1. wix.com

 strong, browser-based website builder, Wix.com reigns supreme if you want a simple, drag-and-drop interface for building basic sites(i.e., for portfolios, small sites, etc.).

While it’s not for those who are looking to work out their coding skills, house various video files, or host an app they’ve been tinkering with (If you match these descriptions, read on!), Wix leads the way when it comes to easy setup and robust features.

Note that advanced email, domain, and eCommerce features are available from Wix by upgrading to its non-free plans. Their support isn’t always great, but it almost doesn’t matter. We find Wix.com’s offering to be ideal for beginner site owners:

• Storage: 500MB
• Domain: Wix.com subdomain
• eCommerce: No
• Bandwidth: 500MB
• Email: Yes
• Website Builder/Design: Drag-and-drop editor with lots of templates and apps

2. wordpress.com

One of the most well-known brands when it comes to getting online, WordPress powers 30% of all websites. The open-source version of the content management requires site owners to purchase and configure a web hosting plan, but WordPress.com removes all that hassle by pairing the popular system with plenty of online storage and support.

The biggest knock on WordPress is that it’s not as simple as some of the drag-and-drop site builders such as Wix and Weebly. But with hundreds of themes and customization options to choose from, WordPress gives users an extraordinarily high ceiling with which to create and grow an online presence.

• Storage: 3GB
• Domain: WordPress.com subdomain
• eCommerce: No
• Bandwidth: 3 GB
• Email: Yes
• Website Builder/Design: Hundreds of mobile-friendly themes and customizations

3.  x10Hosting.com

The veterans at x10Hosting pride themselves on giving their free hosting customers a stable and high-performance environment with the latest versions of PHP, MySQL, and cPanel.

• Storage: 1 GB
• Domain: 2 add-on domains, 1 parked domain, and 2 subdomains
• eCommerce: 1-click installs for eCommerce platforms such as Magento
• Bandwidth: Unlimited
• Email: 3 free accounts
• Website Builder/Design: Website builder with more than 150 templates; other programs available via cPanel installations

4. Awardspace.com

A pioneer in the free web hosting industry with more than 10 years experience, AwardSpace.com relies on free hosting to grow their customer base.

• Storage: 1GB
• Domain: Hosting for 1 domain and 3 subdomains is included
• eCommerce: No
• Bandwidth: 5GB
• Email: 1 email account and spam filter
• Website Builder/Design: No, but Joomla and WordPress installers are included

5.  5gbFree.com

With interesting plan names, Freehostia’s Chocolate flavor offers free cloud hosting. The load-balanced server cluster platform is up to 15 times faster than more traditional shared hosting setups.

• Storage: 250MB
• Domain: 5 hosted domains
• eCommerce: 1-click cart installations of several top platforms

• Bandwidth: 6GB monthly
• Email: 3 email accounts
• Website Builder/Design: Free website templates, plus 1-click installs