We’ve seen so many people get excited to launch a website and then choose a free platform because it seems quick and budget-friendly. It feels like a smart shortcut until the limitations start to pile up.
We’ve tested dozens of these platforms ourselves. We’ve also helped countless users migrate away from them once things broke, slowed down, or just stopped working.
Whether it’s missing features, forced ads, or not having full control of your own content, the trade-offs can cost you more than you expect. And by the time you’re ready to grow, switching can feel like starting over.
In this article, we’ll walk you through the biggest reasons why free websites aren’t a good long-term choice, and what you should consider instead if you’re serious about building something that lasts.
What Do We Mean by a Free Website?
When you’re starting your first website, it’s natural to look for ways to keep costs low. We felt the same way when we were just getting started.
Search for “free website” and you’ll find plenty of platforms offering no-cost website builders or hosting. It sounds like a win. No setup fees, no monthly costs, just a site that’s ready to go.
But in most cases, the reality doesn’t match the promise. These services come with limits, hidden costs, or trade-offs that show up once you’re already committed.
TL;DR: Instead of relying on a free website platform, we recommend trusted providers like Bluehost and Hostinger. We host our own sites with them and have found them far more secure, reliable, and beginner-friendly.
If you’re considering a free option, take a moment to understand the downsides before diving in.
Here are 36 reasons why going with a free website service can actually hold you back.
1. Extremely Slow Websites
Free hosting companies often put hundreds of websites on a single shared server. This overload slows everything down.
Slow websites frustrate visitors and hurt your search rankings, which can make it harder for people to find you online.
2. Unprofessional Web Address
A web address like mysmallbusiness.freewebsite.com that doesn’t look trustworthy. It’s hard to promote and easy to forget.
Visitors may assume your site isn’t serious. If you want a custom domain, many free services charge extra—often more than what reliable registrars charge.
3. Trial Service Is Not Really Free
Many “free” website services are limited trials. After a short time, you’re pushed into an expensive upgrade plan.
If you added a credit card during signup, some platforms may even bill you automatically without notice.
4. Hidden Charges
We’ve found that many free website services hide extra costs. You may be charged for basic features like image hosting, email accounts, or file access.
Once you start needing those features, it’s no longer free, and often more expensive than real WordPress hosting.
5. They Can Lock Down Your Data
Some free services make it hard or impossible to move your website to a different platform later.
We’ve helped many users recover their data through our emergency support service, but it’s a frustrating process that could have been avoided.
6. Irrelevant Ads on Your Website
Free website builders often place ads on your site. These ads aren’t under your control and can look spammy or off-brand.
Even worse, your competitors could advertise on your site if the platform allows it. That’s not good for your reputation or conversions.
7. They Can Shut Down Your Website
Most free website services include terms that let them remove your site at any time, without warning or explanation.
If that happens, you could lose access to your content, and they’re not required to help you recover it.
8. The Company Can Disappear
We’ve seen free website platforms vanish overnight. When that happens, all the sites they host go offline too.
There’s usually no backup, no warning, and no way to get your data back.
9. You Can Lose Your Site Address
If your site is built on a subdomain and the company shuts down, you’ll lose that address forever.
Even if you rebuild elsewhere, visitors won’t be able to find you using the old link, and you can’t redirect it.
10. They May Sell Your Information
When a service is free, your personal data often becomes the product. Some platforms make money by selling your email, phone number, or website info to third parties.
Their terms of service usually give them full permission to do this, even if you never saw it coming.
11. No Site Building Tools
Most free platforms give you very basic design tools. They claim to offer lots of templates, but many users just get a few outdated designs.
Without real customization options, your site can end up looking just like hundreds of others—and not in a good way.
12. No WordPress
Free website services usually don’t support WordPress. That means no access to powerful tools, plugins, or SEO features.
WordPress powers over 43% of all websites. It’s what we use and recommend. You can read our full WordPress review to learn why.
13. Limited WordPress Access
Even if a free host lets you install WordPress, the experience is rough. You’ll likely run into traffic limits and server errors.
We’ve tested these setups ourselves and often saw 500 errors simply because their servers couldn’t handle it.
14. Malware Risks
Free hosts tend to have weaker security. We’ve seen cases where malware was added through ads, themes, or even backend access.
Google may blacklist your site, and recovering from it can be a long, expensive process.
15. Link Farm Exploitation
Some free hosting platforms sell off their user’ websites to shady SEO schemes. Your site could become part of a spammy link farm.
This hurts your SEO, your credibility, and it’s very hard to fix once it happens.
16. Limited Bandwidth
Bandwidth controls how much traffic your site can handle. Free services usually include strict limits.
