Reliable and secure web hosting services are essential for businesses and professional bloggers. x10hosting is one of the more reliable and secure web hosting companies, and they are cost-effective even if you move to their paid web hosting services. Several companies offer free web hosting services, but their features and reliability vary.
The different companies we reviewed all had different advantages for different usage. Choosing a web hosting service purely from an economic point of view may not be the best decision if you are using it to run an e-commerce business or require a stable, secure portal for your daily work. However, if you wish to put up a basic informational website, without too many gimmicks, images or video, then a free web-hosting service like x10hosting may be perfect for you. Reliable website customer support cannot be underestimated as website building and maintenance can happen during out-of-office hours, and you will need someone available via phone or web chat whenever you are working on your sites. This article looks at the best free web hosting services available, and the advantages of using paid web hosting services, so you can best determine what is best suited for your individual needs.
What Is x10hosting?
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This is a company that provides free web hosting services. They also offer different levels of support and functionality in their paid hosting packages.
Product Specs
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The x10hosting company has a free hosting plan which offers unlimited bandwidth and storage among other features. All users are protected by a private hardware cloud, a Vanish Cache, and the PHP Litespeed SSPI protects against hardware failures and software malfunctions. The x10hosting company uses a Litespeed web server which claims to deliver 50% faster execution than PHP. It is compatible with Apache and can also serve as a replacement for Apache. The x10hosting service has a fast uptime, so your website pages load quickly, and Premium x10hosting customers are guaranteed their money back if the uptimes are not consistent for 99.9% of the time each month. x10hosting also has a great customer support system. There are written fact sheets, video tutorials and regular updates on services available via email. Users can also access support through community forums. This is a great web hosting service for beginners as it gives them the use of an in-house developed control panel, called the X10hosting basic cPanel, which includes over 300 1-click installers to help you build your website quickly. It is easy to install Word press and other web scripts with no need for additional help. You can expect fast and reliable speeds from this web hosting service, and the cloud software is one of the best in the industry. Because they separate the properties of different web pages on the server and define resource limits, they ensure their servers provide excellent response times for their customers.For x10hosting premium users, benefits include servers that are fitted with dual 6-core Aeon processors with 32 GB RAM to optimize speeds and performance. Uptime speeds of 99.9% are guaranteed as part of the Premium package. Users of X10hosting Premium and Prime also have the option to upgrade to immediate support services from the x10hosting full-time support team.While x10hosting has many benefits, there are a few drawbacks. The x10hosting free hosting plan has a limit of 1GB for photos and videos which makes it unsuitable for those who want to use a lot of high-quality images. Another downside is the lack of a free trial. Whereas other hosting services will allow free trials that last up to three months, x10hosting has no such risk-free period in which to change your mind if you are unsatisfied with services.
Pricing
The basic x10hosting plan is free. Monthly paid plans are available from around $6 per month. However, annual, biennial and triennial plans are much cheaper. Biennial and triennial plans include free domain registration, a dedicated IP address, and an SSL certificate for the duration of the package.
How It Compares
We picked a few similar products available on the market to see how they compare.
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000webhost |
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Freehostia |
x10hosting
Price
Annual packages start at around $7 a month and go down to $4 a month for triennial plans, which include free domain registration and an SSL certificate for the duration of the package. They guarantee there will be no price hikes after a year if you sign up for an annual plan.
Ease of Use
x10 hosting is easy to use, and there are many video tutorials and fact sheets accessible for all users, including those on the free hosting plan.
Uptime
x10hosting offers a quick uptime, which is reliable. Free web-host-service users can expect occasional down times which last from 30 to 40 minutes, but Premium users have their uptimes guaranteed for 99.9% of the month.
Features
This plan features a cPanel which makes it easy to build your website and install functions and features on it. It is also a secure web host server with no security issues reported.
Customer Support
Their Premium Plan offers round-the-clock customer support.
Pros
- PHP
- MySQL
- cPanel
- Cloud storage
- Easy worldwide access
Cons
- Limited capacity for images
- Free hosting may have occasional downtimes of 30 to 40 minutes
000webhost
You can build your website using their Easy Website Builder tools, direct upload, or WordPress. Customers can manage their databases, emails, files, backups and FTP accounts through cPanel, and files are automatically backed up every month. Your free account gives you the option of having up to 5 email addresses, and you can also set up mail forwarding. You can activate spam filtering, SMTP access, and auto-responding. The best function available from 000webhost is that you can run MySQL from your free account, and PHP which you can use to send out email automatically. The free account gives you two databases without size limitations. Importantly, there is no SSL support on free hosting which means that it is not the best service if you wish to keep or collect confidential information. This is not the web hosting service for you if you wish to run an e-commerce site. Also, the PHP on free accounts may not be the most up to date. If you choose a paid account from 000webhost, it comes with a free domain and no limit of databases. The top-tier package, allows users to buy as many additional domains as they want and run multiple sites. Paid accounts don’t have caps on the bandwidth or disk space. The paid 000webhost account also commits to 99.9% uptime and 24/7 support by live chat is included. Private SSL certificates are also available with paid accounts.
