13 best free WordPress hosting providers

If you want to launch a WordPress website but you're on a tight budget, I can understand the appeal of free WordPress hosting.

While I generally don't recommend using a free WordPress hosting provider for a serious WordPress website that you want to make money from, I think that free hosting can be a fine solution for personal or hobby websites. Or, you also might just want to use free hosting to test things out and play around with WordPress, which I think is a great way to learn the platform.

In this post, I‘ve collected my picks for the 13 best free WordPress hosting providers. Most of these are "regular" hosting providers that work just like paid hosts, but I’ve also added one bonus solution for more technical users that you probably won't find in other lists.

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1. AccuWeb Hosting

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AccuWeb Hosting is a well-established host that offers free WordPress hosting with cPanel, which I think is an advantage, as not all free hosts give you access to cPanel. They also don't place any banner ads on your website, which I think is another nice thing about this service.

The limitations are about what you'd expect from a free host, with the following technical limits applied:

• One website
• 2 GB SSD storage
• 30 GB bandwidth
• 768 MB RAM
• Shared vCPU
• 25 email accounts
• 10 MySQL databases
• 5 FTP accounts
• Option to use a custom domain (you will need to purchase the domain separately, though)

Note: If you use AccuWeb's free plan, your site will be hosted in Canada. The paid plans support more data center options beyond that.

AccuWeb Hosting will also pre-install the WordPress software for you, which lets you get started right away.

You don‘t get any access to technical support, but that’s pretty standard for free web hosting so I don‘t think it’s fair to consider it as a negative.

There is one big caveat, though. AccuWeb Hosting's free plan is only free for the first 12 months. After that, you would need to upgrade to one of the paid plans, which start at $3.99 per month.

Best for: People who want to reduce startup costs but are willing to pay eventually once their site starts growing. I mention this because AccuWeb Hosting's free plan is only free for the first year.

Because the only data center option is in Canada, I also don't recommend this plan to anyone whose target audience is outside North America.

2. Free Hosting

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With such a creative name, you can probably guess exactly what Free Hosting offers.

However, what they lack in creativity, they make up for with a pretty attractive free package.

First off, it's one of the few services to offer free WordPress hosting with cPanel, so that should make this service stand out if you prefer using cPanel.

But I think what makes Free Hosting the most unique is that it has very generous limits for a free hosting plan.

Here are some of the notable limitations and features of the free plan:

• 10 GB storage (in my experience, this is significantly higher than most other services)
• Unmetered bandwidth (subject to fair use, but still much more generous than most free platforms)
• Support for ~30,000 monthly visitors for a dynamic CMS like WordPress
• 1 website
• 1 MySQL database
• 1 email account

If you ever need to exceed the limits on the free plan, Free Hosting has a unique approach to billing.

First, they offer “normal” paid plans starting at $7.99 per month. However, they also let you purchase one-time paid add-ons to upgrade the free hosting plan without needing to pay a subscription.

For example, if you want to add another email mailbox in addition to the one mailbox that comes with the free plan, you can pay a $14.95 one-time fee. Or, if you want to add a second MySQL database, you can pay a one-time $24.95 fee.

I think this add-on model is quite interesting and can be a unique way to keep costs down.

Best for: People who want a free WordPress hosting service with cPanel and above-average storage and bandwidth allowances. I also think the unique one-time add-on model can be an interesting way to keep long-term costs down.

3. WordPress.com

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Not to be confused with the open-source WordPress software that's located at WordPress.org, WordPress.com is a commercial service from Automattic that does include a free option to host a WordPress website … but with some limitations.

I want to be very clear — the free WordPress.com does not let you use a fully functioning WordPress. The two biggest limitations are that you cannot install your own plugins and themes on the free WordPress.com plan. You also must use a subdomain, as you'll need a paid plan to connect your own custom domain name.

With that being said, it does still let you use the core WordPress software and choose from a collection of built-in themes.

