Paid hosting as you get more control, less limits and they don't restrict what you can do or upload like some free hosts do as on some free webhosts you can upload .htaccess files which is a big problem.
Free may be easier but it comes down to the expression "you get what you pay for". I've been on free hosts that vanish and you lose your whole site/forum and there's no way to bring it back. So IMO, paid hosting is the way to go.
That's not always the case. For the majority of the time you have to wait for your account to be approved with free hosts, sometimes this can take an hour or 48 hours. If they are not satisfied you need the hosting tey will simply deny your account.
On the other hand, with Paid Hosts as soon as your payment clears )(takes only a few seconds) they'll set your account up. ~wink~
Free for me. Yes, you are limited to what you can and can't do, but at the end of the day, free is the best way for me to go. I was on paid hosting before, but I got too greedy with mods right away.
That all depends on the site that needs hosted. If it is for a personal blog i can deal with free hosting. if it for like say my script licensing server then no that would have to be free. Can't get good ssh access for free hosting.