How to Use 000webhost to Host a Website for Free

There are a lot of people who assume that starting a website is expensive. Building a site can indeed cost thousands of dollars, but it’s also possible to create one for free.

In fact, many hosting providers let you use their servers to host your website at no cost. But now you might be wondering: what’s the catch?

Well, you can expect that some web hosts will place their ads on your site in exchange for giving you a free hosting account. Or they might only let you try their service for a certain amount of time before asking you to upgrade.

Thankfully, you can still find a service that gives you similar resources to a paid hosting plan without asking too much from you.

This article will show you how to create a free website with 000webhost and offer some other tips on utilizing its features.

How Does 000webhost Work?

000webhost is a free web hosting service with many tools out-of-the-box, such as FTP support, an auto-installer, and almost everything you see on paid hosting services.

One of the greatest things about using 000webhost is that users can connect their website to a custom domain. Meanwhile, many free web hosts require you to purchase a premium plan to get this feature.

What’s more, 000webhost is easy-to-use and great for people with no website building experience. This hosting provider features a custom control panel with a clean interface where users can manage and monitor their site effortlessly.

000webhost supports PHP and MySQL, meaning you can configure your site without touching the source code. It also has a visitor count tracker, a great feature to check views of your pages.

Another plus of using 000webhost is that this web host doesn’t place any ad banners on your site, besides the small Powered by 000webhost icon on the bottom right corner.

000webhost also has a community forum where you can ask questions and get help from other users. Besides that, this web host provides a well-stocked knowledge base and blog with comprehensive articles.

Here are the other benefits of using 000webhost:

• Build as many sites as you want. 000webhost lets you create more than one free hosting account, but you need to use a different email address for each account.
• Fast and easy website building process. Thanks to its built-in auto-installer, users can set up a website in just a couple of minutes.
• No credit card is required. Many web hosts ask for your credit card number before letting you start a free website, but not with 000webhost — simply enter some basic details, and you’re good to go.

Still, there are some factors you should consider before creating a free hosting account:

• Lack of security. Many hosting providers don’t include SSL certificates in their free plan, including 000webhost. Websites with no SSL certificate will be more vulnerable to hackers.
• Low availability. A free web host usually offers less than a 99% uptime guarantee, which means your website won’t be accessible from time to time due to network outages.
• No customer support. When facing a server issue, you can only post a question on the community forum and wait for other users to answer it. Or look for articles that can solve your problem.

Besides offering a free plan, 000webhost also has three premium options — Single Shared Hosting, Premium Shared Hosting, and Business Shared Hosting.

Users will get 300 MB of storage space, 3 GB of bandwidth, and Cloudflare protection with the free account. Since the free plan comes with limited server resources, you should be mindful when creating your site’s content, meaning you should avoid using a high-quality video or image.

In other words, 000webhost’s free hosting account can only suffice for a low traffic type of website, like a landing page or a portfolio site.

000webhost also limits your access to some tools on the control panel, such as FTP accounts and backups. To unlock them, you need to purchase one of its premium plans.

Its Starter plan is really affordable — only $0.99/month. This option has enough resources to create any type of website for business owners, freelancers, and bloggers.

Upgrading a free hosting account can be done easily from 000webhost’s interface. Also, the provider will take care of everything for you after you’ve purchased the premium plan.

How to sign up and use 000webhost

To create a free 000webhost account, head to its homepage and click Get Started -> Free Sign Up.

Type your email address and password — this information will be used as your login details.

Once you’re done, you’ll be brought to the control panel right away. There is no need to verify your email address or go back to the login page.

The 000webhost dashboard

Before you can access the tools on your dashboard, you’ll need to create a website by clicking on Create New Site.

There are three ways to create a site with 000webhost — using a website builder, uploading files from your computer to the hosting server, or installing WordPress.

Once you have a website, you can start using the pre-built features and see how much resources you are currently using from the 000webhost dashboard.

How to create a WordPress site on 000webhost.com?

Since 000webhost includes a WordPress auto-installer from the start, installing this platform is a breeze.

To get started, click Create New Site located on the control panel and select Install under the WordPress icon.

You’ll be asked to fill in the basic details of your site. Once you’re done, hit Install and wait for the platform to install WordPress.

Once the installation process is finished, click on the Go to WordPress configuration page button. Now you can start customizing your WordPress website and upload your content to the server.

How to upload files to a 000webhost site?

000webhost lets users transfer files from their computer to the server using the file manager or an FTP client like Filezilla.

To upload your files using the file manager, head to the Files section on your website dashboard and click the File Manager.

Click on the Upload Files button to access the login page of your file manager.

You’ll need to enter your FTP login details on the file manager login page — a username (the part before the 000webhost.com subdomain) and a password (the one you used when creating your website).

Then, you can start uploading your content on the file manager page. Remember, you should only upload the files into the public_html folder. It contains all content accessible to the browser.

How to create and manage databases on 000webhost?

000webhost includes phpMyAdmin — the most common database management tool — on its free account. If you’re using WordPress, you will need phpMyAdmin to interact with the MySQL database, which contains all your website information.

To create a database, locate the Databases tab on your dashboard and click on MySQL Database -> New Database. Fill in the form, and hit the Create button.

Once you have created a database, click Manage -> PhpMyAdmin to access the tool and manage your WordPress database.

How to use your own custom domain name with 000webhost?

As I mentioned earlier, 000webhost lets you utilize a custom domain name even with the free hosting plan. At first, your web address will have the 000webhost.com subdomain by default, but you’re free to change it later.

If you want to make people remember your web address, you should purchase a custom domain name.

To use a custom domain, head to the dashboard and click on the Parked Domains.

You’ll have two options here — Purchase a New Domain or Connect a Domain You Already Own.

If you already have a custom domain, click on Connect a Domain You Already Own -> Park domain -> Next. Enter your domain name and finish the process by selecting Park domain.

Remember that you also need to change your domain’s name servers with 000webhost’s nameservers — ns01.000webhost.com and ns02.000webhost.com. The process will depend on the registrar that you have chosen.

Once you’re done, the system will process your request and check if your domain name is pointed correctly to 000webhost name servers. If your domain shows the Ready status, you’re ready to link your website by selecting Manage -> Link website.

Should you learn how to make a website for free with 000webhost?

Whether you should choose 000webhost for your websites will depend on your needs.

000webhost’s free plan has limited server resources, but it’s not a big deal if you just want to build a small site. That’s why this option is suitable for people who want to learn how to build a site or test out a website idea without it being plastered with ads before committing to a paid web hosting option.

If you’re satisfied with the service and want to get more advanced features and resources, feel free to upgrade to one of its premium plans. Therefore, you can create any kind of site without being limited by resources.

All in all, I hope this article can help you build a free website with 000webhost.

Also, I’d love to know your review about this web host — please share them in the comments section below.

If you buy something using the links in my article, I may earn a small commission.