Server.Pro, Aternos, and Minehut are all shit ngl. I'd recommend paying for a host, or if you have an old computer laying around like I do, you can turn that into a server. If you still want help feel free to message me @ 2XJTN#8165

If you have a decent cpu and at least 8-16 gb ram, you should be able to run your own server easy. Port forwarding is super easy, just seems complicated at first. Multicraft is a good host for the console if you don't just want to run a cmd prompt for the server. Ive used realms and honestly I think it was pretty shitty for being paid. Lagging on a vanilla server with less than 6 ppl. I can't speak from experience on the free servers but I'm a skeptic so I can't imagine a free server is worth the hassle. Like gemini said, there are shit loads of tutorials online about hosting your own server

Yes! Aternos is pretty good and is completely free.

Yeah! You could always port forward it and give ur friends the IP. There r PLENTY of tutorials for that. I use an ngrok tunnel for plugin testing and for temporary servers. Of course, the IP will change when it goes offline, but it works for just a couple of friends

there's also aternos.org, it's quite easy

Minehut.com

minehut is free and quite good

You could try hamachi. You don’t have to port forward or buy anything. There are plenty of videos on YouTube that explain how to install and use hamachi.

You can try the realms free trial, free for 30 days.
Other than that im p sure there are some free third party server hosters but theyre not very good and not well optimised.