Reasonable and Nearly Free Hosting and Domain for Students
Roughly 1,840,243,880 (or there abouts), is the number of websites currently active on the internet and it increases every second. Before 2010 there were only around 210 million websites. Over the ten years, it has increased many fold. As for the number of domains, it's baffling.
Why are we talking about the number of websites? A mere 5 to 6 years ago, we didn't consider hosting and domains for students to present their group projects and other similar tasks. Today, it becomes so omnipresent that the average have a domain and a hosting contract.
Studying at an institution of higher education is the perfect time for a side hustle. And what’s the first thing we think about when considering a side hustle? It’s somewhat related to an online presence. And when it comes to being online, the first step is finding a domain and a hosting provider.
Top Hosting and Domain Providers For Students | Best Deals for Students
Having been students, we know the budget constraint of a student's life. Whenever we suffer a budget cut, we feel it. There is no shame in buying discounted products. As we can’t ignore the domain and hosting costs part of kickstarting our side hustle, it’s better to look for the best web hosting deal.
There are numerous packages designed for hosting and domains for students. How can you figure out the most affordable one for you? It's a pretty technical decision? No worries. We have firsthand experience getting services from multiple domain-hosting providers. We will show you the tips and tricks for getting the best hosting packages for students.
1. Google Cloud
Who doesn’t know the ubiquitousness of Google? Wherever you go, Google is always with you.
Although Google started their cloud business later than others, it didn’t take much time for them to capture a big piece of the pie. You can’t ignore their value-based facilities.
To become competitive, Google Cloud introduced a student package. When it comes to providing free credit, Google beats the other competitors by a big margin. They have the best value-based hosting and domains for students.
All eligible students receive up to $300 in Google Cloud credits per year; access to 13 fundamental courses on Coursera; unlimited access to Qwiklabs; Google Workspace certification discounts; and more.
If you have a comparatively large-scale project, you really should choose Google Cloud. You will have a substantial amount of time to continue your project. Unlike others giving $100 free credits, they provide $300 credit, allowing you to be at ease. You can comfortably use the Google Cloud and stay within your free credit alotment.
We’ve hosted our website in the Google cloud. From our experiences of using multiple hosting services, we would recommend you use Google Cloud.
2. Amazon Web Service
When it comes to cloud hosting, AWS will be at the top of any list. It has a full one-year free subscription for students. You will get credits to use it yearlong.
Students receive an AWS Educate starter account with up to $100 in credits at a member institution and $30 at a non-member institution.
If you’re planning to use it for a course project and have no serious intention to work on the project after your studies, we would suggest going for the AWS student pack.
After the one-year subscription, it might be a bit costly for you. Other renowned hosting providers have reasonably priced shared hosting packages.
AWS connects 2,400 institutions, over 10,000 educators, and hundreds of thousands of students.
Through AWS Educate, students and educators can access content and programs developed to increase skills in cloud careers from growing fields.
3. Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure is a strong contender of AWS's. It's no surprise that they also have a competitive cloud hosting package for students.
Similar to AWS, Microsoft Azure gives $100 credits to students. They don’t require a credit card. Simply give your student information and you’re ready to go.
The extra benefit you may avail from them is that they will give you a bundle of other facilities besides this free $100 credit.
Microsoft Azure provides free developers to hone your skills to the professional level.
You will get premium access to Visual Studio Code, Machine Learning, SQL Server 2019 Developer Edition, Linux Virtual Machines, SQL Database, App Service, and many other premium services from Microsoft.
If you’re from a science background and wanting to shine above from the crowd, without further ado, you might choose Microsoft Azure.
4. Alibaba Cloud
Alibaba Cloud provides a comprehensive suite of global cloud computing services to power both international customers’ online businesses and Alibaba Group’s e-commerce ecosystem.
Like other cloud hosting providers, they also have a student pack. They don’t hesitate when providing outstanding facilities to students.
Verified students will gain access to their exclusive student benefits, including free Elastic Compute Service (ECS), training courses, certifications, and more.
The student pack will offer a free cloud server, training, and certifications; you won’t require a credit card to avail yourself of this opportunity. You only have to verify your student standing.
For an entire year, you will get Alibaba Cloud Elastic Compute Service (ECS) free, to build your first website. That's up to US$139.68 in savings.
Visit the student pack page to know more about their facilities.
5. NameCheap
For those who’re actively looking for affordable and reliable hosting and domains for students, Namecheap is the best deal.
To students, they give free domains for the first year. Apart from the domain facility, with student id verification, you can avail yourself of the opportunity to get a free Github package.
Through the Namecheap Student package, anyone with an active .edu email address is eligible to receive a bundle of resources.
The package includes access to GitHub Pages and a .me website at no charge for one full year.
Students, educators, and administrators can use these tools to create online resumes, publish their research or participate in coding competitions.
