There is no doubt that choosing the free PHP web hosting is a saving on recurring cost of the server rent. Whatever type of hosting you choose, dedicated hosting or the cloud based 'pay per use' hosting, there is always a recurring rent charge and that may fluctuate any time. But free service is a relief Interserver from this.
Don't worry; you don't have to be completely tech literate to use these points. Please bare in mind that this list is not fool proof and you should always complete basic checks and research to ensure your web hosting company is well established and provides a trusted, professional service.
Pricing tip: If you have not acquired a domain name or want to add another, then some packages include free domain with hosting. They can be a good bargain.
If your allotted usage of Bandwidth is exceeded in any given month you will usually be charged extra by your hosting company. A good way to monitor your usage is by using the web stats program in your cPanel admin.
If you have time, search for comments by users of the provider on internet forums or elsewhere online. Or go for the larger more established hosting companies who have here built a trusted reputation. Most good hosting companies have multiple server data and power backups. A few also promised 100% and they do that by guaranteeing refund of fees in the eventuality that any downtime might happen.
This is normally not an issue as all the features are being displayed on the website before you sign up for a plan. However, you need to know what you need. For example: you are going to install a third-party web application, so you have to find out whether the server can support such web application or web hosting provider allows you to do so.