Free VS. Paid Web Hosting

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Free web hosting allows users to upload text files and pictures to a web hosting server at no cost. Bandwidth, disk space and other system resources such as CPU and RAM are shared between a large number of users hosted on the server. As a result, disk space and bandwidth resources available to a free web hosting user are quite limited. This type of hosting is best suited for individuals who are new to web hosting or businesses and non-profit organizations that are just starting out and need to put up a website on a tight budget. Free web hosting usually provides users various tools to easily upload their content apart from ready to use templates and site builders to create web pages quickly and without much hassle. In spite of these advantages, free web hosting does have several drawbacks. The major drawback of this type of hosting is that the provider usually requires banner ads to be place onto your web pages. As these providers offer a service free of charge, they do not have any other source of earning revenue and in turn use ads placed on the user’s site to generate the needed funds. This can in turn deface a perfectly designed website and become quite annoying for visitors because ads can also appear in the form of popup or popunder windows, besides having a negative impact on the credibility and integrity of your business since you have no control over the nature of the ads that appear on your website. Free web hosting users also need to compromise on security. Servers which are used to provide such a service do not offer adequate protection against hackers and unauthorized access to a user’s files unlike paid web hosting. Another disadvantage of free web hosting is that the shared servers tend to become overcrowded which in turn negatively affects server performance and can result in slowing down your site. This is also why free web hosting servers aren’t very reliable. Support is non-existent, so individuals cannot turn to the web host for technical assistance in case of any issues with their site. Users who opt for free web hosting are required to use subdomains which include the name of the provider, such as yourdomain.freewebhost.com or freewebhost.com/yourdomain which has an unprofessional and unattractive appearance. This can also make moving to another provider problematic and the user runs the risk of losing her data. Free web hosting providers can also cancel their free service offerings and require the user to pay a monthly fee in order to continue using their service without providing adequate notice.

In contrast, paid web hosting customers enjoy 24/7 technical support for their accounts. Their sites are hosted on reliable servers and they need to worry less about server uptime. Paid web hosting customers can use domain names which they personally register apart from being able to use a large number of subdomains and parked domains depending on the service they subscribe to. Disk space and bandwidth is allotted to these customers based on their requirements and can be increased at the user’s request. Paid hosting servers are much more secure compared to free web hosting servers as providers dedicate more time and resources to ensure that their customers are safe from hackers and intruders. Users also do not need to worry about banner ads being placed on their sites by the provider. Paid web hosting provides its users a large number of easy to use tools and features such as the ability to install third party scripts, manage MySQL databases and email accounts, add subdomains and parked domains, reset account passwords, view traffic stats, etc and the ability to secure their websites using SSL certificates. Paid web hosting is the only option for individuals, organizations and businesses that want to project a reliable and professional look to their visitors, particularly if they wish to run e-commerce websites and want to make sure that their sites run smoothly.

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