It’s entirely possible to cut out the middleman and host a website from your home computer. However, there are limitations to consider:
Hosting a website yourself requires an expensive server with a constantly-running power supply, power backups in case of outages, a static IP address (your home computer’s IP is always changing or dynamic), and regular hardware maintenance.
You need some technical know-how: You will need to know how to set up a ‘WWW’ server software on your computer. This software is required to let internet browsers access your website files stored on your computer.
You will have to check whether your internet service provider permits you to run websites on your home computer (or your ISP plan). At the very least, you will need to look into your bandwidth quota. Your website will load slowly as home internet connections are not designed for serving web pages.
One of the issues about self-hosting a website is that your computer has to stay on at all times. This means if your computer crashes or you need to reboot, your website will become unavailable.
Unless you can guarantee the above requirements, it’s in your interest to get your hosting from a reliable third-party provider.
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