Have you been looking for a web hosting service without a credit card? Most web hosting companies require prepayment by credit card. It can be pretty frustrating. Not having a credit card can seriously limit your choices. There are solutions to this problem.
Find a host that offers a 30-day bill.
One option is to look for web hosting companies that offer small businesses 30-day billing. An example would be Blue Ribbon Web Hosting ( blueribbonwebhosting.com ), which offers US-based companies billed monthly. There are other options too.
Find a free web host.
There are many web hosting companies that offer free web hosting, within certain limits of course, if you allow them to place advertisements on your website. This can be frustrating for a business website as the ads they are showing are likely for one of your competitors. You’ll also find that there’s very little flexibility to set up your site the way you want it. The ads can also annoy your visitors. You won’t really complain about server failures either, since you’re not a paying customer. However, if you just need a website for your small civic group or a website that doesn’t get a lot of traffic, they offer web hosting with no credit card required.
You can also consider using one of the many free blog sites available.
Free blog sites aren’t very good for business, but if you just want to post your vacation pictures or a collection of personal poetry, this is certainly a good option. The easiest free blog sites to sign up with are WordPress and Blogger. Free blog sites have WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) editors built in, so you don’t have to learn anything about creating a website. With no training required, you can post your job postings online in just a few minutes. You don’t even have to buy a domain name as you will be allocated a subfolder for your use. This results in a hard-to-remember URL, but it works.
ACH direct debits are another option for hosting without a credit card.
Some hosting companies automatically bill your checking account for their web hosting fees once a month. Some people have had bad experiences getting the company to stop charging them after they shut down their websites. This is not a very good option. There is also a risk of giving your private banking information over the internet to a company you don’t know. Always check references before giving out your banking information online, or set up a separate account for this purpose.
PayPal is an alternative to credit cards that works with many web hosts.
PayPal is an online payment system that most individuals use with eBay. You can fund your PayPal account from your checking account and then have your web hosting services pay for you. If you need web hosting without a credit card, PayPal can be a good solution. The best option for businesses is probably direct billing through a supplier credit relationship. PayPal would be the way to go for private individuals.
