Free WordPress Hosting That Allows Plugins: Which Providers Support It in 2026?

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I have been comparing free WordPress hosting providers, specifically looking for plans that allow users to install plugins. This is important because the free WordPress.com plan does not support plugin installation. WordPress.com currently requires a paid plan for this feature. 
Based on the providers’ current information, these are some free hosting options that support WordPress plugins in 2026:

1. GoogieHost

GoogieHost offers free self-hosted WordPress hosting with a one-click installer, DirectAdmin control panel, free SSL, 1,000 MB NVMe storage, and no forced advertisements. Its free hosting environment can be used to test themes and plugins, making it suitable for beginners, students, and small testing websites.

2. x10Hosting

x10Hosting officially states that its free WordPress hosting supports standard WordPress modules and plugins. It also provides an automated WordPress installer. This may be a practical option for small blogs, portfolios, and development experiments.

3. AwardSpace

AwardSpace provides free WordPress hosting with 1 GB of storage, 5 GB of monthly bandwidth, one MySQL database, a free subdomain, and a WordPress installer. Users can install and manage plugins through the WordPress dashboard. AwardSpace also provides an official tutorial explaining the plugin installation process. 

4. Freehostia

Freehostia’s Chocolate plan supports WordPress through a one-click application installer. Its WordPress installation supports plugin upgrades, but the free plan includes only 250 MB of storage and 6 GB of monthly traffic. It is more suitable for lightweight websites and basic testing.

5. InfinityFree

InfinityFree allows WordPress plugins, but there are important limitations. Large plugins may fail during installation because of file-size and server-resource restrictions. Resource-heavy plugins can also cause the account to reach CPU limits. Lightweight plugins generally work better, and manual installation through FTP may sometimes be necessary.

My current shortlist would be GoogieHost, x10Hosting, and AwardSpace for general testing. Freehostia may work for very small sites.

Free hosting is useful for learning, staging, portfolios, and temporary projects. For WooCommerce, membership websites, heavy page builders, or business-critical sites, a basic paid hosting plan will usually provide better performance, backups, security, and reliability.
Has anyone here recently tested these providers with plugins such as Elementor, WooCommerce, Rank Math, or WPForms? I would be interested to know which free host performed best.