Webs (formerly Freewebs) was launched in 2001 and has become a very popular option, with over 20 million users and 20,000 signing up each day.
000webhost began offering free services in 2007, having provided paid hosting for two years before that. It claims to be "the most reliable and feature-rich web hosting service without advertising".
Website Building and Uploading
Both Webs and 000webhost allow users to build their website from the host's control panel or site manager by first selecting a template and then using WYSIWYG editors to modify the content and layout.
Users with a knowledge of HTML can create new pages by inputting their own code via the file manager and saving them with the appropriate file extension ( .htm or .html). 000webhost allows users to also create style sheets by adding the .css extension to new files.
Both hosts also allow users to upload an existing site. However, Webs only allows free users to upload one file at a time, while 000webhost has a net-based FTP system.
Web Space
Webs offers 50MB of storage space, and 500MB of bandwidth each month. 000webhost offers 1500MB of storage and 100GB of bandwidth which is unheard of for most free services.
000webhost only allows one account per member but permits an unlimited number of websites under each account. Webs requires users to sign up for any additional websites separately but the same e-mail address can be used more than once.
Support Options for Webmasters
Both hosts currently offer only web based support. Users can ask fellow members at the forums, or submit a ticket outlining their problem or query.
Domain Names
Both hosts have relatively easy-to-remember domains for its free members.
The URL of a Webs site will be: yourdomain.webs.com where 'yourdomain' is the same as your username. Some older sites may still use www.freewebs.com/yourdomain.
The URL of a 000webhost site will be: yourdomain.subdomain.com or yourdomain.subdomain.net where the subdomain will depend on the server that is being used at the time you create your website. For example, 000webhost may offer yourdomain.comxa.com if you sign up on a particular occasion, yourdomain.host22.net if you sign up at another time, and so forth.
Advertising
000webhost does not have advertising and encourages but does not force users to include a link to the host on their website. Webs includes a customisable "Freebar" (which links back to Webs) on each site, and banner ads on free websites using the site builder.
However, users with Advanced (HTML) accounts (that is, those who have coded their own pages without using the site builder) can avoid having advertisements on their sites by logging into their account every 30 days.
Extra Features
Other Webs features include:
- the Widget Bank, where users can add games, videos, and other applications to their website. This is incorporated into in the site builder and is not available to Advanced (HTML) accounts;
- Site Addons such as blogs, web forms, forums, shoutboxes and polls;
- custom Freebars.
000webhost's additional features include:
- PHP and MySQL database support;
- Fantastico Autoinstaller, enabling the installation of several PHP scripts including WordPress and phpBB.
Beginners will probably find Webs easier to use while those with more experience may prefer the advanced features of 000webhost.
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