Google web hosting isn't one thing. Depending on what you need, it could mean spinning up a virtual machine on Google Cloud Platform, building a simple site with Google Sites, or publishing a blog through Blogger three genuinely different products, aimed at three very different users, that all happen to carry the Google name.
This guide breaks down what each option is, what it's good at, where it falls short, and how to work out which one (if any) is right for your business, rather than a personal project.
The Three Google Hosting Options
Before going deeper, it helps to understand what category each option belongs to:
- Google Sites - a free, no-code website builder for simple pages, intranets, and basic public sites.
- Blogger - a free blogging platform, largely unchanged in purpose since Google acquired it in 2003, aimed at personal and hobby blogging.
- Google Cloud hosts real cloud infrastructure (Compute Engine, Cloud Run, App Engine) capable of hosting anything from a static page to a full business website or web application.
Only one of these - Google Cloud hosting - is genuine web hosting in the way an IT provider or developer would use the term. The other two are hosted, managed platforms where Google controls the infrastructure entirely.
Google Sites: Free, Simple, and Limited
Google Sites is a drag-and-drop website builder that’s free with any Google account and built into Google Workspace. No separate hosting fee, no server to operate, and it effortlessly links to other Google applications like Docs, Sheets, and Calendar.
It's genuinely useful for a specific set of needs: a simple internal team site, an event page, a basic project or portfolio page, or a placeholder site while a proper website is being built. Where it falls short for a genuine company website is design flexibility, SEO control, and scalability - you’re locked into Google’s templates, there are no e-commerce capabilities, and it’s not designed to handle content marketing or sophisticated site structures at scale.
Blogger: Google's Original Free Blogging Platform
Blogger has been running since 1999 and is still live in 2026, hosted entirely free by Google under a blogspot.com subdomain, or a custom domain if you connect one. It remains genuinely easy to use; creating a post feels like writing a Google Doc, and it supports Google AdSense monetization and Google Analytics integration out of the box.
What it isn't built for is a professional or growing business presence. Design customisation is basic, SEO tools are limited compared to WordPress, and it lacks the plugin ecosystem that lets a modern business site handle bookings, ecommerce, or advanced lead capture. For a personal hobby blog or a simple side project, it still does the job. For a business that wants its website to drive growth, it's usually a starting point at best, not a destination.
Google Cloud Hosting: The Real Infrastructure Option
Google Cloud hosting is a different category entirely. Rather than a pre-built website tool, it's cloud infrastructure servers, storage, and networking that a website, application, or WordPress install can be built on top of. The three most important services for hosting a website are
- Compute Engine - virtual machines you configure yourself, giving full control over the server environment. Good for WordPress hosting, custom applications, or anything needing specific software.
- Cloud Run - a serverless container platform that scales automatically and only charges for what you use, well suited to modern web apps and APIs.
- App Engine - a fully managed platform for deploying applications without manually configuring servers, a middle ground between Compute Engine and Cloud Run.
This is genuine enterprise-grade infrastructure, the same platform many large businesses and applications run on, which means real scalability, strong uptime, and the ability to grow with a business. It also means someone needs to configure, secure, and maintain it, which is exactly where most small businesses without an in-house IT team get stuck.
Google Cloud Hosting Costs and the Always Free Tier
Google Cloud does offer a genuine always-free allowance, which is where some of the confusion around "free Google hosting" comes from. As of 2026, it includes:
- One e2-micro Compute Engine virtual machine, running continuously, in select US regions
- 5 GB of Cloud Storage for static files and assets
- 2 million free requests per month on Cloud Run
For a genuine small-to-medium Australian business website, this free tier is rarely enough on its own. The free VM region options are US-based (adding latency for Australian visitors), and any meaningful traffic, storage, or data leaving Google's network (egress) starts incurring charges quickly. Realistic hosting for a small business site typically runs from roughly $25-30/month upward for a properly resourced instance, before adding a managed service layer on top.
Comparing All Three Side by Side
|
| Google Sites | Blogger | Google Cloud Hosting |
| Cost | Free | Free | Free tier limited; paid usage from ~$25-30/month up |
| Best for | Simple pages, intranets, portfolios | Personal/hobby blogging | Business websites, WordPress, apps |
| Custom domain | Yes | Yes | Yes, full control |
| Design flexibility | Low (templates only) | Low-moderate | Full control |
| Ecommerce support | None | None (third-party workarounds only) | Yes, via WordPress/WooCommerce or custom build |
| Technical skill needed | None | None | Moderate-high (or a managed provider) |
| Scalability | Not designed to scale | Not designed to scale | Built to scale |
| SEO capability | Basic | Limited | Full control |
Common Mistakes to Avoid
- Building a business's primary website on Google Sites or Blogger and hitting a wall on design or functionality months later, requiring a full rebuild.
- Assuming Google Cloud hosting is entirely free, then being surprised by egress and resource charges once real traffic arrives.
- Self-managing a Compute Engine instance without security hardening, patching, or monitoring in place a genuine risk for a business handling customer data.
- Choosing a hosting option based on price alone, rather than what the website needs to do for the business over the next few years.
Conclusion
Google Sites, Blogger and Google Cloud hosting all carry the Google name, but they solve completely different problems. Google Sites and Blogger are genuinely useful free tools for simple, low-stakes pages; they were never designed to carry a growing business's primary website. Google Cloud hosting is the only one of the three built as real infrastructure, capable of scaling alongside a business, but it needs to be set up and managed properly to be worth the investment.
For most Australian businesses serious about their website as a growth tool, the practical path is Google Cloud hosting configured and maintained by a provider who knows what they're doing, not a free platform that will need replacing later.