Free is FREE so you dont know when the host is down, when they copy your content, when they suspend your hosting, so you can lose everything in a moment In case of Paid hosting these all things dont happen normally.
You can use blogger.com for free and use adsense on it. If you want to use Wordpress, and have adsense, you have to host it yourself. Those are the options. Some of my blogs: Types Of Cancer The World Of Drumming
Another item to consider that I read in an earlier thread is regarding the idea of using a free hosted blog to start with and then moving to your own hosting if it gets popular. The problem with this approach is that if you build up the PR and start getting good traffic, you are going to have to change the URL of every piece of content when you move to the new server. With the cost of good hosting plans, it is usually worth it to have your own hosted blog right from the beginning. I've been happy using WordPress with icdSoft as my hosting account. -mnc
if that is your plan then dont make your blog really good, just sort of hints here and there, sort of tweaking your keywords and stuff, when you get satisfied with your results, go out full blast on your hosted blog
On a free blog, you can't put your own ads up. That's one of the biggest problems. And also everything that has been mentioned.
I went from free to hosted about a week ago, things are already looking up. I was on blogspot for 3 months, and was getting about five google hits per day, if I was lucky. On my hosted one I'm getting at least 5 per day, after one week. CTR has improved, and I switched to Wordpress at the same time - made everything better Now I'm trying to: Get content up (I'm busy with uni at the moment) Build traffic - I have no idea what else to do - I think I may be in the "wait" phase...
paid hosting is definitely better than free host. You have full control on your blog and can upload and make change anytime. Wordpress plugins are more selection, powerful compare to free wordpress hosting which u hv limited option.
Either free blog or hosted blog, I have found a way to host Wordpress(hosted blog) for free. So now, you can go ahead and launch 2 sites. One on blogger.com and another on Wordpress or Drupal or Mambo/Joomla, then see which performs better!
unless you go for a reliable host - i.e. not the really cheap ones that oversell, it's better to go with one of the reputable free blogs - i.e. blogspot - because these are probably more stable than a cheap host. however, if you can afford some decent hosting (which is dirt cheap in the first place), go for a hosted blog as it is more credible and you ahve full flexibility...
It does not bother me if Blogger loses all of my blogs. I have backed them all up so I can quite easily chuck it all back in there. Col
If you do decide to use a free host I recommend http://www.blogurple.com They do not put ads on your blog and there are many themes and plugins included.