How I can be free (or really cheap)
Resources
Here are the resources I use to make free (or very cheap) websites. Keep in mind I don’t charge for any labor, meaning my time commitment is pretty minimal, so these are fairly easy things to set up.
Free and Cheap Resources
If you want to take a stab at setting up your website on your own, take a look at the free and cheap resources that I use, listed below.
Hosting and Domains
Hosting is where your website lives. There are a bunch of free options out there, but when you are talking about free, there are always tradeoffs.
Free: InfinityFree
Pros: Easy to set up, lots of space for small to medium sized websites, Softalicious script installer to easily set up WordPress or other tools, free domain (subdomain) with 25 extensions to choose from, tool to set up free ssl (https), lots of documentation for beginners.
Cons: Requires some prior knowledge of how to set up a website (although they do have great documentation), not enough RAM to run wysiwyg editors on top of WordPress so you have to use the block editor, Shared pace with other websites so at times your site can be slow because other sites are hogging resources, their free webmail service has been shut down due to abuse.
Additional Info: I have done several projects using InfinityFree resources, and its really great if you are just looking to put up a small site to get your business in front of people. You can use all the built in tools for WordPress, and as long as you don’t go crazy with the plugins, your site will run great. Once you get your account set up, you get access to a tool called CPanel to manage your hosting space. It really helps to have experience with CPanel and setting up websites in general, but if you are computer savvy, you can figure it out. They also have a lot of really great documentation for you to consult.
They will also give you a free domain to set up with your website, and there are a lot of extensions to choose from. You can easily set up something like mycooldomain.rf.gd. Additionally, they also provide you with a tool to make your domain secure with HTTPS, although it is kind of complicated.
This is a great place to start, to get your website off the ground. then when you are ready, I can help you migrate your site to a paid hosting service like Hostinger, or you can upgrade your InfinityFree account to a paid account to get more resources and stability/scalability.
Of course, I can set it all up for you for free, so if you aren’t feeling adventurous and just need it done, contact me to get started!
Free: TGX1 Hosting Platform
Pros: I manage everything on the hosting side so all you would have to manage is your actual website, lots of memory for wysiwyg WordPress editors like Elementor, robust bandwidth, free domain with a .tgx1.com extension (like mycooldomain.tgx1.com), free webmail so you can receive email at something like me@mycooldomain.tgx1.com.
Cons: You may not have the level of control you want.
Additional Info: I use Hostinger for my hosting, and I can get your site set up using my account- it allows me to have up to 100 websites, and I have a 100GB storage limit- which for websites, that’s quite a bit. I can also set up for you to receive email at at whatever domain (subdomain) you choose. I would request though that you put a link to my main site in your footer – “Powered by Tgx1.com”.
This is a great free option with little to no hassle, but there are limits to speed and performance. If you plan on selling just a few items online and want to get going quickly, I recommend this option- contact me to get going. If selling things online is a core part of your business, I recommend going with Holsinger, below.
Cheap: Hostinger
Pros: Great hosting with tons of tools and benefits to build and maintain a great website, lots of computing power to make sure your site is fast and performant, daily backups to keep your data safe, multifactor authentication to keep your account safe, free email, and a free .com domain, site malware scanner, too many pros to list.
Cons: Not free, but still pretty cheap for all the features you get. They have plans at $2.99, $3.99, and $8.99 per month. (I have the $2.99 plan).
Additional Info: If you are certain your business needs a high-performant website because selling things online is a huge part of your business, then I would recommend going with this option. It will give you the power and resources to run a great online store. If you would like to go this route, I can set everything up for you, you will need to create an account and then give me access through the admin panel so I can make changes to your account. I can walk you through everything if you’d like, contac me to get started.
Design Templates
Check out the free or cheap design template resources below so you can get an idea of the quality of what you can get at no cost. Gutenberg templates are native WordPress templates using the new Gutenberg block editor, not the classic WordPress editor. Elementor templates use a what-you-see-is-what-you-get drag and drop page editor called Elementor.
Gutenberg templates are compatible with all hosting options listed above.
Elementor templates are compatible with TGX1 Hosting Platform and Hostinger.
Starter Templates – Free and cheap. Gutenberg templates and Elementor templates.
Envato Elements Free Elementor Templates – Free and cheap. Elementor templates.
TemplateMonster – Cheap Elementor templates.
Templatey – Free and cheap. Gutenburg templates and Elementor templates.
Elementor Template Library – Free and cheap Elementor templates
Important WordPress Plugins
Woocommerce
This free plugin is the industry standard for selling things online. you can get a free companion plugin – WooPayments – that allows you to collect payments online for free, using a light version of the payment processor, Stripe.
Elementor
This is an incredibly flexible what-you-see-is-what-you-get (wysiwyg) page editor that works on top of the Gutenberg editor. Your hosting must have a minimum 256 mb memory limit. InfinityFree’s memory limit is only 128mb, so it’s not compatible. TGX1 Hosting Platform and Hostinger have at least 1024mb of memory.
There are 2 versions of Elementor- Elementor and Elementor Pro. A lot of the free templates require Elementor Pro, but there is a FREE version of Elementor Pro under a GPL software license called Pro Elements. This gives you all the GPL licensed features of Elementor Pro with out the cost. What you don’t get are any of the AI tools, support form their support team, or access to any of their premium templates.
Other Plugins
There are an absolute TON of other free WordPress plugins that allow you to extend your WordPress site with loads of additional functionality. Check them out here.