Honestly, those limitations are pretty tough, and you will miss out on a lot of what makes WordPress great (e.g., plugins).

The reason I'm still including it, though, is that the actual quality of the hosting itself is significantly better than most of the other free hosting providers on this list. That means your site will be more reliable, load faster, etc.

Despite the limitations, it can also still work fine for simple blogs, portfolios, and business brochure websites.

Best for: People who don't need to install custom WordPress plugins and themes and are ok with using a WordPress.com subdomain. If you can live inside those limits, you won't find a better free WordPress hosting provider in terms of the actual quality of the technical infrastructure.

4. GoogieHost

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GoogieHost is a free web hosting provider that's been operating since back in 2012 and powers over 700,000 websites.

You can easily spin up a free website and manage everything using the Direct Admin panel. You can also choose between using a free subdomain from GoogieHost or connecting your own custom domain name.

Here are some of the most notable features and limitations of GoogieHost:

• 1 GB storage (NVMe SSD)
• 100 GB bandwidth
• 1 website
• 1 database
• 2 email accounts
• Free SSL certificate
• LiteSpeed Web Server

If you ever outgrow the free plan, GoogieHost is unique in that it offers one-time fee lifetime hosting plans, starting at just $25 one time.

Best for: GoogieHost has been offering reliable free hosting since 2012, and many users have given it positive reviews online. This makes them a great choice if you're looking for a cost-effective way to host your website. I also think the one-time fee lifetime hosting plans can be a unique solution for keeping long-term costs down.

5. FreeHostingNoAds

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True to its name, Free Hosting No Ads offers … well, free hosting without any ads! I mean, you are still free to add your own ads, but Free Hosting No Ads doesn't force you to run its own ads on your site.

The limits aren‘t quite as generous as some of the hosts above, but they should still allow you to get started with a simple website. Here’s what you'll get:

• 1 GB storage space
• 5 GB bandwidth
• Option to use a custom domain
• Free email addresses

If you ever need to exceed those limits, the paid plans are still some of the cheapest options out there.

The VIP plan costs just $0.50 per month for the first year (yes — $6 for the entire year) and then it renews at a still-affordable $4.99 per month.

Best for: A quick activation with no ads. While the free version is pretty limited (only 5 GB of bandwidth per month), the premium plans are on the more affordable side compared to other options on this list.

6. x10hosting

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If you are looking for a free cloud hosting option, x10hosting provides a complete hosting package and includes one-click web software installation.

While you can install your own software (like WordPress), it also offers its own collection of 150+ customizable website templates, which I think could be something to look at if you're still on the fence about WordPress.

Here are some of the notable limits of the free plan:

• 500 MB storage
• 2 databases
• 3 email addresses
• 3 domains

The 500 MB storage limit is notable, as that will be pretty tight for a WordPress site. For that reason, I'd only consider using this one if you have a very small site.

Another downside is that the free plan uses DirectAdmin instead of cPanel. If you want to use cPanel, you'll need to upgrade to one of the paid plans.

If you want to access cPanel, increase the storage limits, and access other enhancements, the paid plans start at just $3.95 per month.

Best for: Cloud hosting for small websites that won't have issues with the 500 MB storage limit. It could also be a good option for people who are still unsure about WordPress, as it has its own collection of 150+ templates.

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7. Freehostia

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Freehostia is another popular option that offers a free hosting plan that supports WordPress, along with giving you the ability to host your own email.

Here are some of the notable limitations of the free “Chocolate” plan:

• 5 websites
• 250 MB storage
• 6 GB monthly bandwidth
• 3 email accounts
• 1 mySQL database (10 MB max)
• Max of 2 MB for individual files

Overall, the 250 MB storage limit is quite limiting in my experience, so this one will only work for very small sites. The fact that it allows up to five websites is kind of unhelpful because you'll really only be able to fit a single site within the storage limit (and it only allows a single database, anyway).

However, on the positive side, the 6 GB monthly bandwidth limit is higher than a lot of other services.