Price
Packages start at around $4 per month.
Ease of Use
Their Website Builder program is easy to use, and you can design your own website within a couple of hours. WordPress users may find space limitations cause problems if their website contains a lot of plugins and widgets.
Uptime
This server has fast uptimes.
Features
This free hosting deal allows you two unlimited databases, PHP, and up to five email addresses. It also includes 1000 MB for images and 10 GB of bandwidth.
Customer Support
There is no customer support for free hosting customers. However, users can post their questions to a forum where other users can help them.
Pros
- Easy WordPress auto installer
- Free Website Builder loaded with hundreds of free web templates
- MySQL databases and FTP support
- Supports latest cPanel
- Two websites allowed
- Option to display personal ads and earn revenue
- Free domain hosting and sub-domains
- Unrestricted PHP support
- Automatic backups monthly
- Two unlimited databases included in the free plan
Cons
- No direct customer support to free hosting plan users, only access to users forum
- 1000 MB of disk space
- 10 GB of bandwidth limits
- 13 million passwords were stolen in 2015
Wpnode
This company is a great web host for you if you have more than one website. Wpnode has a W3 Total Cache pre-configured plugin which helps ensure fast page uploading. The free hosting plan also supports SFTP, which allows uploading and downloading. It also offers unlimited data transfer, free email based on Roundcube, and a free CDN from CloudFlare.
Price
Paid plans start from $29 per month for personal users, which includes one WordPress site upload. Their Professional plan is around $99 per month and includes ten WordPress sites and telephone support.
Ease of Use
Wpnode is easy to use.
Uptime
Wpnode has fast uptimes.
Features
This web hosting service is great for those who wish to have more than one website. They also offer free email and unlimited data transfer.
Customer Support
Customer support is available via FAQs and email.
Pros
- Unlimited WordPress site
- 5-GB SSD storage
- Unlimited data transfer
- 1-GB email based on Roundcube
Cons
- Paid upgrade options expensive
Freehostia
The company Freehostia offers free hosting services, with a service-upgrade option ideal for new companies who may need more support from their web host. They have four levels of service, which include free, virtual private servers, semi-dedicated and dedicated options. Their free plan is called Chocolate, where users can get 250-MB storage, 6-GB monthly bandwidth, 24/7 customer support, and no advertising. There is a transfer limit of 500 KB and SMTP access. Their paid plans range from their basic Watercircle plan, which gives you 2 GB of space and 50 GB of bandwidth with 100 email accounts, SMTP server access, and their 1-click installer called Elefante. Their Supernatural plan comes with additional email accounts, free domain registration, MySQL storage, and unlimited disk space. Their paid plans all come with a free 30-day trial.
Price
The free plan has no ads, and their cheapest paid plan is the Watercircle which costs around $35 per month and gives you 100 email accounts, 10 hosted domains, and 50-GB bandwidth. Their premium account costs around $95 per month which includes unlimited domains, websites, email addresses, and bandwidth.
Ease of Use
Freehostia is easy to set up, and you can set up your own website in under an hour.
Uptime
This web hosting provider gives fast upload times.
Features
This is a great plan for start-ups who wish to begin with a free plan and then easily upgrade to a paid plan at a later date. This web host offers three emails with its free hosting package.
Customer Support
Customer support is available 24/7 for free web hosting customers and paid plans via email, FAQs and live chat.
Pros
- 5 hosted domains
- 250 MB of disk space
- 6 GB of monthly traffic
- 3 email accounts on the free plan
- 1 MySQL v.5 Databases
- 10-MB MySQL storage
- cPanel supports 15 languages
Cons
- No free domain
- Arbitrary site visitor limits
- No uptime guarantee
Conclusion
The different companies we reviewed all had different advantages and disadvantages for different customers. The x10hosting service provider definitely offers five-star service, with their upload speeds, bandwidth, storage options, and customer support. However, their free hosting service is perhaps not the best choice for users who want to use a lot of high-quality images or need a stable web presence 100% of the time. All the free web hosting service providers also offer paid package options, which you can purchase on a monthly, annual or even triennial basis. The only way to choose the best web host provider for you or your company is to decide exactly what features are the most important. For example, do you need 3 email addresses or up to 100? Are you going to need customer support 24 hours a day, or do you already have a different technical support system in place? Are you going to be sharing confidential information online? If not, perhaps you don’t need the most secure server. Once you have decided on the answers to these questions, you will easily be able to decide which of the above web hosting service providers best meets your needs within your personal or company budget.
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