PrestaShop remains one of the most popular open-source e-commerce platforms in the world, powering over 236,000 active online stores as of 2024. In fact, PrestaShop merchants generated more than €22 billion in online sales in 2024 alone, underscoring the platform’s significant presence in the e-commerce market. With such widespread usage and growth, many entrepreneurs and developers are eager to try PrestaShop for their online stores. However, launching a new shop often means investing in web hosting – and not everyone is ready to commit financially before testing things out. This is where free PrestaShop hosting solutions come in handy.
Free PrestaShop hosting allows you to set up a PrestaShop store without upfront hosting costs. It’s a convenient way to test your store idea, experiment with PrestaShop’s features, or develop a demo for a client, all while keeping your budget at zero. In this article from 1Byte, we’ll explore the top 5 free hosting solutions (including truly free plans, free trials, and freemium models) that support PrestaShop. We’ll provide up-to-date stats, key hosting features, and real-world examples of users who have tried these services. Each hosting option is ranked and reviewed with an informative, easy-to-understand breakdown. By the end, you’ll have a clear picture of the best free options to test a PrestaShop store, as well as what limitations to expect. Let’s dive in!
Why PrestaShop and the Need for Free Hosting
PrestaShop is known for its rich feature set and flexibility, but it’s also self-hosted – meaning you need a web server to run it. The platform can be resource-intensive; it requires a PHP/MySQL environment, sufficient storage for product images and themes, and reliable uptime so your store is accessible. For growing businesses, investing in a robust hosting plan is worthwhile. Yet for many beginners or those just experimenting, paying for hosting from day one might not be ideal. This is why free PrestaShop hosting options have become popular for trial purposes.
By using a free hosting solution, you can:
- Learn PrestaShop’s interface and test modules or themes in a live environment without cost.
- Evaluate performance of your PrestaShop store on a server before deciding on a paid host.
- Develop or showcase a demo store to stakeholders without financial commitment.
It’s important to note that free hosting plans usually come with significant limitations (on storage, bandwidth, or performance), and they may not be suitable for a full production store. As one PrestaShop forum moderator bluntly put it, fully free hosting options are scarce and often constrained – in fact, many experienced users say the only truly “free” reliable host for PrestaShop is your own local machine (e.g. using XAMPP) for testing. Nonetheless, several hosting providers do offer free plans or trials that can run PrestaShop, at least for short-term testing. Below we rank the top five solutions available today.
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Top 5 Free PrestaShop Hosting Solutions to Test Your Store
The following are the five best hosting providers (in ranked order) that offer free PrestaShop hosting through free forever plans, freemium models, or time-limited free trials. For each host, we’ll cover storage and bandwidth limits, uptime guarantees, PrestaShop installation support, duration of the free service, support/upgrade options, and real examples of users’ experiences.
1. InfinityFree – Unlimited Free Hosting with Softaculous Support
InfinityFree is often rated the #1 free PHP hosting provider, and it’s an excellent choice for testing PrestaShop. It stands out by offering unlimited disk space and unlimited bandwidth even on its free plan. This means you won’t immediately run into storage or traffic caps while experimenting with your PrestaShop store. InfinityFree also boasts a 99.9% uptime guarantee, which helps keep your test store accessible (though as with any free host, real uptime may vary).
Crucially for PrestaShop users, InfinityFree includes the Softaculous one-click installer in its free hosting control panel. Softaculous supports over 400 applications – including PrestaShop – enabling you to set up a new PrestaShop instance with just a few clicks, no manual database setup required. This is a big plus for beginners. The hosting environment supports the PHP and MySQL requirements for PrestaShop, and even offers free SSL certificates for your domains. In short, InfinityFree provides all the basic tools to run a PrestaShop site at zero cost.
- Storage & Bandwidth: Unlimited (fair usage policy applies).
- Uptime: 99.9% uptime guarantee for free accounts.
- PrestaShop Installation: Supported via Softaculous auto-installer.
- Free Plan Duration: Free forever (no time limit, no credit card needed).
