January 13, 2012 - 2:43pm
Hey guys. I'm planning on writing a bit of an article on web hosting options, particularly free ones, and I'd like to hear what your own experiences are.
I've been using zymic as my host for a long time now. There's usually very little trouble with it, except for that one time I lost my site because their hardware broke...The importance of backups!
HostMonster.com
I've run two sites with them and never had a problem. Great prices, their cPanel has a lot to do, and I have never had any downtime on either site. (And one of these sites has been going for ~2.2 years.)
EDIT: Oh, particularly free ones? Well, either way, I like HostMonster, so... :P
Choose a free host that is a well established company. Avoid small sites that host free unless you know the person running the site. But even then, the person could still disappear so make regular backups and don't expect too much from a free host.
EMN Hosting? lol
Free hosts that I've used in the past:
- freehostia.com were pretty good for a very basic website, when you're just starting up. They did have periods of downtime, which got annoying, and I think eventually led me to move..
- 000webhost.com were similar to freehostia, but a lot better. They had faster servers, and their cPanel was easier to use.. They did have a few server issues and downtime
My Sites: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Thanks, this is helpful.
Bubble.nu. Hands down the best, friendliest host ever. I don't like large commercial hosts because I like the whimsical, personal side of a small host. Plus it has a really kickass website layout which is huge points in my opinion. And I have to agree with Aashni, EMNHosting!
Jenny-Jen-Jen :D
Bloggity: www.windymill.net
Web-Design Portfolio: www.jenny-aster.net
That looks like a great service. And very cute...xD
http://host.aridseas.net/ is basically all my paid host experiences.
If you choose Dreamhost I can get you 55 bucks off, just post a comment on my site's new (aridseas.net site)
http://www.aridseas.net/
Interesting, thanks Ian.
For everyone: any uptime complaints with what you've been using?
I had some trouble with Godaddy but that was more on my end.
All the sites on the Bad Hosts either I or a friend has had major uptime/billing/support problems.
On free hosts.
Not a single free host I've tried (and I've tried all of the big ones and alot of the smaller ones) either have horrible uptime, horrible support, horrible bandwidth/space, horrible file format, or all of the above.. so really. If you're serious at all.
Pay 4 bucks a month.
http://www.aridseas.net/
Hm, that's too bad with regard to the free host thing. I haven't had that much trouble with any of the hosts I've encountered.
That is strange! I actually had a pretty good experience with my free hosts - they did have the occasional downtime problem, but on the whole, it was pretty good :)
My Sites: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
I've compiled this all into a guide if you didn't see already: http://figmintdesigns.com/resources/t/webhosts.php
Aww.. you didn't add EMN Hosting to it :(
But the list looks pretty awesome :) I love how you've explained it - a nice simple, side by side table :)
My Sites: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
Frisby I agree with your guide.
For example, one of my hosts (Bluehost/Hostmonster) say they are unlimited, but my cousin (who designs corporate websites; he worked with Apple, Nike, GAP and JCPenny in the past, along with illustrating books and trying to get into Columbia) use to use Bluehost but now uses iPages (which I find kinda sketchy but haven't tried it myself) as he was making a website for a company that sells tiles and apparently Bluehost will only allow 500,000 files; the company sold thousands of tile sets and each set had several images, so he had to switch hosts.
I've been slowly working on another tutorial for Arid Seas and soon will release a few more sites with free and paid reviews..
http://www.aridseas.net/
Sorry Aashni. I was going to do something about small hosts like yours, but I didn't want my chart getting too big. P: I tried to adress small hosts like yours with the bubble.nu hosting.
Glad you agree with it, Ian. Yeah, those large hosts seem mostly focused on making money, and less on having happy customers. Maybe that's why companies with free plans seem more honest...they encourage people to get paid plans my feeding them good service.
I use a large, commercial host: fatcow.com I was initially drawn to them because of all their cow jokes (Heifercratic Oath. Get it?, no bull, etc) I got the first year for $30, and subsequent renewals are $88 a year. It's not too shabby compared to other hosts I've used.
Frisby it's ok :P lol
I've heard of fatcow but I've never really used them... Glad that you're finding them as good hosts :)
My Sites: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
I've heard of them from a friend and my mother bought me a hosting plan.. but I think I might switch hosts next year.
(Assuming I'm still open...) you should get hosting from me... :)
How long have you been designing?
My Sites: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6
I've been designing 'well' since 2006. I did start coding and graphics in 2004, but I cringe at my work from that period.
That sounds kind of expensive. xD But that's coming from someone without any source of income, eheh. If it's a good service, though...
Yeah...I don't have four bucks a month. I'm perfectly content having a free host.
Yay, Anna!
AnnaNeo
I don't think I'll ever pay for hosting since the free options are really quite good. Why pay?
Jenny-Jen-Jen :D
Bloggity: www.windymill.net
Web-Design Portfolio: www.jenny-aster.net
I don't think I'm actually paying for my hosting.. at least I haven't paid anything in a long time.. lol
There are a few really good free hosts out there, so paying for hosting isn't really necessary :)
My Sites: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6