When I started to look for a “good free host”, a few years ago (back then I couldn’t see the point in paying for hosting service while so many companies out there are willing to provide it free of charge. Nonetheless, I wanted a good hosting service, i.e. no ads, stable, easy to use, fast loading, all the features, etc etc etc.. I heard someone saying in one of the forums that there are no “good” free web hosts, but I was naive and thought that whoever looks good enough will always find.

After having tried over a dozen of “good” free hosts, or at least the highly recommended ones,  I came to realize that ‘good’ and ‘free’ never goes hand in hand if we talk about web hosting. You also need to compromise. Some hosts want to upgrade to a their cheap, yet paid account. They will do anything to make you pay these few dollars. AwardSpace, for example,  offers a very extended cPanel for theirfree hosting accounts. One click database instalation, a lot of easy managment, yet when you come to use it… “oops!”, this feature is only for paid customers, sorry. Want to upgrade?

It’s a very dirty trick when they tease you with some nice features and when you click it says it’s not for you. It’s cruel. And unfair towards the middle class.

Another problem with free hosts is that naturally you get no guarantee. You may lose all your content, website, database tomorrow and they would only raise their eye brow pointing at a line in their TOS stating the service s provided with no warranties of any kind. I know many people who had issues with paid hosts, so I guess it’s pretty silly to anticipate anything from webspace that was given away to you for free.

Bottom line is,  some free hosts are not as bad as others, but they will never ever be “good”…