10 Best Free Web Hosting for Students (2023)
Online education is no longer strange and scary, especially now in difficult times. The number of online classes is also on the rise, and both students and teachers want to take advantage of the web hosting for students and teachers offered by many hosting providers. Nowadays, a hosting plan is just as needed as a pen and a notebook!
The good news is that many web hosts offer affordable and sometimes even free hosting for students.
Take this piece of advice from me as someone that builds and grows websites for a living. Free web hosting is mainly for playground and it is often too limited.
There are free plans in this article but if you plan to do something rigth at least pick a decent cheap hosting plan below from trusted brands like NameCheap or SiteGround
In today’s article, we want to show you our recommendations for the best hosting providers that offer students discounted or free web hosting. We’ll look at the web hosting packages they offer and all the features included in them, together with the hosts’ speed, support, and security.
Which Host Offers The Best Paid Web Hosting For Students
If you are a university student learning how to code or you plan on building your professional online presence, the best place to start your journey is web hosting for students. Still, starting a web hosting account means you must research, and we are here to help you.
Here are some of the web hosting providers that offer the best hosting for students to will help you support education and mitigate costs at the same time:
NameCheap
NameCheap does not offer student web hosting, but its shared hosting plans are so cheap that any university student will be happy to use them. NameCheap is a hosting provider and a domain name registrar that is reliable and affordable. Founded in 2000, the host manages more than 10 million domains.
Pricing and Features
NameCheap offers three shared hosting plans, but we will focus on their basic package, Stellar. Right now, the shared hosting plan starts at $1.43 per month (for the first year), one of the lowest prices a hosting company offers.
After the initial period (one year), the plan renews at $2.88, a very reasonable price for both a teacher and a student. With this package, you get a free domain name, 3 websites, unlimited bandwidth, 20GB SSD storage, free website builder, automatic SSL certificate installation, and a 30-day money-back guarantee!
Support and Speed
When it comes to client support, Namecheap has it all! Students get a helpful support center, knowledgebase, plenty of ‘how-to’ videos, live chat, ‘get started’ articles, ticketing system, status updates, and more.
In terms of speed, we were quite surprised by the good performance of the host. We have to mention that Namecheap also gives you the chance to boost your site speed by 68% with its supersonic content delivery network.
Wix
Wix is undoubtedly the leader in website building, but what we really like about this web host is that it wants to help students by offering free and discounted services and features. The company was founded in 2006 and quickly became a recognizable name.
Nowadays, Wix has more than 180M users who are happy with the powerful technology they get to build a stunning, functional, and professional online presence. With Wix, you can create everything: your blog, CV, online portfolio, website, or eCommerce store.
Related: Wix Review 2023: When (and when not) to use Wix!
Pricing and Features
Wix allows you to design your online portfolio for free. You get to choose between 100s of beautiful templates, present your story, and work with plenty of high-quality images and videos. In addition, Wix offers its web hosting services for free (not only for students and teachers but in general), so once you are done with your site, it will be visible on the Internet!
Another great thing Wix offers is a 50% student discount on all yearly plans! You need a Student Beans account and ID to get instant access to plenty of features and add-ons for half the normal price.
Customer Support
We love Wix’s help center. The company has one of the best knowledge bases we have ever since, with multiple ‘get started’ tutorials, ‘domain name’ articles, marketing tool strategies, and so much more! Wix also offers phone support, but you must log in from your computer and request a callback.
SiteGround
SiteGround is one of those hosts that cater to both teachers and students. The hosting for students they offer is not free, but it is super cheap and includes everything a university student will need to start the next “big thing” from their dorm room, except for a free domain name.
Check our detailed Siteground review
Pricing and Features
SiteGround’s hosting plan for students costs $1.99 per month. For this price, you are guaranteed easy management with site tools and exceptional speed with CDN caching. The student hosting package includes everything a regular shared hosting plan does:10 GB Storage Space, many PHP versions, free email accounts, daily backups, unmetered traffic, site tools with app manager, and more! All you need to sign up for this amazing offer is a valid university email!
Support and Speed
Site speed influences your site’s conversion rates and search engine visibility; that’s why SiteGround built its hosting platform on Google Cloud and now uses SSD persistent storage and a super-fast network. Moreover, the host added its server setup that offers various multiple-speed optimizations.
