Good, cheap hosts?

[Kyttias]

Did you know it's possible to use a domain on free hosting? Once you've purchased a top level domain name you can host it anywhere. But 'free'... eh... you get what you pay for.

Personally, I went with 000webhost when I needed some free space with access to PHP and MySQL. I even used a domain I was paying for so it never once looked like I was on free hosting, however... I can't say I super recommend it if you feel that you're going to grow. But because you're asking about cheap, not free: They also offer paid hosting through a slightly different name and I didn't think the price was that bad. (All in all, I logged on to a chat to ask questions about going from free to paid and a mod gave me a coupon, so-- I've had a pretty friendly experience.)

Also - I should be putting a shout out to 99webs because Nemesis from this forum owns it and I'm now staff there. We're super small - but we offer free hosting based on forum participation, and we're knowledgeable about Mysidia. The same theory as above applies - that you can buy a domain separately from your hosting provider. I've often found it cheaper to do so, but only if you're looking to skimp on the services provided.

General Advice, Though:

Again I'll repeat the 'you get what you pay for'. I'd look for something that isn't on what's known as 'shared hosting' because you're then competing for resources with other customers. If someone's site gets a lot of traffic, it slows everyone else's down with it if they're parked nearby. Often cheap hosts will still be 'shared' like free ones, but they'll do a much better job of providing space to everyone and not over booking. (Once I saw a hosting company, can't remember the name, that offered a different server based on the time of day, and even officially announced that users would have less downtime if they got on to the server that only added new users for only an hour just after midnight.)

If they're not showing you how many other people are signed up for the same mountain of resources, I'd be wary. Hosting companies own multiple servers, crowding hundreds of users together to struggle for the same amount of bandwidth -- and surprisesurprise, someone's site gets overloaded and goes down and you -all- have downtime until a technician reboots the server.

Think of it like an airplane. You never want to find out that your flight overbooked and now you can't fly out on time with that plane! But not everyone has the money to fly first class, and definitely not their own private jet. Be wary of sites specifically meant to review web hosts, they're often paid to promote the top results, or get spammed with false advertisements both positive or negative. However, if you can pick apart real reviews from fake ones, just reading around reveals that even the 'best' places have their horror stories.

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As a follow up bit of advice about domain names:

I definitely encourage buying a domain separately from your hosting and then hook it up via cPanel or however the hosting wants to do it. That way, in case you come to hate your host or want to move anywhere else for any reason, you can pack up and move and rest assured that your domain name can always move with you.

Don't get conned into hosting + domain package deals if your domain is going to be forever trapped with that host. What you thought was a discount becomes a nightmare when your brand name is forever contractually stuck with that host. (Because guess who owns it as soon as you don't renew/keep paying a monthly/yearly fee? Them. It won't just expire, they'll hang onto it or hand it over to a reseller. You only own a domain as long as you pay for it, so don't pay for your hosting packaged with your domain. Just... don't be tempted. Don't. I've had to let go of nice domain names before.)

If you do get trapped in this sort of arrangement, contact customer service immediately ask if they'll be willing to park your domain for a reduced fee with no hosting, or hand it over to you directly so you can move it. (You'd be surprised, but GoDaddy is notoriously awful in this department.)