Last updated: 2026-07-19 | Key changes: reflects the shutdown of 000webhost, Naver Modoo, and Glitch; Dotholm's 2026 policy changes (new free SSL applications ended, SSH removed); updated current free-plan limits for Netlify/Vercel/Cloudflare
What Is Free Web Hosting?
Free web hosting is a service that lets you run a website at no cost. It's a good entry point for personal blogs, portfolios, learning projects, and small websites. But being "free" comes with tradeoffs in storage, traffic, and features, and between 2024 and 2025 several well-known free services — 000webhost, Naver Modoo, Glitch — shut down one after another, making service-continuity risk a central factor in choosing a free host.
The market itself has also shifted. Traditional PHP+MySQL-style free hosting is shrinking, while static-site and serverless developer platforms (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify) have become the de facto standard for free tiers.
Advantages of Free Web Hosting
| Advantage | Description |
|---|---|
| Zero upfront cost | You can launch a homepage, portfolio, or blog immediately |
| Simple to set up | Drag-and-drop builders or Git-based auto-deploy let you run a site with no coding required |
| Ideal for learning and testing | Great for practicing web development, trying out a CMS, or trialing a project with no pressure |
| Upgrade path available | You can move to a paid plan on the same platform as your site grows |
Drawbacks of Free Web Hosting
| Drawback | Description |
|---|---|
| Storage and traffic limits | Storage typically ranges from a few hundred MB to a few GB, and traffic from a few GB to 100GB per month. Some also cap daily requests (e.g., InfinityFree caps at 30,000 hits/day) |
| Custom domain restrictions | Subdomains (e.g., username.github.io, sitename.pages.dev) are the default, and connecting a custom domain is sometimes a paid option |
| Forced ads | Some services (e.g., Wix's free plan) display ads or vendor branding on your site |
| Reduced performance and stability | Traffic spikes can cause slowdowns or temporary account suspension |
| Restrictions on commercial use | Some free plans, like Vercel Hobby, prohibit commercial use in their terms |
| Risk of service shutdown | As with 000webhost (2024), Naver Modoo (2025), and Glitch (2025), free services can shut down at any time |
| Weaker security and support | Professional security measures and customer support are more limited than paid tiers |
Notable Free Services Shut Down Recently (Changes vs. Earlier Documents)
| Service | Shutdown | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 000webhost | October 2024 | Hostinger fully shut it down after 17 years, steering users toward paid Hostinger plans |
| Naver Modoo | June 2025 | Korea's flagship free homepage builder service ended; Dotholm Builder and others have emerged as alternatives |
| Glitch | Mid-2025 | App/project hosting functionality shut down |
Major Free Web Hosting Services Compared (as of 2026)
Traditional (PHP + MySQL) Free Hosting
| Service | Storage | Traffic/Request Limit | Ads | Domain | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| InfinityFree | ~5GB (30,000 file limit) | Unlimited bandwidth, but 30,000 hits/day limit | None | Subdomain/custom domain | Small PHP sites, WordPress testing |
| AwardSpace | 1GB | ~5GB/month | None | Subdomain/custom domain | Personal websites (note: free plan has no SSL) |
| Dotholm | A few hundred MB standard | Daily/monthly traffic limit (blocked once exceeded) | None | Basic subdomain; custom domain requires DomainPlus (500 KRW/month) | Korean users, Gnuboard/simple PHP homepages |
| Wix (Free plan) | 500MB | 500MB | Wix ads displayed | Subdomain only | Drag-and-drop sites with no coding |
- New free SSL applications have ended, transitioning to a subscription-based automated SSL service.
- Free hosting still allows 2 accounts per user, extended in 6-month increments.
Developer/Static-Site Focused (the mainstream of free hosting today)
| Service | Characteristics | Storage | Traffic | Best For |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GitHub Pages | Auto-deploy via Git push, Jekyll support | 1GB repo limit | 100GB/month (soft limit) | Frontend portfolios, static sites, project docs |
| Cloudflare Pages | Global CDN (300+ cities),unlimited free bandwidth, integrated with Workers/D1/R2/KV | - | Unlimited (static requests) | Sites with highly variable traffic, edge computing, maximum cost efficiency |
| Vercel (Hobby) | Next.js-optimized, preview deployments, Fluid Compute GA in 2026 | - | 100GB/month, 1M function invocations | Next.js/React projects.Note: commercial use prohibited by terms |
| Netlify (Free) | GitHub integration, form handling, SSL provided | - | 100GB/month,build minutes reduced from 300 to 100/month | JAMstack, content-focused sites |
| Firebase Hosting (Spark) | Provided by Google, integrates with the Google ecosystem | 10GB | Daily transfer limit model | Projects using Firebase auth/DB |
| Render (Free) | Free tier for backend APIs | - | Free web services sleep when idle; free PostgreSQL expires after 30 days | Full-stack practice, Node.js/Python demos |
As of 2026, the positioning of the top three platforms is fairly clear: Vercel for full-stack Next.js, Cloudflare for high-traffic static/edge workloads, and Netlify for form/CMS-centric JAMstack. In particular, Vercel's free plan starts billing once you exceed 100GB/month, so sites with unpredictable traffic are safer on Cloudflare Pages, which has unlimited bandwidth.
Which Service Should You Choose?
| Situation | Recommended Service |
|---|---|
| Want to build a site without coding | Wix (accept the ads), Dotholm Builder |
| Developer portfolio/static site | GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages |
| Next.js/React project | Vercel (non-commercial), Cloudflare Pages |
| Unpredictable or spike-prone traffic | Cloudflare Pages (unlimited bandwidth) |
| Site needs PHP + MySQL | InfinityFree, AwardSpace, Dotholm |
| Building your own backend API too | Render, Cloudflare Workers, Firebase |
| Need Korean-language support and domestic servers | Dotholm |
Cautions
Not suitable for commercial or large-scale sites — Beyond traffic and performance constraints, some plans, like Vercel Hobby, prohibit commercial use entirely in their terms. Paid hosting is recommended for business sites.
The risk of service shutdown is real, not theoretical — 000webhost (2024), Naver Modoo (2025), and Glitch (2025) actually shut down. Keep your source and data backed up locally/in Git so you can migrate at any time while using free hosting. Git-based deployment platforms (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare, Vercel, Netlify) are structurally resilient to this risk since the repository itself is the source of truth.
Check for SSL policy changes — Static deployment platforms provide SSL automatically, but traditional free hosts can change policy. Dotholm ended new free SSL applications as of July 2026.
Check for hidden limits — Beyond storage and traffic, hidden limits like daily request counts (hits), file counts (inodes), CPU usage, and build time are often the real bottleneck. Netlify reduced its free build time to 100 minutes/month.
Data backups are essential — Free services often lack robust backup features, so regular manual backups are necessary.
Conclusion
Free web hosting remains an excellent choice for learning, testing, and personal portfolios, and for static sites in particular, today's 2026 free tiers (GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, etc.) provide what's effectively paid-grade infrastructure. On the other hand, the traditional PHP free hosting market is shrinking and tightening its policies, so if you plan to run a dynamic site for free, you must closely monitor service continuity and changing limits. As your site grows, it's safest to consider moving to paid hosting early.