In terms of user support, you get 24/7 support with a live chat option and a helpful knowledge base where you can find the answers to all of your questions. The host provides its customers with many WordPress tutorials, business guides, and ebooks.
iPage
The next hosting company that offers cheap web hosting for students is iPage. The host was originally founded in 1998 and currently manages over 1 million websites. It has two data centers and is ideal for small business owners and students looking for an easy-to-use control panel, unmetered disk space and bandwidth, and FREE domain registration.
Pricing and Features
iPage has one shared hosting package, and it is more than impressive. It starts at $1.99, which, as any student would agree, is more than great. However, this price applies for 3-year-long deals, and after the first year, it renews at $7.99/mo. The plan has a 30-day money-back guarantee and includes various tools, resources, and mobile-friendly layouts.
We believe this is a great suggestion for web hosting for students since it also includes unlimited websites, unlimited disk space, a free domain name for a year, a free website builder, an SSL certificate, and 24/7 support! Moreover, even after the first year expires, the price is quite good, even for a student!
Support and Speed
We really like iPage because it provides onboarding assistance, available 24/7. The host has a live chat with a rapid response time, and there is also phone support you can use any time you want.
The iPage knowledge base is also handy, offering many articles and guides and technical support through screen sharing connection. Since your site will be hosted on high-performance servers, your page loading times will also be swift.
Which Host Offers The Best Free Web Hosting For Students
000webhost
When it comes to free web hosting for students, 000webhost is one of the coolest options on the market. Its ‘free web hosting’ package does not cost anything and is ideal for students looking for a free hosting service for their projects.
Hostinger powers 000webhost and is currently considered the best provider for free web hosting for students. Aside from free web hosting, with 000wwebhost, you also get a free website builder, free domain hosting, free PHP hosting, and more.
Pricing and Features
000webhost has 4 shared hosting suggestions, and they are all super affordable (well, the first one is actually free, so, yeah…) The free web hosting package includes 300MB disk space, 1 site, 3 GB bandwidth, Cloudflare protection, 1MySQL database, 1 FTP account, and more.
You also get a 99. 9% uptime guarantee with all of 000webhost’s shared hosting plans.
However, if you want unlimited bandwidth, you should choose between the last two plans, Premium Shared Hosting and Business Shared Hosting. Both of them include an unlimited number of websites, but the Business plan offers more disk space- 100GB, which is one reason why it starts at $3.99 per month (which is still an incredible price that even students can afford to pay.)
Customer Support
The free web hosting package offered by 000webhost does not include 24/7 support, which means that if you have any questions, you will have to use the FAQs, articles, and tutorials provided on its website.
Weebly
Weebly is a drag-and-drop builder that helps you build your website professionally and efficiently. You get tailored, step-by-step guidance that allows you to create precisely what you want in the best free way possible.
This website and eCommerce service were founded on the belief that everyone should have the tools to realize their idea. Weebly was founded in 2007 and acquired by Square in 2018. Based in San Francisco, the do-it-yourself site builder is now powering millions of businesses on over 50 million websites worldwide.
Related: Weebly Review 2023: What to Expect
Pricing and Features
With Weebly, you don’t need coding and a huge amount of money. Just choose a template that suits your personality and get started! If you are a student, you will love Weebly mainly because it offers a free hosting plan for students.
With the free web hosting plan, you get 500MB storage, free SSL security, SEO, and a domain with Weebly branding. If you want to connect a custom domain, you will have to choose one of the paid plans. This drag-and-drop builder’s Pro and Business plans include a free domain name, free SSL, and free Google adds.
Customer Support
Most free web hosting plans offered by web hosts and site builders do not include customer support. That’s why Weebly is literally a breath of fresh air. Its $0.00-per-month plan includes community forum, chat, and email support. We also enjoy that all of Weebly’s plans have a 30-day money-back guarantee, even though students using the free web hosting for students won’t need that.
InterServer
If there is one thing that InterServer has proved, it is that their commitment to their customers never wavers! Founded in 1999, the company has provided web hosting services for over 20 years. Even though technology has changed a lot since the date of the host’s founding, InterServer has managed to evolve its product and remain one of the best web hosting companies out there.
Nowadays, InterServer offers shared and cloud hosting, dedicated servers, quick servers, and reseller hosting. InterServer is reliable, affordable, and most importantly, offers free hosting for students!
Read further: InterServer Reviews 2023 – Is it Comparable to Big Players?
Pricing and Features
To take advantage of InterServer’s student hosting offer, you only need to sign up with your .edu email address. The company will immediately load you a 1-year free web hosting credit to your account.
You’ll get unlimited storage, website transfer service, unlimited websites and email accounts, easy-to-use cPanel, SSD enhanced servers and more. Through the control panel, you will also get access to more than one hundred apps for quick installation.
