Yes, I have and will again if I need too to ensure costs are covered. Until you start earning enough revenue or sponsorships on your website to pay for your Web hosting and domain renewal, it's best to use a free service. Otherwise you'll just drain your bank account

I heard that Jcink is a good free platform to start your forum with. It's a modified version of IPB and you don't need to pay anything to setup your forum. Other platforms are Forumotion, Tapatalk. For hosting itself - 000webhost, x10Hosting.

Posted by: XXInfectedXx

Yes, I have and will again if I need too to ensure costs are covered. Until you start earning enough revenue or sponsorships on your website to pay for your Web hosting and domain renewal, it's best to use a free service. Otherwise you'll just drain your bank account

Actually, a lot of domains are dirt cheap.  I mean, they have domains for around $1 (for only the first year, though) and they once even had some for around 50 cents (US dollars).  Anyway, a year is plenty of time to get things together and be able to pay the 10 to 20 dollar renewal fee.  However, though, the thought of NEVER paying a renewal fee is appealing to many - just like the idea of free hosting.

I would not use a free domain. If you cannot spend a couple of dollars or whatever currency it is you use on a domain then it is not worth the click nor the visit.

I wouldn't use free domains unless it had a solid reputations as I know a lot of people tend to have headaches with free services as far as domains are concern.

I've used a .tk domain in the past when I was hosted by a friend on my own sub-domain, not sure I'd bother again in the future since I tend to subscribe to my own hosting and buy domains these days.

Free hosting simply isn't worth the headache you get with speed, reliability, and other variables that are out of your hands. Even being hosted by friends has its drawbacks..

I have used them in the past but would not go ahead and use them again. Whilst they are good for some who may not have the funds to get a domain, a lot of people don't take sites with free domains seriously, therefore, it can definitely hold you back.

Nah. Not me. 

They're overused by spammers / hackers. I'd stay away when I can. 

If they are offering free .com/.net/etc, I'd be very suspicious. They might hold your domain name and when you get it off the ground, charge you to actually release it to you. 

I would use a free sub domain offered by a web host if the hosting is free, they're offering it and I can test things out on it.

I wouldn't use the 'free domain' sites again in my life - first impressions count and if you come to me and say my website is www.websitename.tk or whatever else, I'm going to go hell no. In my eyes, if you're serious about a project, you can afford a couple dollars to get yourself set up properly on a domain with hosting. The power of having control over your own stuff also eclipses the 'free' part for me.

Well, I think we shouldn't judge who uses free software, free hosting, free domains.  That's their choice - and really - it doesn't matter!  Much of this prejudice is so much ignoring the subjective nature of the subject.

However, though, I can honestly say that free hosting - with no ads, will be troublesome and free software might cause a situation where lack of DIY ability will cause problems.

O.K. well. free domains might cause a few to ignore your site - but I think most people don't pay attention to them - but a non .com site can cause massive problems with marketing - cause they're harder to remember, generally speaking - though some businesses successfully use .net or .org  (looking at it from a US visitor perspective).

Not interested in free domains. They all have advertisements etc. and you don't have a lot of control.

Matter what you use the free domain for. I had once a free domain name and surprisingly it did well on the SEO. It ranked on the first page. Sadly, the free hosting had to close and I lost control over the domain. This is the down side of the free world.

So, from this, I would likely pay for the domain.