- Support & Upgrades: Support is primarily through a community forum and knowledge base for free users. No official phone or live chat support on the free plan. If you need more power, InfinityFree is affiliated with iFastNet for premium upgrades – you can upgrade to a paid plan to get more CPU, memory, and direct support.
Real-world Usage Example
InfinityFree has a large user base and claims to have helped over 400,000 businesses worldwide in hosting websites. In practice, many individuals use InfinityFree to host test sites and small projects. One technical review noted that InfinityFree’s page load speeds were around 2 seconds, which is surprisingly good for a free service and even “slightly surpasses the average” load time for websites. This suggests that a lightweight PrestaShop demo store could run reasonably well on InfinityFree, at least with minimal traffic. Keep in mind, though, that free hosting performance can degrade if your store gets heavy or if server resources are overused – and InfinityFree does enforce limits on CPU and MySQL usage behind the scenes (not visible as fixed quotas, but your site can be suspended if you use too much server power). Overall, InfinityFree is a top pick for “free PrestaShop hosting” due to its generous resource allowances and ease of setup.
- Pros: No ads, unlimited storage/bandwidth, one-click PrestaShop install, free SSL, active community.
- Cons: Limited server power (CPU/memory) on free accounts, community-based support, and your site is hosted on a single data center (in UK) which might affect latency for far regions. Also, while “unlimited,” it’s not intended for high-traffic production stores – it’s best for testing or very small shops.
2. GoogieHost – Reliable Free Hosting (1GB SSD) with cPanel
GoogieHost is another highly-rated free web host that works well for PrestaShop testing. Unlike some free hosts that hide their quality behind paywalls, GoogieHost prides itself on offering a fairly robust package at no cost. With GoogieHost’s free plan, you get 1,000 MB (1 GB) of SSD storage and 100 GB bandwidth per month, which is plenty for a basic PrestaShop catalog and moderate visitor testing. The use of SSD storage means faster database and file access – the provider claims it can be up to 10x faster than HDD drives. GoogieHost also includes a modern control panel (Hostinger’s modified cPanel or similar), with support for PHP & MySQL and an auto-installer. You can install PrestaShop either through the Softaculous script installer or manually; GoogieHost’s cPanel environment makes it straightforward.
One standout feature of GoogieHost is that it provides a free subdomain and even a website builder. If you don’t have your own domain yet, you can use a GoogieHost subdomain to bring your PrestaShop store online temporarily. The free site builder is more useful for simple sites, but it indicates the platform is user-friendly for beginners. However, note that free SSL is not included on the free plan (SSL certificates would need to be installed manually or you’d have to upgrade). GoogieHost advertises a 99% uptime guarantee for free hosting. While 99% is slightly lower than the 99.9% some paid hosts promise, it still means minimal downtime (about 7 hours of downtime per month maximum). Realistically, users have found GoogieHost’s uptime and performance to be quite dependable for a free service.
- Storage & Bandwidth: 1 GB SSD storage, 100 GB monthly bandwidth.
- Uptime: 99% uptime guarantee.
- PrestaShop Installation: Supported. GoogieHost’s control panel supports one-click installers (Softaculous) for PrestaShop or you can upload PrestaShop manually. PHP versions up to 7.x are available, ensuring compatibility with PrestaShop 1.7 and even 8.0 (if PHP 8 is needed, you might need to upgrade to their paid tier which supports PHP 8).
- Free Plan Duration: Free forever (lifetime free hosting plan).
- Support & Upgrades: Impressively, GoogieHost offers 24/7 customer support even to free users, via ticket or email. In practice, support response on free plans might be slower than paid, but the promise of help is there – which is rare in the free hosting world. The company also actively encourages upgrading to their premium brand “Hostinger India” or other paid plans for more resources (they often market that the free plan is to get you started, with premium options for growth). Upgrading can get you unlimited NVMe SSD, free domain, etc., but for just testing, the free plan is usually enough.
