AwardSpace Review
Stable, no-ads free host with 23 years of continuous operation
Quick Stats
Who is AwardSpace best for?
Hobby bloggers, portfolio sites, students, and non-profits launching a single, low-traffic site.
✅ Pros
- Zero injected ads on your site
- One-click WordPress install
- No credit card required
- PHP 8 support
- One free email account included
- 23 years of continuous operation
❌ Cons
- 5 GB/month bandwidth cap
- No SSL included — sold separately
- Outgoing PHP connections blocked
- Single data center in Sofia, Bulgaria
- Slower support response on free tier
- Custom panel — not standard cPanel
Summary: A stable, no-ads free host that handles simple WordPress sites well — until you need SSL, outgoing PHP calls, or more than 5 GB of traffic a month.
Best For: Hobby bloggers, portfolio sites, students, and non-profits launching a single, low-traffic site.
Not Ideal For: Anyone needing SSL out of the box, payment integrations, or plugins that call external APIs.
Pricing: Free plan available (no credit card). Paid plans from $2.99/mo (standard rate).
Key stat: In 2026, AwardSpace's free plan caps you at 5 GB of monthly bandwidth — a limit a modestly popular post can burn through in under three weeks.
AwardSpace has been around since 2003. For a free WordPress host, that's an unusually long track record. It hasn't pivoted into something unrecognizable, injected ads into your pages, or quietly folded.
That last point matters more than it sounds. Hostinger shut down 000webhost — once the most-recommended beginner free host — in October 2024 (Hostinger Blog, 2024). AwardSpace outlived it. For a hobby blog or a learning project, that kind of staying power is worth something.
Here's our honest breakdown of what you get, what the fine print says, and who should — and shouldn't — start here in 2026.
We set up a fresh WordPress install on AwardSpace's free plan, ran a lightweight portfolio theme, and tested the limits until we found the edges. A few of those edges aren't mentioned in the marketing copy.
What Does AwardSpace's Free Plan Actually Include?
The free plan is more honest than most. You get 1 GB SSD storage, 5 GB monthly bandwidth, one custom domain plus three subdomains, one MySQL database, and one email account. There are no banner ads forced onto your pages — AwardSpace markets this explicitly, and it's true.
As of June 2026, AwardSpace's free plan includes 1 GB storage, 5 GB bandwidth, one MySQL database, PHP 8 support, and zero injected advertisements (AwardSpace, 2025).
The chart below shows where AwardSpace's free storage sits against its two main active competitors.
InfinityFree gives you five times the storage. AwardSpace's 5 GB bandwidth cap is blunt, but at least it's predictable — you won't hit it accidentally on a slow week.
Is WordPress Easy to Set Up on AwardSpace?
Yes — easier than you'd expect for a free host. One click in AwardSpace's Zacky Script Installer (their Softaculous equivalent) and WordPress is running in a few minutes. No FTP needed. No manual database setup.
PHP 8 is supported, which puts AwardSpace ahead of several free hosts still running PHP 7. The control panel isn't cPanel — it's a custom AwardSpace interface. Nothing is broken; nothing is instantly intuitive. Give it an afternoon.
The WordPress install itself took under five minutes. The first plugin we tested that needed to reach an external URL failed immediately. That's not a bug — it's a deliberate restriction explained below.
What Are the Limits You Need to Know?
Three restrictions that aren't prominently advertised — and that catch people off-guard.
1. No SSL included. Your site will run on plain HTTP unless you buy an SSL certificate separately via AwardSpace's GeoTrust integration. In 2026, browsers display a security warning on non-HTTPS sites before a single word loads. InfinityFree gives you free Let's Encrypt SSL. AwardSpace does not. This is their most consequential free-plan gap.
2. Outgoing PHP connections are blocked. No curl. No file_get_contents to external URLs. Any plugin that calls a payment gateway, sends a webhook, or queries a third-party API will fail. This restriction isn't prominently documented — it surfaces in user forums after the fact.
3. One data center, Sofia, Bulgaria. There's no CDN on the free plan to compensate for geographic distance. If your audience is in North America or Asia, expect higher latency than you'd see from a US-based host.
