Hey everyone, I’ve been looking into free web hosting options and I have a few questions. Many providers offer free tiers with different packages. For example, Netlify, Vercel, and GitHub Pages all have free plans. But I’m confused about domain linking. Some plans allow custom domains (like yoursite.com) while others only give you a subdomain (yoursite.netlify.app). What’s the real difference? Is it just about having a professional look, or are there technical advantages?
Also, what are ‘add-on’ and ‘parked’ domains? I’ve heard these terms but I’m not sure what they mean in modern hosting. Can I use a free subdomain from one service and link it to my site hosted elsewhere? Thanks!
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Great questions! In modern hosting, most free tiers actually allow custom domains now, even on the basic plan. For instance, Netlify’s free plan includes custom domain support with automatic HTTPS. The main differences between packages are usually build minutes, bandwidth, and team collaboration features.
As for add-on and parked domains: ‘add-on domain’ is essentially an additional domain that serves a separate site from your main account. In cPanel, you could have multiple domains pointing to different folders. In modern services like Vercel, you can add multiple domains to a single project and route them differently. ‘Parked domain’ is just a domain that redirects to your main domain, often used to protect brand names. Services like Cloudflare can handle domain parking easily.
Subdomains from free hosts are fine for testing, but for a serious site, I’d recommend getting your own domain (they’re cheap) and using it with any free host that supports custom domains.
To add to that: database storage is usually separate from file storage. Many free hosts offer a set amount of database size (e.g., 5MB on some, or even 1GB on others like PlanetScale for MySQL). But you have to check the fine print. Some providers count the database against your total storage, others don’t. For example, on Railway, you get 10GB of database storage separate from your app storage. If you’re running a blog with a database, factor that in.
Also, about the original question: yes, you can use a subdomain from one provider and point it to another, but that’s just a CNAME record. Modern DNS services make this easy. If you want reliability, go with a reputable free host like Netlify or Vercel that have strong uptime. Don’t waste time with unreliable free subdomains.