November 12th, 2009 
Web Reviewer What is PHP web hosting?
First we might want to clarify what PHP is. PHP is a scripting language that is used to develop dynamic web pages. Usually it is run on a web server and can interact seamlessly with HTML. When the PHP does interact with the HTML in this manner is creates web pages. PHP is popular for many reasons. It is very user friendly and most web hosting plans are compatible with it, even some free web hosting. Another great aspect of PHP is that it is compatible with most operating systems like Windows and Apache. When used in web sites PHP allows you to create forms and other interactive features.
Currently PHP has been used in over 20 million web sites and at least one million web servers. Some of these servers are actually for free web hosting. PHP is widely used as a way to let your visitors interact with your web page.
Is free PHP web hosting the right choice for you?
Naturally only you can decide this. However, you want to be careful. You may be better off in the long term to go with a company that offers cheap PHP web hosting instead. Free always sounds good but you need to think about what you are really getting for free. There are a few key reasons to think about going with cheap PHP hosting rather than free PHP web hosting.
- Longevity – A lot of companies that offer free hosting of any kind do not last long. When you think about it, this makes sense. If they don’t charge for hosting how do they pay for the overhead costs of providing such a service. Yes, they may run ads but that doesn’t guarantee money all the time. Also, if they don’t offer an upgrade or some type of hosting or features that make money they can go broke in no time. That leaves you out in the cold.
- Ads/Banners – Just like basic free web hosting you will most likely have advertisements running on your PHP web hosting. You won’t necessarily have control over these ads in any way and that can be frustrating both for you and your web site visitors.
- Features – Not all free web hosting is compatible with PHP. There are sites that just offer basic services. Know before you sign up what you are really being offered.
We don’t mean to make it sound like free PHP web hosting is bad because the price is great! If you are new to web building and you want to learn how to use HTML or just use templates to build a personal site this is a great starting point. We only want to point out that it’s a good idea to cover all your bases before making the decision.
Our top picks for PHP web hosting are:
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