Sure paid hosting gives you more control, but I would have stop a long time ago if I had used a payhost from the beginning. I am still submitting galleries on freehost and get listed on many big places (even have some partner accounts). I would recommend smutserver or kinghost for a freehost (stay away for bannerless, they redirect your traffic and will get you banned!). Another great solution is
revshare hosting. Hope this helps.