Free plans change often
Hosting providers rewrite their free plans more often than their paid ones. Limits move, plans get new names, and some providers drop the free tier completely. That is why every row in the table shows the date we opened the provider's page and links straight to it. Before you move a real site, open that link again and read the current numbers.
We wrote down only what each page says. If a page names no bandwidth figure, the table names none. An empty commercial use cell means we found no statement on the page, not that it is allowed or forbidden.
Static or dynamic hosting
A static site is a folder of finished files: HTML, CSS, JavaScript and images. The host only hands them out. Portfolios, landing pages, documentation and most blogs made with a site generator fit here, and this is where free plans are most generous. Cloudflare says requests to static assets on Pages are free and unlimited on free and paid plans. GitLab states that its Pages do not support server side processing like .php.
A dynamic site or app runs code on the server for each visit: logins, forms that save data, shops, APIs. That needs a host that runs your code (the "Server code" filter) and often a database. Free plans here have tighter limits, because every visit costs the provider compute time. If you only need a contact form or a simple page, a no code builder may be enough.
What to check before you pick
Compare the same few points for each host. These are examples from the official pages:
| Check | What the sources say |
|---|---|
| Bandwidth | GitHub Pages has a soft limit of 100 GB per month; Vercel Hobby includes the first 100 GB of Fast Data Transfer |
| Sleep | A free Render web service spins down after 15 minutes without traffic; a free Supabase project is paused after 1 week of inactivity |
| Over the limit | Netlify pauses all projects with a "Site not available" page when Free credits run out; Firebase disables sites until the next month when free data transfer is used up |
| Custom domain | Neocities lists custom domains for Supporter only; the WordPress.com free plan uses a subdomain |
| HTTPS | GitHub requests a Let's Encrypt certificate for custom domains; Render says TLS certificates are always included |
After you connect a domain, check the records with the DNS lookup and confirm the certificate and its expiry date with the SSL checker.
Commercial use and terms
Some free plans are for personal projects only. Vercel says Hobby teams are restricted to non-commercial personal use, and its examples include payment requests, selling a product, paid client work and ads such as Google AdSense. Asking for donations is not counted. GitHub Pages is not meant for sites mainly facilitating commercial transactions or software as a service. Codeberg asks that public repositories use a free license. If your site earns money, read the terms first rather than after an account review.
Moving off a free plan
Plan your exit on day one, so a price change or a new limit is an inconvenience and not an emergency.
- Own your domain. Register it yourself and point it to the host. Then moving means changing DNS records, not telling every visitor a new address.
- Keep the source in your own repository. A static site built from Git can move to another static host in an afternoon.
- Export databases regularly. Render's free Postgres databases expire 30 days after creation, with a 14 day grace period.
- Keep your SEO files. Carry over your sitemap and robots.txt, or rebuild them with the XML sitemap generator and the robots.txt generator.
- Test after the move. Run the website speed test on the old and the new host and compare.
Need page content to host? Our freebies include free templates.
Frequently asked questions
Can I use my own domain on free hosting?
On many plans, yes. GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Vercel Hobby, Render, Firebase Hosting, GitLab Pages, Codeberg Pages, Surge and Deno Deploy all state custom domain support on their free plans. Neocities, Carrd and the WordPress.com free plan list custom domains only for paid plans.
Can I run ads or sell things on a free hosting plan?
It depends on the host. Vercel's Hobby plan is for non-commercial personal use only and names ads like Google AdSense as commercial use. GitHub Pages is not meant for sites mainly built for commercial transactions. For the other hosts we found no statement on the pages we checked, so read their terms.
Why is my free app so slow on the first visit?
Some free plans stop your app when nobody uses it. A free Render web service spins down after 15 minutes without traffic and needs a moment to start again on the next visit. A free Supabase project is paused after one week of inactivity. Static hosts do not have this delay.
Do free hosts include HTTPS?
Most of them do. GitHub Pages requests a Let's Encrypt certificate for a correctly set up custom domain, Render includes TLS certificates for free, and Surge provisions a free certificate for custom domains. Neocities includes SSL for its own subdomain, while custom domain certificates are part of its Supporter plan.
What happens when I go over the free limit?
Each host handles it differently. Netlify pauses all projects when the Free credits run out. Firebase disables sites until the next month after a short grace period. Vercel says you usually wait 30 days before using the feature again, and Cloudflare Workers Free returns an error after 100,000 requests in a day.
Is there free hosting that needs no code?
Yes. The WordPress.com free plan costs nothing and has 1 GB of storage, but uses a WordPress.com subdomain, shows ads and allows no plugins. Carrd lets you build up to three sites with its core features for free; custom domains and forms are part of Pro.