Free PHP or CF hosting services recommendations

Question

Hello, I have been asked to construct a website for a local not-for profit, and they don't have any money to spend on the project. It is starting out as a small project, so I agreed to do it for them. However, I would prefer to be able to do some scripting. I already know Coldfusion, but am willing to learn some PHP to do this. I am looking for a free hosting service, and hoped I could find some recommendations here. The requirements are:

1. Free hosting service, there is no money for this project
2. Need a couple hundred megabytes of server disk space
3. Database hosted, MySQL is fine, but I would be willing to try something else
4. Coldfusion or PHP scripting supported
5. No required ads from the host is preferred, but footer ads would be acceptable.
6. Subdomain allowed, so we can avoid DNS registration

As requested, I am in upstate New York.

Any and all suggestions are appreciated, Thanks .... Jay

Answer 1

This might depend on where in the world you are located, so you might want to add your country to the question description.

Maybe you can find a webhost in your local area to sponsor you, that is, provide hosting for free. I've seen this happen for a site I build for a local filmfestival, and it only required putting the logo + link of the hoster on the bottom of the page, plus credits on the about us page. This is IMHO not the same as just serving random ads, it's a sign of collaboration, professionalism, and affiliation with the area.

Answer 2

I don't think there's a way to walk out of this without eventually spending some money. You might want to ask them about who is going to pay for the .org domain registration, for starters.

As for server hosting, Allurium offers incredibly affordable ColdFusion hosting based off the Railo platform. You start with a free 15 day trial, and from then on you can pay by month or purchase an entire year in advance.

https://alurium.com/clients/cart.php

If you sign up for a year, you get the astonishingly low rate of $6.06 a month (unheard of for CFML hosting). Of course, you'll want to do your local development using Railo. That part is free. Just look up Railo on Google.

In theory, you could ask these non-profit guys to set up a dedicated el-cheapo workstation to run as your web server with Apache, Linux, Railo and MySQL as the server software. Can't get any more free and open source than that!

Lastly, if they are unwilling to cough up the cash, maybe you can pay for the hosting out of pocket and claim the deduction on your taxes, along with your man hours of course. Crazy idea, I know. But hey, just thought I'd throw it out there.

Answer 3

Depending on the legitimacy of the non-profit we (Ayera.com) will often give free ColdFusion hosting on our Shared server platform, including one database (MySQL or SQL Server). Pop over and submit a hosting inquiry.

Answer 4

Here are some good options (in order of quality, in my opinion):

http://www.ambitiouslemon.com/

PS: this first site is specific to non-profit organizations and the arts, education, and open-source communities, and is the best option

• PHP, Perl, Python and Ruby
• MySQL and PostgreSQL (with phpmyadmin)
• Data redundancy - SCSSI Raid 5
• Email server POP3, IMAP and web-based
• Support
• No Advertisements

http://www.heliohost.org/

• 250 MB Disk Space
• 2.5 GB Data Transfer
• PHP, ASP.NET, Ruby & Ruby on Rails, Python & Django, Java, Perl, SSI
• MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite
• FTP (Unlimited)
• Unlimited email accounts, Horde, SquirrelMail, RoundCube, POP3, IMAP, Custom MX records
• HelioHost.org subdomain
• Works with your domain
• Addon domain, Parked Domains, Sub-Domains (Unlimited)
• No Advertisements

http://x10hosting.com/

• 500 MB Disk Space
• 10 GB Data Transfer
• PHP with MySQL Database Support
• FTP Support
• Webmail and POP3
• Addon domain, Parked Domains, Sub-Domains
• No Advertisements

http://www.110mb.com/

• 5 GB Space
• PHP 5 and MySql Support
• FTP (chmod enabled)
• Your Own Domain Hosting
• Free subdomain (yourdomain.110mb.com)
• 99.9% Uptime
• No Advertisements

http://www.byethost.com/

• 5.5 GB Space
• MySQL databases & PHP Support
• FTP account and File Manager
• Control Panel and Automatic Script Installer
• Free tech support
• Addon domain, Parked Domains, Sub-Domains
• No ads

http://www.000webhost.com/

• 500 MB Disk Space
• 100 GB Data Transfer
• PHP with MySQL Database Support
• Instant Activation
• FTP Support
• 99.9% Uptime
• No Advertisements

http://www.zymic.com/

• 5 GB
• 50 GB Data Transfer
• PHP 5 Support, 5 mySQL databases
• FTP access
• 99.9% Uptime
• No Advertisements

Answer 5

DreamHost is great service for free. http://wiki.dreamhost.com/Non-profit_Discount

Features: http://www.dreamhost.com/hosting.html

It's great at $9/month for that matter.

Shell access, compile your own stuff if you want, easy Subversion repos. unlimited domains/subdomains/dbs, you name it basically (except maybe ColdFusion). :)

Note it is $9/month hosting. I host semi-important sites elsewhere.

Answer 6

You can now get free Railo hosting from www.cfmldeveloper.com as well as ColdFusion 9 if you want to compare/migrate. bluethunderinternet.com also do free hosting for charities and some non profit orgs

Answer 7

Xtreemhost.com provides free php hosting for all the features you are looking for, for more info read a review on it's free web hosting