Free Website Hosting: What You Really Get, What You Lose, and Which Plans Allow a Business

Key takeaways

• Free hosting exists, but the rules differ a lot. Some plans are open to businesses. Some are written for personal projects only.
• Vercel's Hobby plan is non-commercial. Its fair use page says Hobby teams are restricted to non-commercial personal use, and that advertising a product or service counts as commercial.
• GitHub Pages is not meant for business sites. GitHub's limits page says it is not allowed as free hosting to run an online business or a site mainly for commercial transactions.
• Cloudflare says static asset requests are free and unlimited. Its Pages limits page also caps a free site at 20,000 files and 25 MiB per file.
• "Free" often means a plan with limits, not a free business site. Wix's free hosting page says up to 500 MB of storage and 1 GB of bandwidth "with all plans". Netlify's free plan is a pool of 300 credits.
• Read the terms before you build. A site moved off a platform that bans commercial use means new hosting, new DNS and some downtime risk.

The short answer

You can host a small static website for nothing. You cannot host just any business on just any free plan. Before you pick a provider, ask three questions: does the plan allow commercial use, what happens when you pass the limit, and can you attach your own domain. Then pick by the kind of site you have: a plain HTML site, a site builder, or a PHP and database site.

Who is writing: Amariq designs and builds websites, and amariq.com itself is served from Cloudflare Pages. We have not tested the other providers for this post. Everything below comes from the pages linked in the text, read on 9 November 2026. Plans change, so check the maker's page before you decide.

What ranks for this search, and what it leaves out

On 9 November 2026 the first page of Google (US, English) for "free website hosting" was mostly direct providers and roundups. It showed InfinityFree, Wasmer, a Reddit thread on r/software, a TechRadar list, Canva, Google Sites, Wix, a TechnologyAdvice list dated 19 May 2025 and FreeHosting. The "People also ask" box asked whether you can host a website completely for free and whether Google Sites is 100% free.

The providers describe their own plans, and the roundups rank them. What neither does is tell a business owner whether the plan is allowed for a business. That is the gap this guide fills. We could not open the TechnologyAdvice page (it returned an error to our request), so nothing here is drawn from it.

Three kinds of free, and what each is for

What each maker's page says

All figures below were read on 9 November 2026 from the pages named.

Two notes on the table. First, "not addressed on the page we read" is not the same as "allowed". It means we found no statement either way, and you should read the maker's terms before using a free plan for a paying business. Second, Netlify's page did not say what happens when the 300 credits run out, and it did not say whether the credits reset each month, so we leave both unanswered.

The rule that catches businesses out

Vercel and GitHub say no

Vercel's fair use guidelines (last updated 14 September 2026 on the page) define commercial usage as a deployment used for the financial gain of anyone involved in any part of its production, including a paid employee or consultant writing the code. The examples include requesting or processing payments from visitors, advertising the sale of a product or service, receiving payment to create, update or host the site, and showing ads. Asking for donations does not count. Hobby teams are restricted to non-commercial personal use, and commercial use needs a Pro or Enterprise plan.

Read that again for a small business. A website that advertises your services is "advertising the sale of a product or service". A site a freelancer built for pay is "receiving payment to create" it. On Vercel's own wording, a business brochure site does not fit the free Hobby plan.

GitHub is just as direct. Its limits page says GitHub Pages "is not intended for or allowed to be used as a free web-hosting service to run your online business, e-commerce site," or a site mainly for commercial transactions or commercial software as a service. It also says Pages sites should not be used for sensitive transactions such as sending passwords or card numbers.

What that means in practice

If you plan to promote a business, a personal portfolio is a gray area and a brochure site for a company is a clear case. The safe route is a plan whose terms you have read and that does not exclude your use. If a provider's page does not say, ask their support or take a paid plan, which on most platforms is a few dollars a month. Our guide to website hosting cost has the paid side.

The limits that bite after launch

A free plan that works on day one can stop working later. These are the limits worth knowing, taken from the pages above.

Vercel's Hobby page says that if you exceed your limits you will in most cases have to wait until 30 days have passed before you can use the feature again. For a business, a paused site during a busy month is the real cost of "free".

Which free option fits which site

This is our judgement, based on the pages above, not a tested ranking.

Our guide to the best agencies for static sites on Cloudflare and Vercel explains how static sites work if you want a hand with one.

The costs that stay even when hosting is free

Hosting is one line in a website budget. These stay:

• A domain. Free hosting rarely includes your own name for good. See how much a domain name costs.
• Business email. Hosting is not email. See business email cost.
• Someone to build and update the site. A static site is cheap to host and still needs someone to make it. See how much a website costs.
• A way to move later. If you outgrow the plan, you need the files, your DNS records and a plan for the switch. See DNS records explained and DNS propagation.

A checklist before you pick a free plan

1. I have read the maker's terms and my use (a business, a store, ads, paid work) is not excluded.
2. I know the file size, file count and bandwidth caps, and my site is well under them.
3. I can attach my own domain, and I know whether SSL is included.
4. I know what happens if I pass the limit: slowed, paused or billed.
5. I have a copy of every file outside the host.
6. My domain and DNS are in my own account, not the host's.
7. I know how to move the site if the free plan changes.
8. I have a plan for email that does not depend on the host.

How Amariq can help

If you are not sure whether a free plan suits your business, send us the link or the plan name and we will tell you what to check. For a new site we build on Webflow, Framer, WordPress, Shopify, Wix, Squarespace or a custom stack, and we can set up static hosting on an account in your name. Each project is priced from its scope, never by the hour, with 40% to start, 30% at design approval and 30% before launch. Once the final payment is made, the design, copy and code belong to you, and your domain, hosting and analytics accounts sit in your name. See our web design service.

Frequently asked questions

Can I host a website completely for free?

Yes, if it is a small static site and you accept the limits. A static host such as Cloudflare Pages lists a free plan with caps on files, file size and builds. You still pay for a domain if you want your own name.

Can I use free hosting for a business website?

It depends on the plan. Vercel's Hobby plan and GitHub Pages both say no for commercial use. Other makers' pages we read did not address it, so read their terms or ask their support before you rely on it.

Is Google Sites really free?

Google's search listing says Google Sites is free to build, host and maintain with a Google or Gmail account. We could not read a page that stated storage limits, so check Google's help pages for your case.

Does free hosting include a domain name?

Not usually for good. Wix's free hosting page mentions a free domain for one year only "with select website plans". InfinityFree's page says you can host your own domain but registration is not offered.

What happens if my site goes over the free limit?

It depends on the host. Vercel says that on Hobby you will in most cases wait 30 days to use a feature again. GitHub says it may be unable to serve your site, or may email you about reducing its impact. Netlify's page did not say.

Is free hosting safe?

The pages we read do not make security promises either way. GitHub warns against using Pages for sensitive transactions such as passwords or card numbers. For anything that takes payments or personal data, use a plan whose terms cover it.

When should I pay for hosting?

When the site earns money, takes payments, needs email on the same account, or would hurt your business if it went down. At that point a few dollars a month for a plan whose terms allow your use is cheaper than a paused site.