As a nonprofit, you’ll naturally want to minimize your running costs. Fewer expenses mean more funds for your good cause. However, in the modern world, every organization needs an online presence. Therefore, you might be looking for the best free nonprofit website hosting providers.
Fortunately, it is possible to create a website without taking a chunk out of your funds. Many hosting providers kindly offer free packages with multiple benefits for nonprofit organizations.
In this post, we’ll share seven hosts that can help you launch a website without spending a cent. Let’s get started!
| Hosting Provider | Starting Price | Email Hosting | SSL Certificate | Knowledge Base | Support | Free Domain |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DreamHost Read More | Free for 🇺🇸 nonprofits | Free | Free | Yes | Live chat, tickets | ✅ |
| InterServer Read More | Free for 🇺🇸 nonprofits | Free | Free | Yes | Live chat, email, phone, tickets | ❌ |
| Kualo Read More | Free for 🇺🇸 nonprofits Non-🇺🇸 can apply | Free | Free | Yes | Live chat, phone, tickets | ❌ |
| Krystal Read More | Free for 🇬🇧 nonprofits | Free | Free | Yes | Live chat, phone, tickets | ❌ |
| LCN Read More | Free for 🇬🇧 nonprofits | Free | Not specified | Yes | Live chat, phone, tickets | ✅ |
| Infinity Free Read More | Free for all | ❌ | Free | Yes | Community message board | ❌ |
| Cloudflare Pages Read More | Free for all | * | Free | Yes | Community message board | ❌ |
1. DreamHost
DreamHost is a top-rated hosting provider that also offers completely free web hosting to U.S-based nonprofit organizations. All you need is either a 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19) determination letter, and you can claim a single shared hosting plan at no cost.
As part of this offer, you’ll also get free email hosting, a free domain name in your first year, and a free SSL certificate. Plus you’ll have access to a free AI website builder to help you get up and running quickly.
If you’re a WordPress fan, you can also use WordPress. And if you ever outgrow the free shared hosting plan, you can always upgrade to one of their managed DreamPress packages. They start from $16.95 per month, but you might be able to get a discount if you ask customer support.
Features ⚙️
- 50 GB of storage space
- Free automated daily backups
- Unmetered bandwidth and unmetered monthly visitors
- Support offered via DreamHost’s knowledge base and ticketing system
- Access to SFTP, shell access, WP-CLI and more (for developers)
Pricing 💵
Complimentary shared hosting for all organizations that can prove their tax-exempt status under 501(c)(3) or 501(c)(19).
2. InterServer
This New Jersey-based web hosting company offers a free nonprofit website hosting package to all nonprofits. If you can provide an IRS 501(c)(3) tax identification letter, InterServer promises unlimited space and bandwidth, at no cost.
InterServer’s free hosting includes unlimited email accounts. This feature could be perfect for larger nonprofits where every staff member needs their own email address. You might even create separate accounts for different parts of your organization.
For example, you could set up an address for accepting donations, coordinating volunteers, or answering PR questions. This diversification can boost your nonprofit’s efficiency while also making your organization appear more professional.
The 24/7 customer service also sets InterSever apart from the crowd. For a completely free plan, around-the-clock support is a generous inclusion.
One downside is that you must include a “Powered by InterServer” disclaimer and link at the bottom of your homepage. If you don’t fulfill this requirement within 30 days, InterServer will charge you for hosting. Its standard web hosting package also doesn’t include a free domain.
Features ⚙️
- Unlimited storage space
- Unlimited bandwidth
- A SitePad website builder
- Access to over 300 themes and more than 40 widgets
- A free SSL certificate
- Built-in InterShield Security solution for added protection
Pricing 💵
Free hosting for any nonprofit organization that’s registered and verified as 501(c)(3) with the IRS.
3. Kualo
Kualo is on a mission to help US-based charities get online, and it currently supports over 1,000 nonprofits.
To qualify and take advantage of this free nonprofit website hosting via the Kualo Solo plan, you need to be a registered USA 501(c)(3) nonprofit currently listed on the Charity Navigator website.
According to Kualo’s eligibility disclaimer, the company will generally approve any small, secular, or independent charity that has a “reasonably broad purpose and geographical remit.” The company is also open to receiving requests from “a limited number of charities” outside the US.
Kualo’s Charity Solo plan supports a single website, multiple subdomains, up to ten email accounts, and is built to handle as high as 100,000 visitors per month. It’s also fully compatible with some of the most popular Content Management Systems (CMSs) including the WordPress platform. They’ll even migrate your existing site over to them for free.
You’ll also get access to a free, drag-and-drop website builder, which can help you create a professional-looking website, even if you have no previous web development experience.
As a bonus, Kualo is powered solely by renewable energy, and the company plants a tree for every order it receives. It’s also invested in various projects that are certified to remove carbon emissions. This makes Kualo the perfect partner for environmental charities or any nonprofit that wants to support green initiatives.
In terms of potential drawbacks, it has a few, but they aren’t related to features or performance. They have more to do with random criteria that can disqualify you from being eligible for the nonprofit hosting deal. You can check out the full list in the FAQ section on their page. Also, similar to InterServer, they require you to put a disclaimer that links back to them.
Features ⚙️
- 10 GB of storage space
- 99.9% uptime guarantee
- 5 MySQL databases
- Free LiteSpeed Cache
- Unlimited bandwidth
- 24/7 customer support
Pricing 💵
Eligible charities can claim a free Charity Solo plan. If the Solo plan doesn’t meet your requirements, Kualo also offers a 50% discount on its entire range of hosting services.
4. Krystal
London-based Krystal has a dedicated Amethyst Charity plan that’s available to all UK-registered nonprofits.