If you ever grow beyond the free plan, Freehostia's paid plans start at just $3.25 per month.

Best for: People with very small/simple websites that don't need to upload a lot of files (e.g., images or video). While you can host a WordPress site within the 250 MB limit, you're not going to have a lot of extra space for adding media files, plugins, etc.

8. Byethost

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Byethost is another good free WordPress host to consider because its free plan is actually viable for creating a “real” website. That is, the storage and bandwidth limits are actually pretty generous (for a free host), though Byethost has slightly decreased its storage limit over time.

Here are some of the most notable limitations and features of Byethost's free plan:

• 1 GB storage
• 50 GB monthly bandwidth
• Unlimited MySQL databases, including phpMyAdmin
• Max 10 MB file size for individual files
• Unlimited domain names (connect your own or use a free subdomain)
• One-click software installer (including support for WordPress)

The 50 GB monthly bandwidth limit is one of the highest that I‘ve seen for a free WordPress host, so I think that’s a big positive of Byethost.

You do not get access to cPanel to manage your sites, but you can use the free VistaPanel control panel, which I've found to be usable enough for most things.

If you ever grow beyond the free plan, Byethost's premium plans start at just $5.99 per month.

Best for: People who plan to get somewhat serious traffic to their websites, as the 50 GB monthly bandwidth limit will come in handy for serving up your website to more visitors than most other free hosting providers can handle.

9. Biz.nf

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Biz.nf offers an easy-to-use free hosting service with a one-click WordPress installation and automatic configuration feature. The technical limits are pretty standard for a free service, but you should have plenty of room to make a basic WordPress website.

Here are some of the notable features and limitations of the free Biz.nf plan:

• 1 GB storage
• 5 GB monthly bandwidth
• 1 domain name, with up to 3 subdomains
• 1 email account
• 1 MySQL database, with a 30 MB max size
• Maximum 15 MB file size for individual files
• One-click WordPress installer

If you ever outgrow the free plan, Biz.nf's paid plans start at just $4.95 per month for unlimited storage and bandwidth.

Best for: Biz.nf is a solid all-around option in the free hosting space. It doesn't really have any standout features, but nor does it have any standout weaknesses.

10. AwardSpace

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Having been offering free hosting since back in 2003, AwardSpace is one of the most well-established players in the free WordPress hosting space.

You can easily install WordPress with just a few clicks via the Zacky Installer, and AwardSpace does not add any advertisements to your website.

Here are some of the most notable features and limitations of AwardSpace's free plan:

• 1 website and up to 3 subdomains
• 1 GB storage
• 5 GB monthly bandwidth
• 5,000 visits per month
• 1 MySQL database
• 1 email account

AwardSpace also has premium plans starting at just $3 per year, which is about as cheap as you'll find.

Best for: AwardSpace is another solid option for a “real” WordPress site. While the storage and bandwidth limits aren‘t as large as some other hosts on this list, I think they are still enough to have an actual WordPress website, as long as it’s not receiving more than ~5,000 visitors per month.

11. 100 WebSpace

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100 WebSpace is another option that you can consider for free WordPress hosting. However, it has some pretty big downsides, so I only recommend it for testing things or if all of the other hosts on this list don't work out for some reason.

The two biggest issues I have with 100 WebSpace are as follows:

1. The free plan only allows 100 MB of storage, which is too little for any real WordPress website (just the software itself already takes 30-50 MB, so you'd have very little extra space for themes, plugins, and media files).
2. 100 WebSpace adds its own banner ad to your website, so it's not free WordPress hosting without ads.

If you can stomach those issues (e.g., you just want a site to test things), the rest of the package is fairly standard:

• 1 website
• 1 domain name and up to 5 subdomains
• 3 GB monthly bandwidth
• 3 email accounts

Best for: Playing around with WordPress or testing things. The 100 MB storage limit is really too low for a “real” WordPress website, and 100 WebSpace will also add its own banner ad to your site.

