What AWS Free Web Hosting Means
When people say free web hosting AWS, they usually mean the AWS Free Tier, a set of services that stay free for 12 months after account creation or are free forever with usage limits. AWS does not offer a single "free hosting" plan like shared providers do. Instead, you assemble a stack — often static hosting on Amazon S3, a content delivery layer via CloudFront, and a lightweight compute tier — that can cost nothing if you stay within the included limits. For a personal site, a portfolio, or a learning project, that can be genuinely free. For anything that scales, the bills start the moment you leave the free limits.
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Services That Make Up a Free AWS Site
A typical free AWS setup uses a handful of services, each with its own free tier. Understanding what each piece does and where the limits sit matters more than any single setting.
Amazon S3 Static Hosting
S3 can host static HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and image files directly from a bucket. The first 5 GB of S3 storage is free each month for 12 months, and the first 100 GB of data transfer out per month is also free. This is enough for a modest portfolio or a documentation site that does not serve large media files.
AWS CloudFront CDN
CloudFront caches content at edge locations close to visitors, which can make a site feel fast even on the free tier. The free tier includes 1 TB of data transfer out per month for the first 12 months and 1 million HTTP/HTTPS requests per month. After that, standard CloudFront rates apply, which are low but not zero.
Amazon Route 53 DNS
Route 53 charges $0.50 per hosted zone per month and $0.40 per million DNS queries. For a single domain, the monthly cost is under a dollar, which means it is not technically free, but it is small enough that many budgets absorb it without noticing.
AWS Lambda and API Gateway
If the site needs dynamic features — a contact form, a simple API, server-side redirects — Lambda with API Gateway can serve that work. The free tier includes 1 million Lambda requests and 400,000 GB-seconds of compute per month for the first 12 months. API Gateway also has a million free requests per month. Staying inside these numbers keeps dynamic functionality cost-free.
The 12-Month Free Tier vs. Always-Free Limits
A useful distinction in free web hosting AWS planning is between services free for 12 months and those free forever with strict usage caps. S3 storage is free for 12 months; beyond that, standard S3 storage pricing begins at around $0.023 per GB per month. S3 GET requests are free forever up to 20,000 per month; PUT requests are free up to 2,000 per month. CloudFront free data transfer applies only for the first 12 months. Lambda always offers a small permanent free allocation, but it is tiny — 1 million requests and 400,000 GB-seconds per month — and anything beyond that is metered.
| Service | Free Tier | Limit |
|---|---|---|
| S3 Storage | 5 GB/month | First 12 months |
| S3 GET Requests | 20,000/month | Always free |
| S3 PUT Requests | 2,000/month | Always free |
| CloudFront Data Transfer | 1 TB/month | First 12 months |
| CloudFront Requests | 1 million/month | First 12 months |
| Lambda Requests | 1 million/month | First 12 months |
| Lambda Compute | 400,000 GB-seconds/month | First 12 months |
| Route 53 Hosted Zone | $0.50/month | Always paid |
Who Free AWS Hosting Fits Best
Free web hosting on AWS works well for a specific kind of user. It suits developers who want to learn cloud infrastructure, students building a class project, or someone running a low-traffic portfolio where uptime and speed matter more than dynamic features. It does not suit high-traffic blogs, e-commerce stores, or anyone who wants a managed dashboard with one-click installs and automatic backups. The learning curve is real, and a misconfigured S3 bucket or a runaway Lambda can generate unexpected costs, even if the default is free.
Getting Started Without Surprises
If you want to test free AWS hosting without a bill, a few habits help. Set billing alerts in the AWS Billing and Cost Management console so you know the moment usage leaves the free tier. Use AWS Organizations to keep test accounts separate from any production account. Start with S3 static hosting and CloudFront for a simple, low-risk stack, and only add Lambda or a database when the project genuinely needs it. Staying inside the free limits is mostly a matter of monitoring traffic and request counts, not deep architectural decisions.