Customer Support
InterServer offers excellent customer support. You get three emails for each department: technical support, billing support, sales team. Moreover, there are several numbers provided for the UK, USA, Mexico, and more. The company has a live chat option as well. Still, if you don’t feel like chatting, you can check the host’s tutorials and articles.
AccuWebHosting
AccuWebHosting is one of the best hosting companies that provide all types of hosting services, including shared hosting, cloud hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. The sole fact that AccuWebHosting has been the PCMAG’s editor’s choice for 3 years in a row is proof of how reliable this hosting provider is.
With more than 17 years of experience, AccuWebHosting has not forgotten its primary goal- to help people achieve their dreams. That’s why the host pays special attention to students and provides them with unique hosting for students (free.)
Related: AccuWeb Hosting Reviews 2023: Details, Pricing, & Features
Pricing and Features
AccuWebhosting’s goal- to help computer and systems engineer students, is undoubtedly strong. As long as you’re a current student at a well-known university and can provide documentation to support that, you can sign up for this hosting provider’s free hosting package for students.
After you follow the steps required to apply, you’ll get the best web hosting package for students that includes cPanel, 2 GB SSD storage, PHP 5.x, 7.x, Perl & Python Support, DDOS Protection, MySQL Database Support, 99.9% uptime guarantee, and more. You don’t get unlimited bandwidth, but 30 GB is still quite impressive.
Support
As we already mentioned, this is pretty much the best web hosting package you can get. It includes MySQL Database Support, video tutorials, knowledgebase, and IMAP / SMTP / POP3 protocol support. If you encounter any issue that your teacher and their lesson plan cannot help you with, you can always use the live chat, the phone, and the company’s email address.
The Best Cloud Web Hosting For Students
Cloud hosting a bit more complicated than shared, and not so many students actually need services like VPS and cloud hosting. That’s why in terms of cloud hosting for students, there are basically three options: Amazon AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud. We will focus our attention on the last one- Google Cloud, as it has a smooth learning curve and offers excellent speed and reliability.
Google Cloud
Google Cloud allows students to get familiar with all collaborative processes, digital tools, and data-driven strategies required for a successful career in any industry. When it comes to building a WordPress website, compute engine instances are really important, so we really like that Google Cloud offers an extensive f1-micro instance.
Students will be able to use the Google App engine with 28 front-end instances and 5 GB storage per day plus practice with datasets and BigQuery with 10 GB of storage and 1 TB of querying per month. They will also get 5 GB of Cloud Storage and 5,000/50,000 Class A/ Class B operations.
The Best VPS Hosting for Students
When we talk about VPS hosting, it is quite hard to find a completely free VPS solution. Yes, some plans are targeted at students that are free for the first 30 days, but after this initial period, you will again have to pay a huge price.
For that reason, we will tell you a bit more about our personal favorite host when it comes to VPS- A2Hosting. This company offers many services, and they are all affordable, so they are suitable for both teachers and students.
A2Hosting
The company was founded back in 2001 by the UNIX systems administrator, BryanMuthig. It quickly turned into a respected name in the industry, and nowadays, it offers a fully scalable product line, including reseller, VPS, shared WordPress, and dedicated solutions. All of them are ideal for you if you are a student, for they are both reliable and affordable.
Related: A2 Hosting Review: 18 Crucial Things To Consider in 2023
Pricing and Features
A2Hosting offers 3 standard managed VPS plans- Runway 1, Runway 2, and Runway 3. The first one is the cheapest, and it starts at $4.99 per month (for one year), which is quite good comparing it to the pricing of other hosts. Actually, when it comes to the best value, hosts tend to have different prices for VPS hosting, and A2Hosting offers one of the cheapest suggestions.
If you order Runway 1, you’ll get 1 GB ram, 150 GB SSD storage, 2 TB transfer, and 1 core. With this plan, you also get root access and a 30-day money-back guarantee. Moreover, the plan includes 24/7 network monitoring, a 99.9% uptime guarantee, and Linux OS options.
Wrap Up
Being a student is not easy, especially now when everything is happening online, and most of your career options require you to have web knowledge. The good news is (especially for an IT student) that there are many hosts that offer free web hosting for students.
This article aims to help students find the best host for their needs. All of the hosts included here are reliable, effective, and most importantly- affordable. And yes, some of them even offer free hosting solutions accompanied by free domain, unlimited bandwidth, and all other essential features a student might need to start building their online presence.
