Budget Web Hosts

Paying for web hosting has some definite advantages over using a free host: better support, better uptime and reliability, and less likely to disappear, taking your website with it.

Listed are the low-end plans from eight companies that come well recommended. If you currently use one of these companies (or have previously), please post a review in the comments.  None of these hosts cost more than $10/month, though sometimes you may have to sign up and pay for a full year to get that price.

ICDsoft
Comments: This is the company I use, and I cannot say enough about how great their support is.

Price	$72/year	Domain reg.	$5 w/sign-up $10/yr renewal
Transfer	20 GB/Month	Storage	1000 MB
MySQL	10 Databases	Server Side	PERL, PHP5, PHP4, Python, Ruby and TCL; SSL, SSI
Email	SMTP, POP3, IMAP, Webmail	Access	Control panel, FTP
Other	WAP support, pre-installed scripts	Support	24/7 support 1 hour response guarantee

 
Free Hostia
Comments: They offer an unlimited duration free trial plan so you can try before you buy.

Price	$23.40/year	Domain reg.	$9.95
Transfer	10 GB/Month	Storage	500 MB
MySQL	2 Databases	Server Side	PERL, PHP; SSL, SSI
Email	SMTP, POP3Webmail	Access	Control panel, FTP
Other	Elefante script installer	Support	24/7 support1 hour response time

 
NearlyFreeSpeech.net
Comments: This company has a pay-for-what-you-use pricing model so they don’t have set monthly rates.

Data Transfers (Bandwidth):
$1.00 per gigabyte (reduced with more transfer).
Disk Space (Storage):
$0.01 per megabyte-month.
MySQL processes:
$0.01 base charge per day for the first ($0.02 per day for additional)

 
3iX

Price	$12/year	Domain reg.	$8.95
Transfer	10 GB/Month	Storage	5000 MB
MySQL	2 Databases	Server Side	PERL, PHP4, PHP5; SSL, SSI
Email	SMTP, POP3IMAP, Webmail	Access	Control panel, FTP
Other	Shopping cart	Support	24/7 support

 
Web Hosting Buzz

Price	$59.40/yr	Domain reg.	Free
Transfer	5000 GB/Month	Storage	375 GB
MySQL	Unlimited Databases	Server Side	PERL 5, PHP4, PHP5, TCL, Python; SSL, SSI, Image Magick, Zend, cURL
Email	SMTP, POP3Webmail	Access	Control panel, SSH, FTP
Other	Site builder, Fantastico script installer, shopping carts, HTTP streaming	Support	24/7 email and web support; 9-5 phone support

 
Host Papa
Comments: Environmentally friendly hosting.

Price	$95.40/1 yr plan (lower mo. price w/ multiple years)	Domain reg.	Free
Transfer	Unlimited	Storage	Unlimited
MySQL	100 Databases	Server Side	PERL, PHP 5; SSL, SSI
Email	SMTP, POP3Webmail	Access	Control panel, FTP
Other	Fantastico script installer, SoHoLaunch website builder and templates, streaming media	Support	Online, email, and phone.

 
ThinkHost
Comments: Environmentally-friendly, socially conscious hosting company.  (Domain registration is expensive, consider a 3rd party registrar.)

Price	$7.95/mo	Domain reg.	$28.95/yr (3 months free with hosting plan)
Transfer	1000 GB/Month	Storage	100 GB
MySQL	Unlimited Databases	Server Side	PHP4, PHP5, Perl 5, Python, Ruby on Rails, and TCL; SSI
Email	SMTP, POP3Webmail	Access	Control panel, SSH, FTP, and Telnet
Other	Dedicated IP & SSL free with user’s own certificate; site builder and templates; plants a tree on your behalf.	Support	24/7 online support24 hour response time100% uptime guarantee

 
DreamHost

Price	$9.95/mo for 1 year(lower mo. price w/ multiple years)	Domain reg.	Free
Transfer	5 TB/Month (40 GB/mo increase)	Storage	500 GB (2 GB/mo increase)
MySQL	Unlimited Databases	Server Side	PHP4, PHP5, Ruby on Rails; SSI
Email	SMTP, POP3Webmail	Access	Control panel, FTP, SSH, Telnet
Other	Free WHOIS privacy w/ domain registration; streaming media; one-click software installation; easy integration with Google Apps for Domains.	Support	24/7 email and online support

 

Free Web Hosting, Sans Ads

The thing about free web hosting is that somewhere along the line, it’s getting paid for.  There are some hosting companies that offer free web hosting without displaying advertisements on your pages.  The majority are still going to display ads though: to you.  Your control panel will likely have advertisements and you may be required to log into their forums (which will show advertising) on a regular basis to keep your account active.  

My personal preference is to pay for hosting so I don’t have any real experience with the companies below, but this question comes up so often that it’s worth addressing.  I have walked through the registration process to create hosting accounts, but I have not used the services so I can’t offer any information on ease-of-use or the quality of the support.

All the sites listed meet the following criteria:

• They have good user reviews on a third-party site
• They don’t display ads on your pages
• They allow the use of your own domain name
• The hosting packages appear to be the equivalent of the lower-end offerings of paid hosting services

Because free web hosts do have a tendency to go out of business periodically, it is super important that you register your own domain name and that you keep a current backup of your site files in case you need to move to a different service quickly.  In the event of outages and downtime, technical support may also be less responsive than paid hosting.

• Free Hostia – 250 MB of storage, 5 GB of monthly transfer, FTP access, MySQL, PHP, and Perl.  This company offers less storage and transfer since their free service is really intended to be an unlimited trial for their paid hosting packages.  The benefit to the user is that the registration process is extremely easy and professional and you aren’t bombarded with advertisements yourself.
  
  It delivered me to the control panel with a minimum of fuss.  Based on my initial impressions, this is the one I would use.  (And if you outgrow their free package, you’re at the point where you have a fairly significant web presence and need to be working with a reliable company anyway.)
• Zymic – 2 GB of storage, 35 GB of transfer monthly, FTP access, MySQL and PHP.  I went through their registration process and found it easy.  They require registration on their support forums.  This can be done after the registration process.
• X10Hosting – 300 MB of storage, 10 GB of monthly transfer, FTP access, MySQL and PHP.  The registration process is slow, with many ad-filled screens to click through.  Also, at the completion of the process it will loop back to the beginning again.  Once it starts to show the Terms of Service again, it’s okay to close the window and wait for your email account confirmation.
  
  They offer free hosting both with and without advertising.  Choose the Ad Free plan.  They require registration on their support forums to create a hosting account.  This can be done during the registration process.  I include this one because it meets all the requirements, but it was definitely my least favorite.

Other services like Google Pages provide a minimal amount of ad-free space, but they are extremely limited. You cannot use PHP or host a database-driven site, which is why I haven’t included them on this list.

You should definitely read Christopher Heng’s article on All Those Disappearing Free Web Hosts if you are considering using free hosting.