Free hosting can have certain limitations that paid hosting doesn't have - and you can have much more fredom on paid hosting, too.
For example, you can pay $5/month for shared hosting with CPanel Fantastico - a really using administration panel for your website. It includes such useful features as one-click installation of Open Source Commerce (OSC), phpbb forums, blogs, etc.
While the suggestion may seem initially pedantic, the actual intention is good-willed. In short, recommend you spread your wings, even for a test.
