And the worst part? The upgrades advertised often don‘t fix underlying issues with free hosting, like poor uptime or speed.
8. Ownership and Portability Headaches
With paid hosts, you own your site‘s content and databases. If you decide to switch hosts, migrating your site is fairly straightforward.
But free hosts make this difficult by restricting backups and locking you in. Some tactics they use:
- No access to database backups or files via standard FTP/cPanel
- Proprietary backup formats incompatible with other hosts
- Forcing you to upgrade to premium hosting before transferring your site
- Charging excessive fees for site migration assistance
Your content should be portable. Free hosting severely limits this flexibility and ownership.
Free Hosting Alternatives: Quality Paid Plans Under $5/Month
At this point, I hope I‘ve made it clear why relying on free hosting is risky for your blog. The downsides and hidden costs aren‘t worth it!
The good news is paid hosting is extremely affordable these days. There are quality plans available for less than the price of a coffee a month.
Here are two excellent budget-friendly paid hosts I recommend:
Hostinger
Hostinger is one of the most popular cheap hosting providers out there.
Their Single Shared Hosting plan starts at just $1.39/month with a 4-year subscription, including:
- 100GB SSD Storage
- 30GB Monthly Bandwidth
- Free SSL Certificate
- 1 Website Supported
- Email Accounts
- cPanel Access
For basic blogs, this gives you all you need at a super low monthly rate. Hostinger also has a 30-day money back guarantee, so you can try risk-free.
Bluehost
Bluehost is another very affordable and reliable option. Their Basic shared plan starts at $2.75/month and includes:
- 50GB SSD Storage
- Unmetered Bandwidth
- Free Domain for 1 Year
- 1 Website Supported
- Unmetered Email Accounts
- Standard cPanel Access
Bluehost has been officially recommended by WordPress for over a decade. So it‘s a perfect fit for WordPress blogs.
Either of these quality paid hosts will only run you a few bucks a month. And they‘ll provide the uptime, speed, support, resources, and ownership you need to succeed.
The Bottom Line
I know the idea of free hosting seems tempting. But as you can see, it comes with too many negatives that can cripple your blog before it ever gets off the ground.
The smart play is investing just a few dollars a month for quality paid hosting with Bluehost, Hostinger, or a similar reputable provider. Then you can focus on creating great content rather than fighting your web host.
I hope this guide gives you the information needed to make the best choice for your new blog! Let me know if you have any other questions.
Here‘s to the success of your blogging journey!