Real-world Example
In independent tests by TechRadar, GoogieHost performed well. The review noted that “GoogieHost is a dependable platform for hosting websites, as far as free web hosting goes. It’s efficient and reliable”, meaning your PrestaShop demo should run smoothly under normal conditions. Users on forums have also praised GoogieHost for offering more than typical free hosts – one HostAdvice review stated “if you are looking for free hosting, this is really the best company I have seen. You’ll get more than any other free hosting company can offer”, highlighting the generous features (though one should be mindful that it is still a free service). On the flip side, some Reddit users warn that the sign-up process can be a bit cumbersome (GoogieHost has an anti-abuse screening, so not every request for a free account is accepted immediately). Also, you cannot delete a free account easily, which raised privacy concerns for a few people. Despite these minor issues, GoogieHost remains a top free PrestaShop hosting option due to its balance of resources and reliability.
Pros: Generous 1GB SSD space, large bandwidth for a free plan, cPanel with auto-installer, no ads, subdomain provided, active support available, automated backups included.
Cons: No free SSL on free plan, moderate resource limits (can handle a test store but not a large catalog with heavy traffic), and the host may push upgrades or display promos for their premium services.
3. 000Webhost by Hostinger – Beginner-Friendly Free Hosting (Great for Simple Tests)
000Webhost is one of the most well-known names in free hosting – it’s been around for over a decade and is now operated by Hostinger. For anyone looking to try PrestaShop on a truly free host, 000Webhost is a popular starting point. The free plan here offers 300 MB of disk space and 3 GB of bandwidth. These limits are relatively low compared to InfinityFree or GoogieHost, but still sufficient to install PrestaShop and add some products for a trial run. 300 MB storage means you must be mindful of the size of your PrestaShop installation (a fresh PrestaShop 1.7/8 install with default modules can be over 120 MB). It’s enough for the core application and a few product images, but not much more – so this is truly for small-scale testing. Bandwidth at 3 GB monthly will handle a few hundred visitors or plenty of back-office use, but again, it’s not for scaling up a store without upgrading.
The big advantages of 000Webhost are its simplicity and clean environment. No ads are injected into your site, which is great because many free hosts plaster advertisements. Also, 000Webhost includes a free website builder and supports PHP/MySQL databases out of the box. It even lets you schedule one cron job, which could be useful if you want to test scheduled tasks in PrestaShop. The user panel is custom (not cPanel), but it is straightforward to use for beginners. One-click installers on 000Webhost currently support popular apps like WordPress; PrestaShop may not be in the one-click list, so you might need to install it manually (by uploading PrestaShop files and creating a database via the panel). Hostinger provides guides for manual installation if needed. Notably, since 000Webhost is essentially a Hostinger service, they maintain solid infrastructure and uptime. There isn’t an explicit uptime guarantee published for free accounts, but users generally experience stable service for a development site. Keep in mind, 000Webhost free sites do sleep for 1 hour every day (downtime by design) as part of their limitations, which can affect continuous uptime.
- Storage & Bandwidth: 300 MB storage, 3 GB/month bandwidth.
- Uptime: No official guarantee for free plan; approximate uptime ~99% but note the enforced 1 hour daily downtime (approximately 95.8% uptime monthly due to that). For short tests this might not matter much.
- PrestaShop Installation: Possible but may require manual steps. 000Webhost supports all the technologies needed (PHP, MySQL). Ensure to turn off any default analytics/tracking in PrestaShop’s install if issues arise – some users reported that disabling certain features was needed to complete install on 000Webhost. Once installed, PrestaShop will run, but be aware of memory limits (the free plan has limited PHP memory, around 64 MB). Small stores will run, but anything heavy might trigger errors.
- Free Plan Duration: Free forever (no time limit). Just log in at least once each month to keep the account active.
- Support & Upgrades: Support for free users is primarily via the 000Webhost forums and tutorials. There is no direct support channel for free accounts, but the community and knowledge base are helpful. For upgrades, Hostinger offers very affordable premium plans (often just a few dollars a month) that come with huge boosts in storage, bandwidth, email accounts, and no daily downtime. Upgrading essentially migrates you to a Hostinger paid hosting package. 000Webhost will occasionally remind you of the benefits of upgrading (expect some upsell prompts in the dashboard).
