Whether you are creating an informational website or starting up your first Ecommerce site you are going to need a good and reliable host provider. For most people when doing their first general search on Google, Yahoo, Bing, etc, they will find plenty of listings for free and paid websites that offer hosting. Many will ask, what’s the difference? And only a few will find out before it’s too late. Free and paid hosting have their advantages as well as their disadvantages, and in order to pick which one is right for you and your website you need to be able to differentiate between the two. 

What's it Worth to You?

Price is the most obvious difference between free and paid hosting and is usually why many beginners jump on the free ride. If you have a very limited budget and would like to spend your money on other areas of your website then free hosting always looks appealing. In the long run though, paying those few extra dollars a month can be very beneficial because most paid hosting comes with extra features like; site builders, content management, enhanced functionality, and email accounts. These extra features can end up saving you a lot of time and even money because in order to get these additional features you will have to pay separately for each one if you use free hosting.  

For a list to compare paid hosting providers, please see the Website Hosts Page.     


Option Availability

Both free and paid hosting also have their limitations, but with paid hosting you always have the option to upgrade if your website starts to demands more. With most free host providers you have a limited availability of space, file size, and support. Once these numbers have been reached you have very few options, if any, to choose from. Free hosting would not be recommended if you are planning on building an Ecommerce, social, or file sharing website. This is because these types of websites usually require the most space and support that is offered by hosts that you have to pay for. If you do try to go the free route with these types of sites, then in the end you will probably wind up purchasing hosting from someone else in order to keep your website going. If you are building a blog, informational, or personal site then free hosting maybe the way to go, because these site usually require the least amount of space and support.  


Control Over Your Content

Another difference between free and paid hosting is with paid hosting you have more control over your website and the content that’s on it. There is a catch though that comes with many free host providers, and that is they will post advertisements on your site in exchange for their free hosting. Advertisements for other products and services are where they usually make there money since they are not charging you for their services. It’s also almost definite that you will not get your own unique domain name when pursuing the free side of hosting. Usually your domain name will end up being their sites name followed by the name of your website. This can sometimes be look upon as unprofessional from the Internet community and people visiting your site. With paid hosting however you have total control over your site and you can do as you please when it comes to having your own unique domain name and the content and posting of advertisements. 

So which one is better for you? It all depends on what type of website you want to create and how far you want to take it. Most webmasters will tell you to go with paid hosting because in the long run its better and comes with more options and flexibility. Whatever road you do decide to travel down make sure you do your homework first and know exactly what you are getting into before you make your final decision.


Recommendations:

For a good quality host provider I recommend using GoDaddy.com. Their price is very reasonable (around $6.99 a month), and they offer great 24/7 customer service and have loads of extra features to meet the needs of any type of website or blog.
 
If you are looking for a site builder I recommend using Website Tonight or Site Build It. Both website builders provide you with hosting included in their price and are great for people with little to no programming experience. With both you can also choose to design your own website from scratch or choose a pre-made template from their databases.