Most websites on the internet are built using WordPress. It is one of the best CMS. As a beginner, you may try learning with Wordpress.com to create a website and host with WordPress. However, the free site from Wordpress.com always comes with annoying advertisements somewhere on your web. Of course, you won’t earn money from that. If you want to remove ads, then you have to subscribe to the service.

This article introduces how you can host WordPress for free. No ads. Allows plugins. Using Google Cloud Free Tier!

Step 1: Get Google Cloud Account

URL: https://cloud.google.com/

This step is pretty simple. Just register to Google Cloud with your google account to claim the Google Cloud Free tier.

Step 2: Install WordPress using Google Click to Deploy

URL: https://console.cloud.google.com/marketplace/product/click-to-deploy-images

Install WordPress using Google Click to Deploy (Screenshot by Author)

On the next page, it is important to select an appropriate server setting to claim the Google Cloud Free tier.

Zone: Select one of these US regions to claim the Free tier.

• Oregon: us-west1
• Iowa: us-central1
• South Carolina: us-east1

Machine type: please select N1 series / f1-micro (1 vCPU, 614 MB).

WordPress Deployment Setting (Screenshot by Author)

After you click confirmation, it will take some time to set up all required dependencies (Package/ database) for the WordPress application for you.

Step 3: Access Your New WordPress Site

You can access the WordPress site with the Instance’s External IP which you can see on the VM instance list page (https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/).

You can access the Admin Panel via http://<External IP>/wp-admin

Access to WordPress — Check the External IP (Screenshot by Author)Access to WordPress (Screenshot by Author)

Congratulations!! Now, you have a new WordPress website to use for free!

Step 4: (Optional) WordPress Server Setting

For advanced users, you might need to do some settings for your WordPress.

You can go to the cloud console and log in with SSH to the WordPress instance. Just head to https://console.cloud.google.com/compute/ and click on the SSH button from the instance list.

SSH to WordPress (GCC) Instance — 1 (Screenshot by Author)

Then, the new browser connected with SSH to the instance will pop up for you, you can manipulate, change, edit the database or do any setting.

SSH to WordPress (GCC) Instance — 2 (Screenshot by Author)

What about Free Tier Limitation?

With the Google Cloud Free Tier, you can host WordPress for free forever as in the limit described below. So, this is a very good choice for

• Prototype one full multi-pages website.
• Host your own light Personal Website/ Personal Blogging.

GCC Free Tier Limitation (https://cloud.google.com/free/docs/gcp-free-tier/#compute)

And, that’s about it. I hope you enjoyed it and found it useful for your daily works or projects.

Be Safe and Healthy!
Thank you for Reading. 👋😄