Apart from the domain and other facilities, their shared hosting packages are very reasonable. You can start as little as 1 dollar to host your website in Namecheap.
Within 20-30 dollars, you can get the yearly hosting package from Namecheap. They have customized packages for online beginners, small businesses, and large businesses.
Their customer service makes them standout from the competition. Whenever you have an issue, just contact them and they will give you an instant solution. Whether it’s midnight or morning, you will get their customer care service.
6. Bluehost
If you search ‘hosting’ on google, the likelihood is that you will notice a Bluehost ad. What does that mean? It means they’re confident about their service and hardly bother spending money on advertising.
Bluehost has launched a new program for college and university students at a very affordable price. Bluehost is offering competitive hosting and domains for students.
Generally, Bluehost charges $7.99/month for the basic hosting plan, but students can get the educational program for $3.95/month.
There are some useful features that Bluehost offers students, like unlimited disc space, add-on domains, FTP access, a custom email account, and more.
Bluehost education student bundle offers you the following features to help you create your place online:
- Free domain name.
- Tutorials on how-to videos.
- Great portfolio-building tools.
- Custom email account.
- 24/7 expert tech support.
7. Hostgator
HostGator may not top the list when it comes to the overall hosting experience. But it has its benefits.
Hostgator has a market reputation for the best uptime. Website uptime is when a website or web service is available to users in a given period. Represented as a ratio of the time available divided by the total time, the ratio is calculated monthly or yearly.
We all have one friend who hasn’t the best sense of humour, but we like them anyways.
Hostgator is like that friend. It’s not the market leader, but when it comes to uptime and dedicated hosting, HostGator will give you the best value.
We would recommend taking the basic shared hosting package, which starts from $2.75 per month.
As this is your first website, try to gain experience with a cheaper hosting package like Hatchling Plan. It gives you 60% off the original price.
After the first month of the Hatchling plan, it renews at $6.95. This hatching plan includes-
Free SSL
Unmetered storage
Unmetered bandwidth
Unlimited free email addresses
One-click installs
8. SiteGround
With SiteGround’s Student Web Hosting program, you can work with the industry standards without breaking the bank. Their student program is specially designed for scholars, educators, and organizations.
If you want a trustworthy and genuine hosting service, Siteground will be the best pick for you. Siteground manages over two million domains.
Student’s Plan Full Account Features:
Siteground offers a unique set of characteristics to benefit both beginners and advanced users!
$1.99/month.
10 GB Storage Space
Amazing Speed With FREE CDN
Unmetered Traffic
FTP, SSH & Git
Free Email Accounts
Unlimited MySQL DBs
Multiple PHP Versions
Automatic Daily Backups
Site Tools With App manager
While other popular hosting providers have free domain facilities, they don’t provide it on the student plan. You have to buy a domain from them or other third parties.
Although for the first year, they charge you 1.99/m, after that, they will credit you $14.99 per month. If your educational institution has an affiliation with SiteGround, you can escape the full payment. They will require no charge.
Only students from North America can avail themselves of the student plan package. Use your institutional email to sign up.
9. InMotion Hosting
Indeed, InMotion is not very popular compared to the above-mentioned hosting providers. But they have a particular target audience. That’s why you might not have heard about them. For shared and VPS hosting, they have a good market reputation.
As long as you are a current student, you can enter your .edu address, unlock the order process for a shared web hosting account up to 50% off!
From InMotion, you will also receive 24/7/365 U.S.-based technical support. Customer center representatives are always there to help.
Their student pack will cost you $4.16 per month, their Middle Shared Plan, which is also recommended for small entrepreneurs.
This plan includes a free domain, free SSL security, unlimited disk space, and unlimited email for one year.
To get the student pack, you need to sign up using a .edu email address and claim your discount.
10. iPage
All of the hosting providers have each have a specialization. While one is good for uptime, another is the market leader for shared hosting. But iPage doesn’t follow this strategy.
They try to create a plan that is okay for all areas. Its $2.99 monthly rate is truly affordable for people from all backgrounds.
Students can also comfortably afford their package. Students who are working on a single project or a semester-based project may choose this hosting service.
iPage provides you the facility to host an unlimited domain in a single account. They also have unlimited disk space and scalable bandwidth. The plan includes:
One-click WordPress installation
24/7 phone and chat support
Custom email addresses at your domain
An integrated website building tool
They also have a $1.99 package, which has particular limitations besides the time limit. However, considering project work, students can also opt for this package.
Conclusion:
If you’re reading this line, I hope you already have enough information to decide on a domain and hosting provider. This market is very competitive. Almost all of the service providers give you similar services, with slight variations.
The best service provider is the one who gives you a pleasant and instant customer service experience and who also meets your requirements.
Pick the one which aligns with your values, beliefs and needs.
Canada Hey, we are a content team of Skipissues. We blog about anything or everything that students can benefit from.
You too can join us if you want to write about any student topics. Email us.
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