That means your site may go offline if too many visitors show up, or load painfully slow during busy times.
17. Low Storage Space
Free websites usually come with tiny storage limits. Once you add a few images or blog posts, you hit a wall.
We’ve noticed they often use older servers, too, which makes everything slower for everyone on that system.
18. Higher Risk of Getting Hacked
Weak security makes these sites easy targets. We’ve seen free websites defaced, infected, or shut down without warning.
And since you don’t have access to full backups or tools, recovering your site can be nearly impossible.
19. Page Limits
Some free services only allow a few pages per site. Want to add more? That usually means upgrading to an expensive plan.
In many cases, you could get managed WordPress hosting for less than what these “upgrades” cost.
20. Users Won’t Trust It
Visitors can tell when a site is built on a free platform. It feels generic and doesn’t build confidence.
If people don’t trust your site, they’re not going to stick around, let alone share personal info or make a purchase.
21. Limited Design Choices
Free platforms give you a few basic templates, and that’s it. You can’t upload your own designs or use premium layouts like you can with WordPress themes.
That makes it hard to stand out or build something that feels truly yours.
22. No Help or Customer Support
Free website companies rarely offer support. If you get stuck, you’re usually on your own or asked to pay for slow, limited help.
Documentation is often outdated or unhelpful, making setup and troubleshooting even harder.
23. No Way to Monetize
Even though they run ads on your site, most free platforms won’t let you add your own ads, affiliate links, or Google AdSense.
You also won’t be able to set up an online store or a membership site, cutting off many ways to earn online.
24. No Backups
Most free sites don’t offer automatic backups. If something goes wrong, you can lose everything with no way to restore it.
We use Duplicator to keep our sites backed up and safe. It even lets you restore your site with one click. Here’s our full Duplicator review.
25. Hard to Delete Your Site
Some services make it difficult to fully delete your website. Your content may stay online, even after you’ve moved on.
That’s because your content helps them make money, and they’re not always eager to let it go.
26. No Analytics or Stats
You won’t get access to detailed traffic data or be able to install tools like Google Analytics.
That means you’ll have no real way to measure how people are finding or using your site.
27. Spammy Email Marketing
We’ve seen these platforms send frequent email offers, upsells, and upgrade pitches. In some cases, your email may even be sold to third-party marketers.
That’s not only annoying—it’s a privacy concern, too.
28. No Mobile Support for Managing Your Site
Free platforms often have dashboards that don’t work well on phones or tablets. That makes managing your site on the go difficult.
Modern websites need modern tools, and mobile access shouldn’t be optional.
29. Outdated, Non-Responsive Designs
Most free templates aren’t responsive. That means they don’t look right on mobile devices, which can frustrate visitors and hurt your SEO.
Using a responsive design is essential if you want your site to work everywhere.
30. No Branded Email Address
You can’t set up a professional email like you@yourdomain.com. Instead, you’re stuck using Gmail or Hotmail.
This doesn’t look professional for business communication or when building trust with new customers. Here’s how to get a branded email instead.
31. No Contact Forms or Email Forwards
Every website should have a way for visitors to reach you. But most free platforms don’t support custom contact forms.
Even worse, you usually can’t forward messages to your email, which makes staying connected harder.
32. Limited File Upload Options
With paid hosting, we use FTP or WordPress’s media uploader to add files easily. Free platforms, on the other hand, only let you upload one file at a time.
This slows things down and makes content management feel like a chore.
33. No Way to Set Up Redirects
Redirects help keep visitors on your site and protect your SEO. On WordPress, it’s easy to set up redirects with a plugin.
Free website platforms don’t support this, so if you ever move your site, your old visitors hit a dead end.
34. It’s Not Worth the Time
We’ve seen many beginners pour hours into free sites, only to start over when they hit limitations. That time could have gone toward building something solid from the start.
If you’re serious about your project, a free platform will just slow you down in the long run.
35. Not Even Great for Practice
Even if you’re just testing things out, free website platforms can be frustrating. The lack of real features makes it hard to learn or experiment properly.
If you want a safe space to practice, a local WordPress setup or low-cost hosting is a much better option.
Good Alternatives to a Free Website
The best alternative to a free website is, of course, a paid professional website. We’ve found that many hosting providers offer WordPress hosting at very affordable rates, which ensures better performance and control.
A great place to start is with Bluehost. They provide shared hosting services and are officially recommended by WordPress for hosting.
WPBeginner readers also get a generous discount with Bluehost, along with a free domain name, SSL certificate, and more. This means you can launch your site for just $1.99 per month.
Why We Recommend Bluehost?
