The cost of web hosting varies greatly among web hosts, costing anywhere from zero to hundreds of dollars each month. Learning about the various price ranges of hosts and hosting plans can give you added insight regarding hosts and help you make the most informed decision when choosing a web host.

There are generally five different pricing styles that shared hosts fall under. We'll call them the Free, the Low-Budget, the Low-Cost, the Pricey Hosts, and the High-End Web Hosts. Each style has unique qualities, pricing structures, and disadvantages that are important to consider when selecting the best web host and hosting plan.

The Free Web Hosts
Free hosts have no monthly fee for their service. The hosts usually offer smaller amounts of web space and features and cater to users with simple needs (no databases, media, email, etc.) Every free host has to have a way of supporting itself to make free web services possible. Some of these hosts may charge for other services in order to offer free hosting, such as: email, domain name registration, banner removal or service upgrades. Users of free web hosts may encounter extra costs from free hosts for these services, (ex. one-time set-up fee, yearly domain name registration fee, or a fee to remove ad banners.) Otherwise free web hosts are free, and users can expect minimal web space and features, no customer support, easy site builder tools, and simple sign-up.

The Low-Budget Web Hosts
The next price range of hosts we'll call 'low-budget' hosts. These hosting providers are most similar to free hosts in features offered and level of support and reliability, however they charge a small monthly fee for their services. Low-budget hosts cost $1-$5 per month for their services. These hosts usually don't require users to place banner ads on their sites, but they offer little to no customer support and have limited features available. Many paid web hosts will have a hosting plan that falls under this category, usually called a "basic plan" or "starter plan". Although low-budget services are inexpensive, they aren't the most you can get for your money. Low-budget hosting plans are suitable for the amateur webmaster or beginning web user who isn't worried about site reliability or support.

The Low-Cost Web Hosts
The most popular and competitive group of hosts is the Low-Cost Web Hosts. They are the best of both worlds as far as affordability and services offered are concerned. These hosts offer a lot of features for a very low price, usually between $5 and $10 per month. Hosts like iPowerWeb, PowWeb, and Bluehost would fall under this category. They have grown huge catering to the masses with all in one feature packed hosting plans. This is the sort of host we recommend most highly because they offer the best features and tools and the best prices.

The main downside to low-cost full service hosts is that they often out grow themselves quickly because they offer so much for so little and spend more on marketing than customer support and hardware. If you can find a low-cost host that can deal with fast-paced growth, or if you don't need instant support, these hosts are the best deal out there.

The Pricey Web Hosts
Hosts we call "pricey" hosts are merely overpriced low-cost hosts that don't have the top-notch features or support of high-end hosts. These hosts are often the smaller hosting providers who haven't been able to drop prices enough to compete with the low-cost bunch. Pricey hosts range from $15-$50 per month. These hosts usually have fewer users, resulting in more intimate service and attention for each user. Paying a little more may be worth the one-on-one service, but be sure to pick a reliable one that has been around awhile and plans to keep plugging along.

The High-End Web Hosts
High-end hosting is the priciest group of hosts and hosting plans on the market. Most web hosts will have a grand-daddy plan that offers everything but the kitchen sink with a price just as large. Shared hosting users with a high need for web space and specific services or need quality trained support staff can expect a high level of performance from these premium hosts. Prices of high-end hosting plans may start as low as $15 per month and shoot to hundreds of dollars per month. If you are paying hundreds of dollars per month for shared hosting, you should expect some very professional and efficient service. Users with high web space needs still using shared hosting might consider switching to dedicated or co-location hosting.

At 100bestfreewebspace.com we identify web hosts as either free or paid which includes the low-budget, low-cost, pricey and high-end hosts. If you aren't sure which price range of hosts you will need, start with one of our top 3 recommended hosts, which are low-cost web hosts. If you decide you need more attention switch to a pricier host, and if you need less features and support go for the free hosts.