As of the time of this writing, there are over 370 UK-based charities who are taking advantage of it. There are lots of good reasons why you might want to join the pack.
Right off the bat, the free Amethyst plan supports one website with 10 GB of storage space and an unlimited amount of mailboxes. Each mailbox can store up to 5 GB of data. The plan also includes daily backups, which are accessible for a rolling 31 days, and a free SSL certificate to help keep your site secure.
If that’s not enough for you, Krystal also comes with a free website builder and responsive website templates. This ensures that your nonprofit site will look good and function correctly, irrespective of device.
If you ever get stuck, there’s a helpful knowledge base, or you can turn to Krystal’s customer support team for help via tickets, chat, or phone. All in all, it’s an excellent hosting service and on top of everything, their entire business runs on renewable electricity. So it’s not only a good choice for your nonprofit, but it’s also great for the environment.
Features ⚙️
- Free website builder with over 190 templates
- Unlimited bandwidth
- Free SSL certificate
- Unlimited email accounts
- Free backups every 24 hours
- Unlimited MySQL and MariaDB databases
Pricing 💵
UK-registered nonprofits can request a free Amethyst Charity plan. If this web hosting package doesn’t meet all of your needs, Krystal offers discounts on its other web hosting plans on a case-by-case basis.
5. LCN
If you’re a UK-registered charity, LCN offers free web hosting for life. It has already helped over 500 UK charities get online. As part of this deal, it also provides a free two-year domain name.
If you’re interested in an LCN plan, you can contact its UK-based support team. Its customer service staff will then discuss your options and recommend the most appropriate package for your website.
All of LCN’s plans boast unlimited bandwidth, complimentary email accounts, and unlimited subdomains. To help keep your nonprofit site secure, LCN also monitors its data centers 24/7/365.
Features ⚙️
- A free IMAP email package
- 99.9% uptime rates
- Expert support available via multiple channels, including live chat and a ticketing system
- On-demand backups
Pricing 💵
If you have a UK charity number, LCN offers free web hosting.
6. InfinityFree
Unlike the other providers on our list, InfinityFree doesn’t just offer free hosting to nonprofits. Instead, it has a free hosting plan that’s open to all.
Since there are no restrictions, this host may be a good option for nonprofits that aren’t officially registered. You may also opt for InfinityFree if you don’t meet the criteria specified by other hosting providers.
With InfinityFree’s plan, you can host an unlimited number of sites and access 5 GB of disk space with unlimited bandwidth. For added security, you also get free SSL certificates. This company also has an impressive 99.9% uptime guarantee, so you can be confident that your website will remain online.
Overall, InfinityFree is an excellent free hosting option, but it’s not without its downsides. First, its plan doesn’t include an email account, so you’ll need to purchase email hosting separately if you don’t want to be stuck with a generic email account.
Second, although the front of your website will be completely ad-free, the backend does have ads. These are (understandably) used to help offset the cost of the service.
Finally, you’ll need to find a solution for website backups. If you end up using WordPress to build your site, then you can rely on plugins to handle this for you. However, researching, installing, and configuring any one of these plugins will still require additional work by your staff.
Features ⚙️
- Site.pro website builder with over 200 templates
- Softaculous installer with more than 400 packages (including WordPress)
- Connect your own domain or access free subdomains
- Access to MySQL 8.0 / MariaDB 10.6 and 400 MySQL databases
- Free DNS service
Pricing 💵
InfinityFree offers free website hosting to everyone, including nonprofits.
7. Cloudflare Pages
Similar to InfinityFree, Cloudflare Pages is another free nonprofit hosting option that’s open to everyone. No additional paperwork or proof required. However, that’s about where the similarity ends.
Cloudflare is a vastly more powerful and overall better service than InfinityFree, but there is one giant caveat: it requires more patience and some specialized knowledge to set your site up. Luckily, we have a highly detailed, step-by-step guide that walks you through how to do it using WordPress .
If you have the patience to work your way through the guide (or you have a web developer on your team) then you’ll be rewarded with a lightning fast, ultra secure website for your nonprofit organization. It will also be able to handle virtually unlimited traffic, which makes it a particularly ideal choice for popular or well-known charities.
You can also set up email routing for free. This means that you can send and receive emails using yourname@yourwebsite.com and they will be routed to/from yourname@gmail.com (or @yahoo.com or wherever you have your regular email). If you’re a little more tech-savvy, you can connect your Cloudflare account to Resend and use their free plan to send up to 3,000 emails per month.
Overall, Cloudflare Pages is an excellent free hosting service, it’s just challenging and time consuming to implement. But if you want to cut down on your costs without sacrificing the performance of your nonprofit site, then the time investment is well worth it.
Features ⚙️
- Free web analytics
- Free SSL
- Performance optimization features
- Free CDN
- Unlimited free admin users
- Unlimited bandwidth
Pricing 💵
Cloudflare Pages has a generous free plan (use the lefthand side menu to click on Cloudflare Pages) that’s open to everyone. It supports websites that contain up to 20,000 files with the the maximum file size for a single asset being capped at 25 MiB (about 26.2 MB).
Conclusion
Many nonprofits are eager to build their reputations online without inflating their overheads. Fortunately, multiple web hosting providers offer free hosting for charitable organizations.
All of the providers mentioned in this article are excellent choices for hosting your nonprofit website. However, DreamHost offers a fantastic range of added extras, including free email hosting and a free qualifying domain registration for the first year. It’s also one of the few top-rated hosting providers to offer completely free web hosting to nonprofits.
Do you have any questions about the best free web hosting for nonprofits? Let us know in the comments section below!
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