- Secure and reliable WordPress hosting platform
- Affordable hosting plan with a free domain name
- Excellent 24/7 customer support
We use Bluehost to host several websites. To learn more, see our full Bluehost review.
If you’re new to website creation, you can check out our comprehensive guide on how to make a website (the right way).
We have also compiled a list of our favorite cheap WordPress hosting providers that you can look at. They offer great value for money, and you can avoid all the downsides of a free website.
If you’d prefer not to pay and are just looking to practice, you can set up WordPress on your own computer. Installing WordPress on Windows or Mac is easy.
🎁 Bonus Tip: If you haven’t used WordPress before, our free WordPress course can guide you. This video course covers everything from installation to building professional-grade websites with WordPress.
Cost-Saving Tips for Building a Professional Website
You don’t have to spend a fortune to build a high-quality website. These guides will help you make smart choices, like using premium-style themes for free, picking the right plugins, and taking advantage of powerful tools without overspending.
- How Much Does It Really Cost to Build a WordPress Website?
- Mindblowing Premium-Like Free WordPress Themes
- When Is It Worth It to Buy Premium WordPress Plugins? (Explained)
- Free Google Tools Every WordPress Blogger Should Use
We hope this article helped you learn why having a free website is a bad idea. You may also want to read our guide explaining why you should use WordPress or this article on why is WordPress free, what are the costs, and what is the catch?
If you liked this article, then please subscribe to our YouTube Channel for WordPress video tutorials. You can also find us on Twitter and Facebook.
Jiří Vaněk
Yes, free websites are a very bad idea. If you truly want to destroy your professional reputation and your company’s name, this is exactly the way to do it. Free websites are often paid for by displaying ads, so they’re not really free. You’re paying by having ads on your site, and you’re also paying with your reputation. Today, no one trusts such sites, and many users will immediately leave because if you’re cutting corners on something as affordable as a website, they’ll feel like you’ll cut corners on them too. Nowadays, professional hosting and a domain cost around $5 a month, sometimes even less. This is something you definitely shouldn’t skimp on if you’re serious about your work, reputation, and gaining new customers. You only have one reputation and can only make a first impression once.
kzain
This article hits the nail on the head! Free websites can be a good starting point to experiment, and I totally get it, that’s how I began my online journey too. But like you say, the limitations become painfully clear after a while.
No proper support, an unprofessional domain name, and ads that benefit them but not you – it’s all true! Eventually, everyone building something serious needs to make the switch to a professional website.
Dennis Muthomi
Excellent article.
I have used them when I was getting started in blogging, and can personally relate to the slow speeds and limited resuorces.
But, the biggest risk that I didn’t fully consider was losing all my hard work if the hosting company went MIA.
Mrteesurez
Well said, you have said it all. I don’t advise settling for a free website except for experiment, one will start from somewhere as I have also used free website in the initial days of my online endeavour.
The fact is you will finally migrate to a professional website no matter how long you used free website, you will be encountering more of the problems and limitations mentioned in this post.
The worst of it are, no help or support, ugly domain and they make money off you with advertisement but never allow you to make your own. lol.
Louis
Thanks mate. really useful information.
I lover this site ❤
WPBeginner Support
Glad you found our reasoning helpful
Admin
Hannah
Could you tell me what a key word is please and how it affects personal and meaningful conversations ??!
Thank you.
WPBeginner Support
For understanding what a keyword is, you would want to take a look at our article here: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-do-keyword-research-for-your-wordpress-blog/
Admin
Hannah
Could you give me some more information about the bluehost basic hosting account. I have chatted to them but don’t find I’m getting the right response.
Is it the best place to go for a web site total beginner.
Does it carry outside advertising ie from companies or services. I don’t want to have advertising if poss.
Do all hosting accounts charge the full term up front.
This is something I feel I might like to try but don’t want to get embroiled into a financial net.
Your information was really excellent about free web sites but I still like I’m at the beginning of a twisty labrynth.
WPBeginner Support
Where to start for a beginner is a large amount of personal preference. We have recommended hosts here:
https://www.wpbeginner.com/hosting/
Your site should only have ads that you place on it.
Not all hosts, you would need to check with the hosts for if they have a monthly plan.
Admin
Matt
Not everyone wants to start a blog to make money. In fact, real writers proabably do so to show off their work. Not for the money. This might be a reason why some people use free hosting sites.
WPBeginner Support
While not all sites are looking to monetize, 14 and 15 are major concerns for free hosting that is not official such as WordPress.com.
Admin
George
Hi Sir Thanks for sharing this post. I really need this. I am working on Blogspot and joomla demo version. I also WordPress site using free web host companies. I faced problems in installing plugins. I think that how they give us free hosting while bluehost, and other sites give us paid hosting then I searched it on google then I found your informative article.
