Any business, large or small, exists in order to make profits. Cheap hosting is no exception to this rule, and one wonders how so-called free web hosting can possibly make a profit for anyone. But are they really free?
In reality, most free web hosting providers do recover their costs through various means. Some are more obvious than others, all of them are designed to have users part with their money at some point.
Here are some of the tricks some (though not all) providers of free hosting may use:
Tied Arrangements
Free hosting is provided if a related product/ service is paid for. This may be as simple as a domain name registration, usually renewable over and over for years
Trial Periods
Frequently free hosting turns out to be only for a short trial period – this usually becomes clear after users have signed up.
Once the trial period is over, all sorts of charges are being made.
Restrictions
Use is so heavily restricted that the site is more or less unusable – unless “upgrades” are paid for.
Advertising
Some hosts will continually bombard fre sites with excessive advertising – promising to remove the ads for a “small” fee.