000Webhost provides entirely free decent quality web hosting.
If you are just starting your first website project and want to test out some ideas with a free website, 000WebHost might not be a bad way to go if you don’t want to pay for shared, VPS, or dedicated hosting right off the bat.
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It looks like 000WebHost may have peaked in 2012.
Here is how they’ve trended over the years:
Features
000Webhost offers some unique features that you don’t always see with hosting companies (see: Domain.com, IX, and Dotster).
1) Free Web Hosting: This feature is what really sets apart 000webhost from the others. “Free” web hosting usually conjures up images of websites plastered with ads and slow loading times. That is certainly not the case with 000webhost. Their free web hosting comes with no strings attached. There are no ads, popups or otherwise.
How can they afford this? Their free accounts are subsidized by paid accounts. 000webhost’s free hosting plan is quite generous, offering 1500 MB of disk space and 100 GB of data transfers per month. That is enough to power personal websites that don’t require a ton of bandwidth. Even more generously, 000webhost has free cPanel and also allows 2 MySQL databases and PHP. Of course, if you want more robust features like Ruby on Rails or support by phone or live chat, you’d have to spring for a paid plan. But for most users who are simply looking to host their blog, portfolio, or small business websites, 000webhost’s free web hosting should fit the bill. If you are looking to try your hand at site building this give you a stress free experimentation platform.
2) SiteReptile Builder: Most web hosting companies offer some sort of WYSIWYG. So what’s special about 000webhost’s website builder? While most website builders are limited in what you can drag-and-drop, 000webhost’s SiteReptile has several “add-ons” that can bring more life to your website. These add-ons include photo galleries, vote polls, news publishing systems, and more.
Just small things like these can make your basic website much more interesting, even if you don’t know how to code or design.They also have hundreds of design templates to choose from so you can be sure to find something to match the feel of your website. Even more impressive is SiteReptile is available to you on either the free or paid plan.
3) Support Forum: 000webhost’s support forum is unique. While the company does offer other avenues of support through phone or live chat, other users of 000webhost also participate in this forum. If you run into unusual problems with your hosting account, you’ll likely find fast help in the forum. But the forum is not limited to just questions about 000webhost. If you have any problems with HTML or coding in general, other users are known to quickly come to your rescue.
There are even Spanish and German forums! It’s a community of like-minded users who know the ins and outs of 000webhost. This forum is open to everyone, you don’t even have to be signed up with 000webhost to take a look. The link to their forum is in the side menu on their website and it will take you to thousands of question and answer strands.
Customer Support
While phone and live chat support is only offered to paying customers, they offer a support forum that is available 24/7 even for the free hosting customers.
If you are looking for a hosting company that offers “off the charts” support for all of their hosting plans, consider companies like iPage, HostMonster, and A2.
Reviews
We have checked internet review sites looking for honest opinions about 000webhost. We found several positive reviews from customers that love their free web hosting and features.
One customer who seems to be pleased with the overall hosting options states: “Their free plan is very generous with no forced ads, PHP, MySQL, Domain and Subdomain support, FTP, e-mail, and more.”
Another reviewer using their free hosting exclaims: “They are offering FREE webhost!! FREE!!! Which in my book is a great thing if you want to experiment and try out your newly built websites.”
Not all reviews were positive however. We found customers were most disappointed by lack of technical support offered by 000webhost.
One disappointed reviewer warns: “Their technical support is completely non-existent and their lack of focus on the customer is extremely frustrating.”
Another user agreed by saying: “I had attempted to contact their customer support but unfortunately you wait a long time for replies, or just dont get a reply at all.”
Pros
1) Free Hosting Plan: 000webhost’s free plan is truly free with no ads and even allows more advanced features like PHP and MySQL.
2) Good Support: The support forum is available 24/7 and can be used by free users. Phone or live chat support only is available for premium users.
3) Uptime Guarantee: While it’s only for premium users, 99.9% uptime is guaranteed.
4) Inexpensive Premium: Even though the free plan has most of what you’ll need as a casual user, their premium plan is still fairly reasonable, with costs ranging from $3.99 to $10.98 a month depending on the plan.
5) User Friendly: There are auto-installers with more than 50 scripts you can install without FTP.
Cons
1) Colocated Servers: Because their servers are not at in-house data centers, there are no hands and eyes support if something goes wrong. This is not a major disadvantage, however, because many web hosting companies operate this way.
2) Shared Hosting Only: 000webhost offers no other hosting plans except for shared hosting. If your traffic needs increase over time, you might want to look into paying for a dedicated server. This means migration to another company when you outgrow what 000webhost can offer you.
3) Weekly Backups: While many hosting companies offer nightly backups, 000webhost has automated weekly backups. This is definitely something to keep in mind, as it’s not uncommon to lose website updates due to unforeseen circumstances.
Summary
000webhost is a good starter option for someone who’s not familiar with building or running a website.
Their chief strength is the free plan that offers pretty much everything a paid plan would, with few limitations. This plan is good for someone running a small website or blog. Because of the nature of shared hosting, a really popular website can quickly outgrow the traffic limit. Their support forum is fairly active although it can take some time to get answers. Overall, it’s a good place to start for someone who wants a user-friendly interface and decent support.
This was sooo helpful, definitely will check them out! Now I’m even more excited to start my website. 🙂
Nice, get after it…
Good to hear, Ady!
‘This host is an excellent option if you are new to websites and want a free option to test your ideas.’ Couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks! I’m their ideal customer 😀
Good to hear.
Thanks for the review, it really helped me around about ago to stop hesitating and just go with it. Now I’m completely sattisfied and am learning a lot and quickly, very firendly UI they have 🙂