Application Variables vs. Database

Application variables don't need a global.asa but you do need your own sites server resources (which free hosts don't give you).

Application variables are only faster in some circumstances. If you have data that doesn't require updating often and is the same for all users of your site then application variables can be better as you don't need to do the expensive round trip to get the data from your database each time and page is loaded.

Session variables are better if you require to store different data for each user, but they do require that the user has cookies enabled on their browser.