If you're a .NET developer looking to host small projects, prototypes, learning experiments, or demos—without paying monthly hosting fees—free .NET/ASP.NET web hosting services can be a useful stepping stone. However, "free" often comes with trade-offs. In this article, we'll walk through the key benefits and limitations of free .NET web hosting, review several providers you can try today, and offer tips for selecting a service that meets your needs.
Why Consider Free .NET Hosting?
Free hosting can be a smart choice in these scenarios:
- Learning & experimentation: For students or developers who want to try deploying real ASP.NET or .NET Core apps in a live environment, free hosting provides a low-stakes environment to test server-side code, connection strings, and deployment workflows.
- Proof of concept / MVPs: Before investing in paid infrastructure, you can host a small proof-of-concept site or minimal viable product on a free tier.
- Side projects or demos: If you just want to publish a small utility, personal app, or demo to show clients or friends, a free host might suffice.
- Cost-saving for small scale: For very low-traffic sites, a free plan might be “good enough” until the traffic or storage needs grow.
Just be aware: free hosts normally impose limits on storage, bandwidth, CPU, database size, and support. Downtime or forced advertisements are more common. Always treat free hosting as provisional or for non-critical workloads.
What to Look For in a Free .NET Host
When evaluating free ASP.NET / .NET hosting, here are criteria to keep in mind:
- Supported .NET versions: Ensure support for the version of .NET (or .NET Core / .NET 5/6/7/8 etc.) you plan to run.
- Database support: Many .NET apps require SQL Server or MS SQL Express; check if the host provides that or at least a compatible DB.
- Storage & bandwidth limits: Free tiers often cap disk space (e.g. 100-200 MB) or data transfer (e.g. 5 GB/month).
- Uptime & reliability: Free hosts may not guarantee much uptime; outages are more expectable.
- Support & community: Free users often get only forum or basic email support, not fast responses.
- Custom domain / SSL: Some free hosts allow you to point your own domain or support SSL (Let’s Encrypt or built-in).
- Inactivity / deletion clauses: Some hosts remove sites/databases if unused for a period.
- No forced ads / branding: Ideally the host does not inject advertising or branding into your site.
- With those criteria in mind, let’s look at some free (.or very low cost) .NET / ASP.NET hosting services you can try.
Recommended Free / Trial .NET Hosting Providers
Below are several options that support ASP.NET / .NET environments, some full free plans, some limited free trials:
Somee.com
Somee offers a free ASP.NET hosting plan with support for classic ASP.NET (2.0 through 4.8) as well as ASP.NET Core versions. Their free tier gives you 150 MB storage, 5 GB/month of bandwidth, and one MS SQL database (30 MB). SSL (via Let’s Encrypt) is included. Be aware that sites or databases may be removed if they go unused for 30 days.
MonsterASP.NET
MonsterASP.NET provides a free hosting option (using subdomains such as .runasp.net or .tryasp.net) without requiring a credit card. It supports .NET 8 and newer, making it suitable for modern .NET apps.
Free ASP.NET / WebHostForAsp
WebHostForAsp offers a 45-day free trial that supports ASP.NET (various versions), MVC, MS SQL, and more. Although not fully permanent, it’s a solid option for temporary use or testing.
SmarterASP.NET
While SmarterASP.NET mostly is a paid host, they offer a 60-day free trial (no credit card required) so you can explore their full ASP.NET hosting environment and see if it fits your longer-term needs.
myASP.NET
myASP.NET provides a free 60-day hosting trial for .NET / ASP.NET, with support for modern .NET versions, SQL Server, and Windows Server infrastructure.
SharkASP.NET
SharkASP.NET offers a free hosting option (for a trial period) supporting IIS, ASP.NET Core, older ASP.NET versions, SQL Server, and more.
How to Choose the Best One
Which host to pick depends on your goals. Here’s a suggested decision path:
- If you want a permanent free option (rather than trial): Start with Somee.com or MonsterASP.NET. They provide ongoing free tiers (with limitations).
- If you just need a trial to evaluate features or deploy temporarily: Try SmarterASP.NET or myASP.NET for their free trial periods.
- Check compatibility: If your app uses .NET Core or .NET 6/7/8, confirm the host supports those newer runtimes.
- Database demands: If your application is simple and lightweight, a small MS SQL Express DB may suffice. For heavier DB usage, a free tier may bottleneck.
- Plan for migration: Always assume you'll need to move to paid hosting later. Choose hosts that allow export or migration, or which offer upgrade paths.
- Backups & resilience: Don’t rely exclusively on free hosts for critical data. Keep local backups and be ready to move if the host becomes unstable or shuts down.
Tips for Running .NET Apps on Free Hosts
- Use lightweight frameworks or modular architectures to reduce resource usage.
- Minimize dependencies—avoid heavy background tasks or large memory usage.
- Cache data strategically to reduce database hits.
- Monitor usage (bandwidth, disk, CPU) to avoid hitting free-tier limits.
- Use a custom domain only if the host allows it (with DNS pointing support).
- Periodically “touch” the app or database (e.g. scheduled ping or query) if the host has inactivity deletion rules.
- Prepare a fallback plan: if traffic grows or the free host becomes unreliable, migrate to paid hosting or a cloud service.
Conclusion
Free .NET / ASP.NET hosting can be a helpful tool for learning, prototyping, or running very small applications. But it’s not a long-term production solution for anything serious. Use free providers like Somee, MonsterASP.NET, or trial offers from SmarterASP.NET to get started. Always plan for limitations, monitor resource usage, and keep your architecture light. When your project demands more stability, performance, or scalability, be ready to upgrade to paid hosting or a cloud platform tailored for .NET workloads.