By default, 000webhost provides a secure connection for all 000webhostapp.com subdomains. However, for custom domains, this is not the case. But with this method, you can setup your custom domain with a secure HTTPS connection for free.
First, sign up for an account at 000webhost.com if you don’t already have one.
Then, create a site, picking a name and a password.
Now, create a Cloudflare account at https://dash.cloudflare.com/sign-up
Next, click the blue button that says “Add a Site”.
Now, enter your domain name in the text box, then click “Add Site”.
Then, click “Next”.
Now you need to make sure that the free plan is selected. Click the first box on the left, then when you’re ready, click “Confirm Plan”.
On this next screen, you’ll be asked to confirm your existing DNS records. If they look good, or this is a new domain and you don’t yet have any records, click “Continue”.
Next, you’ll be asked to change your nameservers. This is done at your domain registrar, and if you’re using Freenom, it will look similar to this. When you’re done, click “Continue”.
Now, Cloudflare will check for changes in your nameservers. If they don’t show up immediately, click the “Recheck Nameservers” button to try and speed up the process.
Once the nameservers changes have been verified, you’ll see this screen.
Next, go to the “Crypto” tab of your Cloudflare dashboard. Make sure “SSL” is set to flexible.
Note: This setup, while it enables some of the benefits of SSL (including fixing the insecure warning in some browsers), is partially insecure. However, it is the only option for setting up a domain on 000webhost. To read more, check out this article on the official Cloudflare Community forum. In order to enable full security via SSL, we suggest upgrading to Hostinger services, which allow for easy origin-based SSL installation.
Now, go to the “DNS” tab of your Cloudflare dashboard. Add the two cname records for your 000webhost free site, as seen in the “My Domains” section of your Control Panel. The cname records that you need to add are below.
"@" points to "yoursite.000webhostapp.com"
"www" points to "yoursite.000webhostapp.com"
“yoursite” needs to be replaced with your website name. And don’t use quotes. The “@” and “www” go in the “name” section when adding the records, and the 000webhostapp URL goes in the “Domain name” section.
Make sure that the orange cloud is turned off, or otherwise 000webhost will not accept your domain name.
Then, add your domain in your Control Panel, allowing a few minutes for DNS to propagate.
Once it has been added to your 000webhost panel, go back to Cloudflare and turn the orange cloud on. This will enable the SSL.
Then, simply design your website and add HTTPS in front of your domain when accessing your site. Simple as that!
To check out how using Cloudflare protects your site and boosts its performance, visit https://test-cloudflare.ga! And to see the wonderful uptime statistics behind the mixture of Cloudflare and 000webhost, visit https://uptime.test-cloudflare.ga!
If you want to skip all these steps and use HTTPS on your website, upgrade to Hostinger! All plans allow the use of third-party SSL certificates, and some come with a free Comodo SSL certificate for one year!