12. InfinityFree

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InfinityFree is another popular free hosting provider that claims to power over 500,000 websites.

While you will see lots of ads on the InfinityFree website, InfinityFree does not add any advertisements to your website, so it's another good ad-free option.

In terms of the limitations and allowances, I would say that InfinityFree is above average for the space, giving you plenty of room to make a “real” WordPress website.

Here are some of the most notable features and limitations of InfinityFree:

• 5 GB storage
• Unmetered bandwidth (subject to fair use, of course)
• Free subdomain (or use your own custom domain)
• Free SSL certificates
• Softaculous software installer to easily install WordPress or other tools

If you ever outgrow the free plan, InfinityFree is partnered with iFastNet for premium plans, which start at $5.99 per month.

Best for: InfinityFree offers above-average limits in terms of storage and bandwidth, which I think makes it a good all-around option for creating a “real” WordPress website. With 5 GB of storage, you won't need to worry about immediately bumping up against the storage limit like you would with some other free services.

13. Bonus: Cloudflare Pages + Static WordPress

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I'm adding Cloudflare Pages as a sort of “bonus” option because it‘s completely different from the other free WordPress hosts on this list and I don’t think it's a good option for non-technical users.

So — if you‘re just getting started with your first WordPress website, I definitely don’t recommend this route. However, for more experienced WordPress users, this is one of my personal favorite ways to get free WordPress hosting because the end result is actually something you can still use for serious business use cases.

Cloudflare Pages is a free static website hosting service from Cloudflare. By default, WordPress uses a dynamic, database-powered approach to serve up your website, which means it wouldn't work on static website hosting.

However, you can fix this by using a plugin like Simply Static to convert WordPress into a static HTML website.

The basic process goes something like this:

1. You set up a local WordPress development site using something like LocalWP or DevKinsta (both are free).
2. You build and manage your website in that local environment (free because it's powered by your own computer).
3. You install the Simply Static plugin on your local website and export it as static HTML files (free for most use cases).
4. You upload those files to Cloudflare Pages (free with pretty generous limits).

While it adds some complexity, there are also some huge advantages to using Cloudflare Pages over other free WordPress hosts:

1. Your site will load really fast — even faster than some premium paid hosts.
2. You have no traffic or bandwidth limitations — you could even receive millions of visitors each month without paying.

This approach won't work for all types of websites or users. For example, some types of WordPress sites just won‘t work with the static approach (e.g. a WooCommerce store). But if you understand the technical process and it fits the type of site that you’re building, I recommend considering it.

Best for: More technical users who are willing to go through the process of converting WordPress into a static HTML website and deploying those files to Cloudflare Pages. I don‘t think you’ll find faster and more reliable free web hosting from anyone else.

Get started with free WordPress hosting.

While I don't personally recommend free WordPress hosting for serious business websites, I recognize that budgets can be tight for a lot of first-time webmasters.

If you're creating a hobby website or you just really need to keep costs as low as possible, free WordPress hosting can be an option to consider.

Here's how I recommend choosing:

• If you want to use your own custom domain name, choose the service that best fits your needs. Free Hosting, AccuWeb Hosting, InfinityFree, and GoogieHost could be good options to consider.
• If you‘re okay with using a WordPress.com subdomain and don’t need to install custom plugins/themes, consider using WordPress.com because the actual quality of the hosting will be significantly better than that of other providers.
• If you‘re a more technical user and are interested in making a static WordPress website, use Cloudflare Pages. I think you’ll be surprised at just how fast your site loads despite being on free hosting. The only downside is that this method will not work for non-technical users, and not all WordPress sites can use the static approach.

Finally, if you're not hard set on WordPress, you can also consider other free tools to build a website, such as the free HubSpot website builder.

Editor's note: This post was originally published in January 2020 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.

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• Fully managed hosting
• No setup required
• No storage, traffic, or usage hosting fees
• Keep your website secure

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