Key Differences between Paid Hosting and Free Web Hosting

Website Hosting

When making a choice between hosting services, more often than not it ultimately boils down to paid hosting and free web hosting. Business owners also have a tough choice to make when deciding between Windows hosting and Linux hosting. Here’s a checklist that should help you make the right choice as far as web host provider is considered.

Free–hand to Advertisers: In most cases when hosting services are free, the providing company at hand generates revenue through advertisements. Your business website, in such a scenario becomes an advertisement portal. Your web host has the free will to put up pop-ups, banners and other adverts, without you having any control over the same. On the other hand, when you pay for a web host, you are directly giving money to the provider, allowing for complete control over your site from your end.

Customer Support: Free web hosting companies generally offer minimal customer support. Getting a query answered, even if it is a crisis, may hence involve a long wait time. Obviously paid hosts in that respect are a notch up. They ensure quality customer support, at your beck and call at all hours of the day. What’s more a paid web host will provide you with tutorials and help desks as a backbone, making it all the more valuable.

Security: Naturally, a free web host doesn’t have security for users among the list of its priorities. It can be said hence, that with a free host, the likelihood of your website being hacked is larger. With investments in safeguarding business owners’ privacy and data, paid hosts, on the other hand give your website higher protection.

Bandwidth limit: A capping on the amount of bandwidth you are offered is a norm amongst free web host providers. In the event your website witnesses incoming traffic that is much above the limit offered by your host, it can lead to more downtime. With greater bandwidth at hand, paid web hosts, in contrast, are a better option. You also have the option of choosing for allowances on data transfers with possible upgrades in the future. High bandwidth can always be chosen at a later point in time. Most free web hosts don’t come with this option.

Features and functions: When you pay for the services of a host, you can rest assured in terms of the features and functionalities on offer. You get exactly what you pay for and sometimes more in terms of plug-ins, tools and webmaster implementations. With a free web host, all this is a challenge and you are offered just about the basic tools. Another aspect that most freebies have missing is site builders and shopping carts, which can pretty much make or mar your website.

So whether you decide to go for Windows web hosting or Linux web hosting, the cost of your host provider is important too. Ultimately, when you pay for something, you are automatically ensuring quality service. While a free web host could be great for personal websites or when you are working in a tight budget, it may not be the best option around for business owners. If you are a professional who yearns to generate income for their website, paying to get the crux of your website to be among the best will only help.