Free or paid web hosting?

If you're looking to host a website on a limited budget, then you might well be tempted to go with one of the many free web hosting plans that are available today.  However, if you're not aware of the restrictions and limitations of a free web host, then paying nothing might prove very costly indeed.  In this article, we'll look at the differences between free and paid web hosting plans, to help you make a decision about which is the right sort of package for you.

Differences between free and paid hosting

1. Free web hosts make their money from advertising.  In effect, your site becomes an advertisement site for other companies, who can place their banners, pop-ups and other ads on your site as they please.  You have absolutely no control over this, and you have absolutely no control over the content of those ads.  A paid host makes its money from the website owners.  You pay your monthly fee, but your website is your own.
2. Free web hosts generally limit the amount of bandwidth you can have.  This means that if your incoming traffic exceeds that limit, your site will go down.  There is no way to extend that limit.  A paid host, however, allows you greater bandwidth and data transfer allowances in the first place, as well as the opportunity to upgrade to even higher limits should you need to.
3. Customer support with free web hosting services tends to be very basic and minimal, if it exists at all.  If you encounter a problem, you might find you wait a long time for an answer.  Paid web hosts, on the other hand, tend to invest a lot more in customer and technical support, with 24 hour help lines, knowledge bases and online tutorials, customer forums and technical help desks.  Their business survival depends on keeping their customers happy, not the advertisers, so they have a vested interest in answering your questions quickly and efficiently and keeping your website running.
4. Free web hosts also tend to offer only the most basic and minimal of features.  Paid web hosts tend to offer you much more in the way of tools and features, from plug-ins and webmaster tools to shopping carts and site builders.
5. Finally, free web hosts provide only the most basic level of security.  Your site is far more likely to get hacked if it's on a free web host.  Paid hosts, by contrast, have much greater levels of security, and invest a lot more in protecting their customers' data and privacy.

In the end, you get what you pay for.  A free web host offers much lower levels of service.  This is fine if your website is just for personal use, or for practice purposes.  However, if your website is for professional or commercial purposes, then you will need to invest in the higher levels of service provided by paid web hosting companies.