Sir I have question…
Some companies also provide free domain .tk .cm, and many others but .com
.org are paid. Should I use their free domains..???
Sir Reply me must…plzzzzz
WPBeginner Support
Hi George,
No, such free hosting accounts are not good. Please see the article above for more details.
Admin
Jalu Kaba
If you want to be serious about blogging. To my knowledge, all professionals in the world of bloggers strongly recommend buying your own hosting and domain. Because each one is free, there is a risk in it.
I’ve read free domains sometimes used as mounts for farming cryptocurrency. And there are cases when your traffic is good, then your free domain will be claimed and you will be asked a high price if you want to have it.
It is safer and you are calm in blogging if you buying domain and self-hosting. Many trusted companies provide cheap packages, around $ 2- $3 / month.
Gareth
I’m just completely blown-away by the amount of people that have a website hosted on a free platform like Blogger/Wordpress.com and struggle to get traffic, make it successful, make money, etc.
I think it goes without saying; You get what you pay for.
I understand the need to be frugal and everything, but most of these people that start blogs on free platforms, are the same people that have read that you can make a living with a blog, simply writing dailyabout your passion. They don’t want to part wth any money.
That’s mind-boggling to me.
Here’s another relative saying; “You have to spend money to make money”.
Gareth
Hansama
thanks, it’s very good information, btw i’m using blogger so there is something that i don’t agree about your opinion. but i want to move to a self-hosted wordpress. which one must i do, blogger(free) or wordpress ? thanks before.
sorry for my english,
WPBeginner Support
Self hosted WordPress.
Admin
Ali
I try it free then if i really like it i will pay for it
Bcuz Good job deserve lot of money it is nothing to discuss about
Nessa
So I started a blog on wordpress.com about 2 years ago. For the content I deal with, it’s been fairly successful. At the time, I didn’t realize the perks to having a a wordpress.org site vs wordpress.com and would like to switch over. I’m worried that doing so will cause all of my stats and posts to get deleted though; is that the case? Will I have to copy and paste all of my posts and lose all of my comments/followers?
WPBeginner Support
You can easily move to a self hosted WordPress.org site. Please see our guide on how to move from WordPress.com to WordPress.org.
Admin
Nessa
Thanks so much! This is exactly what I need! I was worried about losing all my stats and comments! Wordpress.com already had a glitch that dropped some of them so I was was worried about it happening again!
George
No you can migrate your site wpbeginners also write article on it.
Goto the following link
https://www.wpbeginner.com/wp-tutorials/how-to-properly-move-your-blog-from-wordpress-com-to-wordpress-org/
Eric Snissaert
What about the free http://www.wordpress.com? I personally don’t use it. I own 2 paid WP websites which meet my needs fully. But I can imaging someone with a very low budget who want to build a website for a club or something like that could start off with wordpress.com. Or not?
WPBeginner Support
Moving websites is painful, specially if you are not a developer. Users could spend months building a following and search traffic and all of this could get affected during a move to self hosted WordPress. It’s best to start with the most flexible platform right in the beginning so that you have plenty of room to grow.
Admin
Bishal
Free Websites are need to use for only practice & Expriment perpose only..
Tejas Waghmode
How to use marquee in WordPress???
WPBeginner Support
See
Admin
GLGale
It shouldn’t surprise me that a site for Wordpress beginners which is heavily geared towards promoting nothing but Wordpress should be bashing free websites. There are probably plenty of bad free website companies out there but there are also some pretty damn good ones as well. I’ve designed professional sites using various software for over 15 years, from a basic text editor to Dreamweaver to Wordpress and many others I’ve forgotten. They all have their own quirks and bugs and different learning curves.
However, I’ve been running a number of free multi-page sites on Weebly for over 5 years now. I’ve had no problem with speed, upload limits, storage, visits, forms, customized pages or any of the numerous negatives you accuse free sites of. I’ve had almost 10x as much traffic on these sites as I’ve ever had on my Dreamweaver and Wordpress sites and I’ve had no problem setting my own SEO. I have one site that duplicates an older Dreamweaver site that gets even more traffic and both sites are still active and have the same SEO.
I don’t disagree with some of your points and they do offer fair warning to avoid free site builders with no history or track record, but I think you are unfairly tossing everyone but Wordpress under the bus for no reason. In truth I’ve found Wordpress to be far more unwieldy for handing over to clients who can’t handle the learning curve and then proceed to dismantle what was once a beautiful site. I’ve never had this problem with clients on a weebly site, they just work.
