WordPress is the world’s most popular content management system. With over 60 million websites powered by WordPress, it’s a platform that can enable anyone to build professional websites and blogs. However, fully experiencing WordPress requires having a hosting environment set up. Is there still a way to practice using WordPress without paying for hosting?
Absolutely! In this comprehensive guide, we’ll cover several methods for using and learning WordPress without needing to invest in hosting right away. From local installations to free hosting options, read on to find the best approach to sharpen your WordPress skills risk-free.
Use Local WordPress Installations
One of the easiest ways to use WordPress without hosting is by running it locally on your own computer. This allows you to build sites, test plugins/themes, and get familiar with WordPress administration without an internet connection. Here are two good options for local WordPress instances:
MAMP/WAMP
MAMP (Mac, Apache, MySQL, PHP) and WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP) are two open-source packages that streamline installing a local WordPress site. They bundle together a web server, database, and PHP in a simple interface.
Once installed, using the GUI you can get a WordPress site running in just a few clicks. This makes them extremely beginner-friendly. Play around with site building and administration risk-free.
LocalWP
For even greater simplicity, LocalWP takes the entire local WordPress process and makes it dead simple. After quickly installing the software, you can instantly spin up WordPress sites in one click.
LocalWP also includes advanced features like staging sites, automated backups, and capacity for running multiple WordPress instances simultaneously. For quickly testing themes/plugins or replicating client sites, LocalWP is extremely useful.
Leverage Free Hosting Services
If you want to try a live site and see how WordPress functions connected to a real hosting provider, several services offer free limited hosting plans. These are great for setting up temporary sites to sharpen your WordPress skills.
WordPress.com
The most popular free hosting choice is WordPress.com, run by Automattic, the same company behind the open-source WordPress software. Their free plan allows you to create a site with your own custom domain name.
However, there are some limitations like not having root access and being unable to install custom themes/plugins. But it can still be very useful for testing basic WordPress functionality quickly without any cost.
Free Hosting Sites
Various third-party sites like 000webhost and ByetHost also offer free WordPress hosting plans. Similarly, these come with restrictions like mandatory advertisements or capped resource usage.
But for very temporary sites, they can serve the purpose of giving you a publicly accessible WordPress instance to experiment with different setups. Just be cautious of reliability and performance, which is typically poor.
Leverage Staging Environments
Once you do have an active hosting account, most providers give you access to a staging environment. This is essentially a copy of your live site used for testing changes safely.
The key benefit is any updates made on staging do not impact or alter your actual live site. Once changes are validated, push them over to the production site easily.
Enabling staging is a great way to freely experiment with things like new themes, plugin settings, layout changes, content updates, and more without risk as you learn WordPress.
Use a Sandbox Domain
Another handy tool many hosts provide is sandbox domains. As the name suggests, these act as a safe sandbox space to build out sites and test different configurations.
Changes made to sandbox domains do not touch your main site. And anything broken or not working properly can simply be deactivated without consequence.
Having a sandbox domain is extremely useful for trying out new plugins, tweaking themes, testing migration tools, and even rebuilding an entire site from scratch as you grasp WordPress.
Launch a Staging Site with SpinupWP
An alternative to staging environments is using SpinupWP. This innovative platform allows you to launch temporary copies of any WordPress site instantly.
Simply enter a URL for an existing site, and SpinupWP will temporarily clone it on their servers. You now have an identical site to do anything on from administering plugins to testing theme changes without worrying about the live site.
Once done experimenting, deactivate the staging site and all traces are removed. This on-demand cloning is perfect for getting WordPress practice quickly.
Use a Desktop App
For a simplified experience similar to a local install but with remote access, browser-based desktop apps essentially give you an emulated WordPress site. These can be great for getting started with WordPress fundamentals.
Some top options include WP Sandbox, WP Pulse, WP Sides, and WP Tasty. Each has its own unique features like collaboration tools, page builders, or themes.
The advantage of browser-based apps is not needing to install or configure anything. Just sign up for an account and access your “virtual” WordPress site instantly to start practicing in.
Sign Up as a Student
Specialized web hosts like WPEngine offer free tier-one “student” accounts for aspiring WordPress users to learn the platform. You typically need to confirm student status, but this grants access to high-performance hosting with premium features.
Between advanced site management, staging, cloning tools, and expert support channels, these accounts let you dive deep into WordPress capabilities in a production-grade environment without any hosting costs.
Use a Discount Hosting Plan
If you do want to try a full live site experience with real web hosting, many budget hosts like Bluehost or SiteGround offer discounts making it extremely affordable.
For just a few dollars a month, you can gain experience managing a production WordPress site powered by optimized servers, CDNs, caches, security layers, and all the bells and whistles.
The hands-on practice of configuring domains, SSL, CDNs, backups, hosting environments and more can teach you a lot about real-world WordPress deployments.
Sign Up for Free Trials
Nearly every hosting company offers some kind of limited-time free trial on monthly plans, typically ranging from 30 to 90 days. These trials give you complete access to all features as if you were a paying customer.
Leveraging free trials from multiple hosts can essentially give you a year of hands-on practice running live, hosted WordPress sites to sharpen your skill set. Just be sure to cancel each subscription before the trial ends to avoid being charged.
Use Docker Containers
For advanced users comfortable with the command line, Docker containers offer an alternative method to spin up sandboxed, isolated WordPress instances. You can launch as many as your system resources permit.
With just a few terminal commands, Docker simplifies running local WordPress sites complete with a LEMP stack. As a lightweight virtualization technology, it’s perfect for testing different environments and configs.
Join a Local Meetup Group
Don’t underestimate the value of in-person training and troubleshooting! Search sites like Meetup.com to see if any WordPress-focused groups exist in your local area.
These meetings let you learn directly from seasoned WordPress veterans often willing to mentor newcomers. It’s also a great way to make connections that could lead to volunteer project opportunities to gain experience.
Sign Up for Online Courses
From YouTube tutorials to paid online courses, the internet offers unlimited resources to learn WordPress even without a test site. Sites like Udemy, LinkedIn Learning, and Skillshare have extensive WordPress course libraries.
These let you build career-applicable digital skills in your own time from home. Many courses provide you temporary access to a WordPress site for hands-on follow-along training as well.
Use WP REST API
The WP REST API allows you to interact with WordPress sites remotely using programming languages like JavaScript. This means you can register routes, retrieve content, create posts, manage comments, handle user auth, and more.
By hitting the REST endpoints on a live site, you can essentially build an entirely separate frontend single-page app powered by the WordPress backend. The WP REST API is perfect for sharpening your WordPress dev skills.
Start Your Own Local Site
Don’t underestimate using WordPress for your own personal site or blog! Install WAMP/MAMP and launch a local dev site. Then start publishing test pages and sample posts.
Nothing will teach you more about topics like theming, custom fields, user roles, and content workflows than building your own site from scratch. Even without hosting, you can learn so much through practical first-hand experience.
Wrap Up
While a full WordPress site requires web hosting for the public to access, countless options exist for using WordPress without paying for hosting while you’re learning the platform. From local sites to staging environments to free hosting plans, never let a lack of hosting prevent you from skill-building.
Hopefully, this guide provided some helpful tips and resources to start sharpening your WordPress chops today risk-free. The most powerful way to master WordPress is through hands-on experimentation. So pick an option that fits your needs and start gaining critical experience that will take your career or business to the next level through WordPress!