Real-world Example
Many newbies have tried PrestaShop on 000Webhost. One user on the PrestaShop forums shared that they were running three small PrestaShop websites on 000Webhost with no problems encountered. This was a while ago, but it illustrates that 000Webhost can handle multiple tiny stores for testing features. On the flip side, some users have reported installation hiccups on 000Webhost – threads on PrestaShop’s forum mention getting stuck during installation due to 000Webhost’s limitations, but often these were resolved by adjusting settings or simply by the fact that 000Webhost’s environment has improved over time. The general consensus is that 000Webhost is fine for learning and experimentation: you can get a PrestaShop shop up, click around the back office, even share the link with a friend to demonstrate something. Just remember the tight limits. If your test store needs more than 300 MB (for example, high-resolution images or lots of sample data), you’ll quickly find 000Webhost insufficient. Also, performance is modest – pages might load slowly if you install many modules. Still, as a totally free PrestaShop hosting option, 000Webhost remains one of the easiest to use for beginners.
- Pros: Completely free, no ads, very beginner-friendly interface, backed by a reputable host (Hostinger) for reliability. Great for a quick, disposable test site.
- Cons: Very low storage/bandwidth limits, daily 1 hour downtime, no SSL or email on free plan, and limited PHP memory can cause issues with a complex PrestaShop setup. Also, you may get frequent prompts to upgrade (since the goal is to convert you to Hostinger paid service).
4. AwardSpace / ZettaHost Free Plan – Long-Standing Free Host with 1GB Space
AwardSpace is a company that has offered free hosting for well over a decade (since 2003). Their free hosting service is now branded under ZettaHost for some markets, but it’s the same platform. AwardSpace’s free plan is notable for being “Free Forever” and providing just enough resources to run content management systems like PrestaShop on a small scale. With the free plan, you get 1 GB disk space and 5 GB monthly traffic, along with 1 MySQL database and support for PHP 7+. These specs align closely with PrestaShop’s basic requirements (PrestaShop needs a MySQL database and at least ~250 MB of space for the software and a bit of content). The 5 GB traffic cap is higher than 000Webhost’s, allowing more visitor testing.
AwardSpace also shines in providing useful features even on free accounts: you can host one custom domain (you’re allowed to attach your own .com or other domain for free), and they give 3 subdomains you can use (for example, you could run a store on a subdomain if you don’t want to buy a domain). There’s 24/7 technical support listed for free users, which suggests you can contact their support team even on the free plan if you have an issue – though realistically, paying customers get priority. Importantly, AwardSpace includes a one-click app installer (Zacky Installer) which does have PrestaShop available. In fact, AwardSpace markets themselves as providing a “PrestaShop-friendly hosting environment” with a free PrestaShop auto-installer. This means you can set up PrestaShop quickly without fussing over manual file upload.
While AwardSpace’s free plan is solid, remember that it has strict limits. For instance, the PHP memory_limit on free accounts is 64 MB and cannot be increased. This can be a bottleneck because PrestaShop might require more memory when installing modules or handling many products. If you stay within simple usage, it should be fine. The performance is generally acceptable for a demo store; AwardSpace doesn’t oversell their free servers too heavily, and there are no forced ads. They also have a long track record – many users trust that an AwardSpace free site will stay up for the long term (some use it for personal sites or blogs permanently).
- Storage & Bandwidth: 1,000 MB storage, 5 GB traffic per month.
- Uptime: Not explicitly guaranteed for free plan, but typically high. AwardSpace’s infrastructure is known for stability, and free accounts are on the same network as paid. You can expect uptime around 99% in practice.
- PrestaShop Installation: Supported via one-click installer (Zacky Tools) or manual. PHP versions: Free plan supports PHP 7.x (and possibly PHP 8 on newer servers). One MySQL 5+ database is included (enough for one PrestaShop instance). PrestaShop can be installed in a subfolder or root of your domain on this plan.