Editorial Staff
Thanks Gale. This article is for business owners who are about to start their site. Starting on a free hosting company or web page builder isn’t a good long term solution. That includes WordPress.com (free blog hosting) which we don’t recommend.
We are recommending the self-hosted WordPress and we have always done so.
Admin
Katharine
I know I should move my wp.com site over to blue, but I have a friend who did this and actually got the half price. I cannot figure out how to do that and there was not link to that info on your post. Help!
WPBeginner Support
Simply clicking on the BlueHost link in the post will give you a 50% discount.
Admin
Katharine
Thanks!
Ajmal Mp
That is regular price search on google
Why spamming?!
ZIS
Good article! Thats why I built my own website on paid domain and hosing.
Liz Bobeck
Great article, whole-heartedly agree with you, although the low cost options are really only low cost options for the initial period of time. Bluehost is bad about this, give you a deal, then screw you later by jacking up the prices. Then they screw with your site and never tell you. I’d rather use Siteground.
Dave Lum
For a small “mom and pop” business, free Wordpress.org websites are just fine. Our five pages had content uploaded from my computer, and would take about four hours to re-create. There is a free contact form, which works. There’s free Google Analytics to track activity. Yes, we do pay for a custom domain, but that’s peanuts. Free is great for some.
Your article should have a subtitle: “and ten situations where a free website is great.”
WPBeginner Support
Please see our guide on the difference between self hosted WordPress.org vs free WordPress.com blog.
Admin
Md Nazmul Islam
Thank you Syed Balkhi to find out and explain great things. So, what about the reusing themes?
Jacob Christian Glover
Excellent Article! I started out with my first WordPress website and hosting through ipage, nearly three years ago. It’s been a wonderful learning experience that I wouldn’t trade. I’ve always thought of the possible limits to having a “free website” and your article has more than confirmed some of my deepest concerns. Ten WordPress sites later and I don’t see any chance of slowing down in sight. It’s a great feeling to know that every site that I build is mine from A to Z! Thanks again, great information, be well Mr. Winney!
Jacob Christian Glover
Correction! I credited the wrong person in my comments, this is a great piece that many individuals seeking the personal gratification of building a website should read. Great job to the Editorial Staff, and many apologies for crediting the wrong person, be well!
Tim
Good article. We actually get free hosting from Bluehost, due to our nonprofit status. Had to jump through a couple hoops with Guidestar.org and update our info there, but overall, well worth it! Might be worth looking at Jason. http://www.bentleyvilleusa.org
Grant Winney
Great article. Lots of valid points here.
I use DigitalOcean with pretty low hardware specs to run a WordPress blog, and it’s been good. They’re getting paid, so they can actually offer help when people need it. If I need more bandwidth or memory or whatever, I can just up it… I’m not stuck with some bottom-of-the-barrel “free” service with a bunch of artificial limits.
The worst would be gaining some traction, attracting some traffic, having some conversations with people.. and then having the rug pulled out from under you, and the company disappears and takes your catspajamas.freewebhostproviders.com url with them. And now no one can find you.
Totally worth paying 5-10 bucks a month to save the headache. There’s more than one kind of “free”, and free providers are anything but.
Jeff Mills
Great article. I especially like the line in #10 “if you are not paying for it, then you are the product”.
Jason
Really, really great article. I’ve encouraged people to switch from these free hosting companies for quite a while. The only one I recommended to start was Wordpress.COM. However, it doesn’t pay to stay there–you’ll eventually need to move to self-hosted on Bluehost or someone similar.
The other thing I learned in the past couple years–don’t use website companies. They usually are not built on the Wordpress system and they control the site look/feel have their own tools that are proprietary to their organization.
I recently moved our church from a hosting site like mentioned above to Wordpress.ORG. It was like pulling teeth to get our domain transfered to Bluehost. They ended up selling our domain to another registrar–whom I didn’t know. It was rough.
I’m very happy with Wordpress for our church – if you want to check it out. I’ve been on Wordpress for a while – you can check it out below.
I’ll be sharing this article on my social networks. Thanks Syed for sharing this information.
Blessings,
Jason
Jan McClintock
Very nice roundup, thank you! I have a similar post from a while ago but this adds quite a few more reasons. Love this blog.
Amobi chuks
That really feel so bad. I’m running a wordpress site that always give me series of nightmares from memory limit to page not found. Currently using their shared hosting. Virtual hosting is really too high for students.
Angelica Costa
I was expecting something about a website that gives a away free stuff, but it its about a free hosted websited. My bad.
Nice article, indeed there is no reason today to to use free hosting. There are really cheap and good services out there.