Every month, the bills roll in: rent, long-distance telephone charges, and statements from your ISP, cable, and satellite TV providers. Factor in payments for your car, gym membership, and cell phone, and there goes your paycheck. So why pay a lot to host your Web site on someone else's domain?

A handful of services will house your Web site for next to nothing. You'll have plunk down some money initially for domain registration and setup fees, but thereafter, these hosts charge nary a red cent--leaving you with a little spare change for Macy's next sale.

We tested out four "free" domain hosts (they do charge a setup fee), and while they don't serve up the unique site templates you'll find at GeoCities or Tripod, they do provide e-mail addresses and Web hosting for your own domain. Best of all, they don't decorate your site with annoying banner ads.

With setup fees ranging from $20 to $49, are these hosts worth the up-front investment? Are their Web servers reliable and fast? How well does e-mail work? We banged on each host's servers to see if they stood up to the demands of a real Web-based business. Read on; the results may surprise you.

How we tested
Find out what separates a fast host from a slowpoke.