Web hosting is an essential thing to take into consideration if you have a website that you want to feature on the internet. Web hosting is basically what allows people, businesses, companies, and others to make their websites accessible by users on the internet.
The hosting element is usually taken on by a service provider who hosts and maintains the running of the servers where the websites are housed.
This article looks at two different forms of web hosting, free web hosting and paid web hosting, and we will suggest some of the pros and cons of using each one. However, it is best to conduct your own, extensive research into this before making any sort of commitments to any available web hosting plans and providers.
Free web hosting could be a good place to start, and a paid service does not necessarily mean a better quality of service. It all depends, which is why it might be best to do some more research before signing up and using a service.
When it comes down to it, both free and paid hosting have pros and cons.
Free Web Hosting
Pros
Free web hosting offers the most obvious advantage of all, it is free to use. With it being a free-to-use service, this may appeal to certain individuals or businesses who want to operate a website on a smaller budget. Although free web hosting is free, it is worth mentioning that you should check the service provider’s terms and conditions as the free use policy could change.
A free web hosting service will provide a website’s owner with a free space in the server. Using a trusted and reputable free web hosting provider is potentially a good place to start with getting your website on the internet, especially for those who want to either keep spending to a minimum or are just looking for a temporary place to store and host their website.
A free web hosting service may also be favored by some individuals or some smaller businesses that do not necessarily need to operate a larger website with loads of room for potential visitors.
Cons
One of the biggest cons seen by some if using a free web hosting service is that free services will usually be unable to host the main domain name for the website stored on the servers. Instead, a free web hosting service might even give the website a sub-domain name which may not be a desirable feature.
Having your own domain name might be more appealing as opposed to being simply given a subdomain name by the host. For established businesses that want to show professionalism, having their own domain name is important.
Despite its free service and the obvious benefit of this, free web hosting services have the potential to be less reliable than paid services. Although this might not be the case with some providers, it is best to check and compare with a variety of services prior to signing up.
Another possible con is that free web hosting services are usually slower than a paid service. Some free web hosting services may even give a set limit as to how many visitors a website can have on a monthly basis, as the more visitors they have, the more of a strain it is likely to have on the server.
If the traffic goes beyond what is permitted, then the host could be suspended by the server. This could make it a challenge for those who will have high amounts of regular visitors to their website.
Paid Web Hosting
Pros
There can be some top paid web hosting providers out there that will charge a small monthly fee for their services. Although you need to pay, the fees are often small for the service they can potentially deliver, so it is usually worth it. Paid web hosting services can offer better speeds, greater security, and reliability. With a paid service your website gets a dedicated space for its operations.
For websites that want to operate to accommodate a greater number of users, the reliability that can possibly be offered through a paid service might be able to keep the website going better than some free web hosting providers, although this may vary between providers.
Some paid service providers may also offer their customers additional features and add-ons in addition to the general services they provide, perhaps making it more appealing for those who may want to make use of these extra features.
Cons
The most prevalent con when it comes to paid hosting is that in order to access these hosting servers you will be required to make payments for it. Depending on the plan you acquire for yourself, this could either be a one-off payment for an agreed amount of time or perhaps even a monthly charge. Although paid services should certainly vary in cost between different providers, so too will the quality of service.