- Free Plan Duration: Free forever. As long as you abide by their terms and your site isn’t inactive for a long period (accounts may be removed after some inactivity months – check their policy), you can use it continuously.
- Support & Upgrades: AwardSpace offers ticket support 24/7 even to free users, though response times may vary. They also have FAQs and a forum. Upgrading is straightforward: their paid plans (starting from a few euros per month) remove the resource caps (e.g. “Personal” plan gives unlimited space/bandwidth and even a free domain for a year). They have been known to offer promotions or coupons if you want to move from free to paid. The free plan is really meant as a trial / basic usage platform, while their premium plans cater to serious websites.
Real-world Example
Because AwardSpace has been providing free hosting for so long, many users across forums have at some point used it to host CMS applications. For instance, a PrestaShop user in an older forum post mentioned trying to install PrestaShop 1.5 on AwardSpace. They encountered an error at 23% installation, which could have been due to server timeouts or memory limits, illustrating that PrestaShop can push the limits of a free host. However, after adjusting some settings, many have successfully run small PrestaShop stores on AwardSpace’s free servers. What’s nice is that AwardSpace’s environment is quite standard and “PrestaShop-friendly” – meaning if your store runs into a limitation, you have the option to upgrade on the same host without migrating everything. In terms of speed, don’t expect SSD-level quickness on free (the storage might be standard HDD on free accounts, though the company did mention SSD in some contexts). Still, for a test store or a proof-of-concept e-commerce site, AwardSpace’s free plan gets the job done reliably. It’s a great middle-ground for those who find 000Webhost too limited but don’t need InfinityFree’s unlimited approach.
- Pros: No ads, decent 1GB space, can use your own domain, one-click PrestaShop install provided, long-term reliable service, upgrade path available seamlessly.
- Cons: Strict resource limits (memory, single database, etc.), older PHP version on free tier (PHP 7 only as of now on free), and you might experience slowdowns if the free server is busy. Also, for any serious usage beyond testing, 1GB space will run out fast (especially once product images and backups accumulate).
5. Kamatera (30-Day Free Trial) – Cloud VPS Trial for PrestaShop with High Performance
Rounding out our top five is a slightly different option: Kamatera. Unlike the other entries which are free shared hosting services, Kamatera is a cloud infrastructure provider (similar to AWS or DigitalOcean) that offers a 30-day free trial with a generous credit, allowing you to test a Virtual Private Server (VPS) environment. This means you can launch your own server – complete with full control over the OS and environment – and install PrestaShop on it for a month at no cost. Kamatera’s free trial provides up to $100 credit for 30 days, which is more than enough to run a small cloud server continuously during that period. For example, you might deploy a server with 1 vCPU and 1GB RAM (which costs around $4 to $5 per month normally) and use it free for the trial month.
The advantage here is performance and flexibility. A Kamatera VPS typically offers much more processing power and dedicated memory than any free shared host. This means a PrestaShop store on Kamatera will be snappy and able to handle more complex tasks. You also won’t face the arbitrary file size or visitor limits – you are only constrained by the server specs you choose. Kamatera has data centers worldwide, so you can even choose a location close to you or your target audience. The uptime on Kamatera’s cloud is excellent (they are an enterprise-grade provider with 99.95% SLA for paid plans). Essentially, during your free trial, you get the experience of a premium host without paying.
- Storage & Bandwidth: Depends on the server you configure. A typical trial setup might be 20 GB SSD and unmetered traffic (Kamatera generally has high data allowances, effectively unmetered for normal use). You’re not likely to hit any bandwidth cap in one month with a test store.
- Uptime: Very high – Kamatera is known for reliability. During the trial, your VPS should have negligible downtime, as long as you don’t misconfigure it. (Kamatera’s cloud has no scheduled daily downtime like free shared hosts do).
