When you start looking for web hosting in India for your website, you have several choices and decisions to make. The first choice is between free and paid web hosting services. While a free hosting plan seems attractive because there is no financial burden on you, you might have to compromise on certain features and benefits. On the other hand, a paid plan allows you to choose the features and resources as per your site’s needs. Today, we will be comparing free and paid web hosting services and help you choose the best option for you.
A free web hosting service is ideal for businesses that are testing the waters and want to assess the market before launching themselves. They can also get a lesson in site hosting and can be better prepared when they move to a cost-efficient paid hosting service.
Free Hosting vs Paid Hosting
Here is a quick comparison between free and paid hosting services:
1. Domain name
Most free hosting providers include their name in your site’s domain name. While this does not impact the performance of your website, it can have a bearing on the brand’s reputation and trust. With paid hosting, your domain name will not have any other company’s name included in it.
2. Site speed
Most paid hosting providers will ensure faster page loading times as compared to free hosting providers. In today’s times, when users expect sites to load in the blink of an eye, site speed is a crucial factor. Also, most search engines use site speed as an essential factor while determining the SEO rank of the page. If you are worried about the SEO of your website, opt for a paid hosting plan.
3. Advertisements
Free hosting providers can afford to offer free services by placing advertisements on your website. The site owner has little or no control over these ads or pop-ups. It can impact the user experience. In paid hosting, you can put ads on your site only if you want to earn revenue from them.
4. Support
In free hosting, support is usually in the form of an FAQ page or user forums. On the other hand, in paid hosting services, you have a tech support team that you can talk to for any problem.
5. Resources
A website performs based on available resources like bandwidth and storage space. With free hosting, the resources are limited, and on the lower side. However, with paid hosting, you can opt for higher resources based on your site’s requirements since you are paying for it.
6. Security
For any website, big or small, security is a crucial factor. With hackers and cyber-criminals trying to steal the personal data of online users, ignoring this aspect can be costly in the long-run. While most free hosting providers try to ensure high-security levels, paid hosting providers have to spend more on tools and experts to ensure that they stay in business.
Summing Up
In a nutshell, we believe that a free hosting plan is right for new websites that are testing a new concept or market segment. However, if you want to create a strong online presence, then the performance of your site cannot be overlooked. By opting for a paid hosting service, you can ensure that you have some control over your site’s performance. You can start with a Shared Hosting plan and upgrade it to a more efficient plan if needed. Good Luck!