The blocked outgoing PHP issue is the sleeper problem on AwardSpace's free tier. Static blogs and simple portfolios won't notice it. But if you install a contact form that sends email via external SMTP, or any plugin with a remote API call, you'll hit a wall.
What Do Paid Plans Cost?
AwardSpace's free plan is genuinely free — no trial expiry, no credit card. The first paid tier (Basic, ~$2.99/mo standard) mostly removes the bandwidth cap and adds a second domain, but not much else worth paying for.
The first plan that's actually useful is Web Pro Plus at $7.57/mo: 10 domains, 10 MySQL databases, and 500 MB per database. That's the effective entry point if you're running more than a test site.
At $7.57/mo (promotional rate), AwardSpace's Web Pro Plus plan supports 10 hosted domains, 10 MySQL databases, and removes the bandwidth cap — making it the practical starting point for anyone running more than a single test site (AwardSpace, June 2026).
At that price, you're competing with Hostinger's entry-level shared plans. Hostinger generally wins on performance. AwardSpace wins on simplicity and, frankly, the fact that it didn't shut down.
Alternatives Worth Considering
InfinityFree
Best if you need: More storage and free SSL without paying anything.
Price: Free
Key difference: 5 GB storage, free Let's Encrypt SSL, and 400 MySQL databases. The trade-off is a 50,000 daily hit cap that can suspend your account without warning.
Freehostia (Chocolate Plan)
Best if you need: Multiple custom domains on a free plan.
Price: Free
Key difference: Supports up to 5 custom domains, but storage is just 250 MB. Better for parking domains than running a media-heavy site.
Hostinger Shared Hosting (Paid)
Best if you need: Reliable performance, SSL, and responsive support.
Price: From ~$2.99/mo (introductory)
Key difference: Not free, but includes bundled SSL, better server speeds, and multiple global data centers. If you're building something you care about, this is the right move.
Our Verdict on AwardSpace Free Hosting
AwardSpace scores 6.5 out of 10 for free WordPress hosting. It's a stable, honest platform with a track record that most free hosts can't match. The no-ads policy is real. The one-click WordPress install works. PHP 8 support is a genuine plus for a free tier.
The gaps are just as real. No SSL, blocked outgoing PHP, and a single Bulgarian data center are meaningful constraints. They won't bother a simple portfolio or hobby blog. They'll break anything more sophisticated.
We'd use it for a personal test site or a low-traffic portfolio, and we'd solve the SSL situation on day one by planning for a paid upgrade or switching to InfinityFree. For anything running plugins with external calls — contact forms, payment processors, API integrations — we'd skip it entirely.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is AwardSpace free hosting really free — no expiry?
Yes, permanently. There's no trial period and no credit card required. The free plan includes 1 GB storage, 5 GB monthly bandwidth, one domain, one MySQL database, and one email account with no injected ads (AwardSpace, 2025). It stays free for as long as you use it.
Does AwardSpace's free plan include SSL?
No. SSL is sold separately on all AwardSpace plans through their GeoTrust integration. Browsers flag non-HTTPS sites with a security warning before any content loads — so this is a real gap in 2026. If free SSL matters to you, InfinityFree includes Let's Encrypt at no cost.
How does AwardSpace compare to InfinityFree?
InfinityFree has stronger raw specs: 5 GB storage (vs 1 GB), free SSL, and up to 400 MySQL databases. AwardSpace has a cleaner interface and no daily hit cap. If you want the best free specs, InfinityFree wins. If you want something easier to navigate as a beginner, AwardSpace is the friendlier option.
Who is AwardSpace free hosting best for?
It's best for hobby bloggers, students learning WordPress, portfolio owners, and non-profits running a single, simple site with low monthly traffic. It's not suitable for e-commerce, sites that need external API calls, or anything that requires an SSL certificate as a baseline requirement.
Sources: AwardSpace Free WordPress Hosting · AwardSpace Web Hosting Plans · Hostinger — 000webhost Closes · InfinityFree · Freehostia Chocolate Plan · W3Techs WordPress Market Share, June 2026