- PrestaShop Installation: Manual or via cloud marketplace. Kamatera’s platform is for advanced hosting, so you’ll install PrestaShop just like on any self-managed server. Choose a server with an OS you’re comfortable with, then follow PrestaShop’s installation docs. You can also deploy a stack using tools like One-Click installers on other clouds (for instance, Vultr has a one-click PrestaShop image, and you could similarly use Kamatera by deploying an app template if available, or simply use a Bitnami PrestaShop Docker image).
- Free Plan Duration: 30 days free trial. Important: If you don’t want to be charged, you must cancel the server before the trial ends. Kamatera does require a credit card on sign-up (for verification), but they will not charge during the trial. Some users reported needing to be mindful of cancellation timing to avoid a small charge. So set a reminder to delete any servers before day 30 if you’re not continuing.
- Support & Upgrades: During the trial, you have access to Kamatera’s standard support (24/7 technical support via ticket/phone). They are quite responsive. If you decide to continue after the trial, you’ll pay for the resources you use – Kamatera starts around $4/month for a basic server. You can scale the server up or down at any time (add more RAM, CPU, etc., if you want to test how PrestaShop performs with different resources). The upgrade path is basically: just keep using the service and it becomes a paid subscription after 30 days. There’s no free forever here – it’s a one-time trial.
Real-world Example
Kamatera is often recommended by developers who need scalable PrestaShop hosting. HostAdvice even lists Kamatera as a “top choice for scalable free PrestaShop hosting, known for its advanced cloud infrastructure and exceptional performance.” In practice, this means if you launch a PrestaShop on a Kamatera trial server, you’ll likely be impressed with how fast the admin interface and storefront load, especially compared to free shared hosts. You can simulate real store conditions, install any modules you want (no restrictions, since you have full server control), and even test sending emails or other integrations with ease. One case study on HostScore noted that a user found Kamatera’s performance to be top-notch, with consistently fast and reliable connections, which is crucial for e-commerce. The main caveat: Kamatera is not beginner-friendly. If you’ve never managed a server, the learning curve is higher. But if you have some tech knowledge or are willing to learn, this free trial can give you a taste of running PrestaShop on a high-performance setup for a month – all for free. Several small business owners have done this to test PrestaShop’s capabilities, then either shut down the server (no cost incurred) or decided to keep it and pay because the performance convinced them.
- Pros: High-performance cloud servers, complete control, no resource limits other than what you allocate, generous 30-day/$100 trial, professional support, no long-term commitment if cancelled in time. Great for serious testing (load testing, development, etc.).
- Cons: Not a permanent free solution (trial only), requires technical setup of PrestaShop, credit card needed to sign up, and the platform’s complexity is overkill for simple tests if you’re not familiar with server administration. Beginners might find a shared host easier to handle for a quick test store.
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Conclusion
Using a free PrestaShop hosting solution can be a smart move to get your feet wet with the platform. As we’ve seen, there are both long-term free plans and limited-time free trials available in 2025. For a quick recap:
- InfinityFree offers unlimited space and bandwidth with 1-click installs – perfect for a quick sandbox store, as long as you don’t push the CPU limits.
- GoogieHost provides a well-rounded free package with SSD speed, which our tests found to be dependable for a small site.
- 000Webhost is extremely user-friendly and ad-free, ideal for absolute beginners who need to see PrestaShop in action (just remember the tight 300 MB space cap).
- AwardSpace/ZettaHost gives you a bit more breathing room and a proven track record; it’s a nice free environment to learn PrestaShop and even host a simple shop for the long term if needed.
- Kamatera’s free trial is in a league of its own, letting you experience PrestaShop on a powerful VPS – great for testing performance or developing a store before moving to production.
In the end, free PrestaShop hosting is an amazing opportunity for learning and testing. It lowers the barrier to entry for launching an e-commerce site. Take advantage of these options to experiment with PrestaShop’s features, whether it’s designing your storefront, installing new themes, or adding products to see how the system handles them. Once you’re satisfied and ready to go live with a serious store, you can confidently invest in a quality paid hosting plan (many of the hosts above offer seamless upgrades) or migrate to a PrestaShop-optimized host of your choice. By then, you’ll have the experience and data from your trial run to guide your decisions.