WordPress: Where to host, at first...
I recently spent some time researching and testing free WordPress hosting services. My goal was to find information for people who have never had a website before. I’ve used 000webhost before, but I hadn’t checked out any other options in many years. I figured it was time to do a little comparison shopping. From this experience, I drew some interesting conclusions.
tl;dr
- Day 1: WordPress.com
- 2 weeks: 000webhost
- 3 months: Paid hosting with a well-researched, reliable privider that provides the right features for your
I expected 000webhost to be worse…
The first time I used 000webhost was probably close to 10 years ago. I haven’t checked any other options for free PHP hosting in years. In that time, a lot has changed on the web and I expected a competitor to stand out by offering better features. Instead, I discovered that other hosts typically provide an antiquated cPanel management interface that feels slow and sluggish by comparison to today’s responsive single page applications. 000webhost has an easy to use interface that works and responds well.
I expected WordPress.com to be better…
WordPress.com should be the prime example of Automattic demonstrating their flagship product at its best. Instead, they’re presenting WordPress as if it was a Freemium commercial product instead of Open Source Software. With limitations on themes, no plugins, no direct monetization, a significantly altered administration interface, and too little information about their hosting service they do little to create a positive impression of either WordPress, the software, or WordPress.com as a hosting provider.
However, WordPress.com still offers the quickest and easiest path to a WordPress-powered site. Create an account then choose a subdomain name and your site is ready for you to use. If you’ve never had a website before, this is the best way.
Then what?
As I mentioned, this information is only for absolute beginners. If you’re serious about your website, you need paid hosting with a reliability guarantee and a support team. Define the needs of your site’s business model and target audience. Then you need to do research. There are many different types of hosting and thousands of competing hosts, all offering different services. You’ll need to consider page loading speed, storage space, server reliability, and many other factors. You can’t choose easily without some education and experience.