AFAIK most hosts that forbid adult content usually mean photographic pornography, i.e. if you need the host to distribute animal-people, you might get away with it being labeled simply as erotic art.

Depending on how much you need to host and how few questions you need asked, I could put https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/ forward as one potential.

Yeah, that does seem to be a pretty ominous grey area; does drawn porn count as porn, or as some sort of variant of porn? Or can it all fall under erotic art.. The unfortunate thing is I think it all has the potential to fall under "obscene", so most of these sites have a legal out if they don't like what you do *_*.

Thank you for the suggestion of NearlyFreeSpeech.net! It seems to be one coming up a lot, so I'll definitely look in to it!

I don't know if squarespace.com would help with this, but if so, I know of a coupon code that would save you like 10%. XD

Never mind, it looks like SquareSpace's ToS states:

"o. You will not publish Content, or links to Content, that is:
i. Pornographic, sexually explicit, or violent."

So I guess that's out. Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.

Curses! The thought is certainly appreciated though =)!

I host my website on Furrynet.com, which is made for furries and allows adult content. Their free package is even really good, though I think you can pay for a domain and more stuff? You gotta kinda know how to make webpages yourself, though, since they go by pure file or FTP uploading.

Aside from a server dying some time last year (I had my entire site backed up so it was fine), they haven't let me down in 11 years. :)

Awesome, thanks for the suggestion, Scy! I'll certainly look in to that one as a possibility!

Gandi is an option, maybe. They're good for registering domains— maybe their hosting solutions will be, too.

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll take a look and see if their ToS allows the type of content I'm looking to host =)!

What are your needs? If you know how to install server stuff you can try Linode. If you dont then you can try Wiredtree managed.

The cheaper hosts which is shared hosting generally dont allow adult content. It would become spammy and have illegal content very quick which would be required to be handed over to the gov. Not a good business plan when you have thousands of people on the same server. Getting a cloud/vps with managed support would be best. Get it with Cpanel and you can do most everything easily.

Unfortunately I'm not very tech-savvy, so knowing how to install a server is probably out of my depths. Mostly looking for storage for the immediate future, but the ability to make a functional website later would be good. Possibly something along the lines of a webcomic or an online store. I'll definitely look in to Wiredtree!

Aaah, thank you for the clarification. I sort of know what Cpanel is, so I'll be sure to make sure I got something that includes that.

Wiredtree would probably be what you want. Their VPS offerings have cpanel/WHM so using that you can easily add email accounts, databases (for Wordpress or anything that needs it), file management etc.

Their support is also pretty awesome so you should be able to get help from them if anything goes wrong.

I would second Linode if you know how to install and run your own server stuff. If you prefer ready-made just-web hosting though, I've been using Dreamhost for quite a number of years myself. They've worked quite well for me.

It sounds like running your own server kind of seems like the best case scenario; unfortunately that's not something I know how to do. I'll definitely look in to Dreamhost, however! Thank you for the suggestion =)!

Thank you for the suggestion! I think something along the lines of CPanel is probably the extent of what I'd be able to handle with website related stuff... so I'll definitely look in to Nixihost! It's always reassuring to hear when people have good service.

HostGator.com is one company that I know allows pornographic content with no questions asked. I used to work for them. They offer hosting for a good price, but don't expect much in the way of support.

Another option is to host yourself if you know how to set up all of the web server infrastructure and can build the site yourself. Some folks have suggested Linode for a cloud server. I can suggest cloudatcost.com as the provider I go with for stuff like that. I have a small cluster of servers built around hosting my website at prannon.net, both with machines in my room and with cloud servers that they have. XD If you wanted, I could probably host you myself and it wouldn't cost anything other than what you pay for the domain.

But yeah, if you're looking for something fairly straightforward that explicitly allows adult content, I'd suggest hostgator.com.

Thank you for the suggestion! Hostgator.com certainly sound promising, so I'll be sure to take a look at them!

Unfortunately running a server myself is probably far outside my capability range. Should I ever become more capable in the future, though, I'll definitely look up your suggestion of cloudatcost.com . Thank you for the offer of hosting, also! I'll decline, but I do really appreciate it =)!

Certainly! And no problem regarding not hosting with me. It's a bit of a fantasy of mine to host websites for furries as a kindness. XD

You're honest best bet will probably be with HostGator.com or something similar. Good luck in your search!

I use DigitalOcean.com. They don't mind what you have as long as it's within legal boundaries. They only do virtual servers, which they call droplets.

You would need to setup the server yourself, but they have pre-made images with webserver functions at the ready. Their cheapest option is $5/month and you only pay for what you use by the hour.

You get 20GB of SSD storage, so fast I/O. That should be more than enough for a website. The resources for your server are for you. It's not shared with anyone else, even if you shut down the server.

If you're unsure about how to set a server up, but like DigitalOcean, I'd be happy to run the VPS under my account, provided you send me the funds to run it.

That certainly sounds like an interesting option; thank you for suggesting it! I'll be sure to look in to Digital Ocean.

Thank you for the offer to help with setting up a server under your account! I'll decline, but I really do appreciate the sentiment.

You ever need help with Digital Ocean, give me a shout. :)

I'm with HawkHost (http://www.hawkhost.com/) and haven't had any issues, though admittedly my site is, shall we say, rather minimal at the moment. They do allow allow adult content under some fairly reasonable restrictions (i.e. that it's legal and that you actually have the rights to post it - https://support.hawkhost.com/index......sites--content

Oh, awesome! Thank you for suggesting them then! I'll be sure to look in to them =)!

www.bighosshosting.com is who I use and who I do web design work for. They are a small company, but can provide you with whatever you need. Plus they are 100% furry friendly. You can tell them I referred you too to get a discount.

Thank you for the suggestion! It's always good to hear a site is furry friendly =)! I'll be sure to consider them!

So, the biggest problem is that, no one seems to either know legalese or reads the terms of service that is hidden in a lot of these providers.

Nixihost ( http://www.nixihost.com/terms-of-service.php )
Transmission, storage or presentation of any information, data or material in violation of any United States federal, state or city law is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, material we judge to be threatening or obscene, or material protected by trade secret and other statute.

DigitalOcean ( https://www.digitalocean.com/legal/terms/ )
You agree that you will not transmit, distribute, post, store, link, or otherwise traffic in Content, information, software, or materials on or through the Service that (i) is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another's privacy, tortious, offensive, profane, contains or depicts pornography that is unlawful, or is otherwise inappropriate as determined by us in our sole discretion,

hostgator ( http://hostgator.com/tos/acceptable-use-policy )
Other Prohibited Content.
We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone. Any material that, in our judgment, is obscene, threatening, illegal, or violates our Terms of Service or this AUP in any manner may be removed from our servers (or otherwise disabled), with or without notice.

Amazon AWS ( http://aws.amazon.com/aup/ )
Offensive Content. Content that is defamatory, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, or otherwise objectionable, including content that constitutes child pornography, relates to bestiality, or depicts non-consensual sex acts.

They keywords to look for are "obscene" "profane" and something along the lines of "we judge to be" or "in our judgement".
It is up to whoever is the staff member of that day doing the rounds, what obscene and profane are. Let's be honest though, these checks only happen maybe once a year or if you are receiving spikes in traffic. That being said, if you want to risk it, go for it.

I would go and use a host that other big furry sites use.
Clubstripes uses DreamHost ( http://www.dreamhost.com/legal/acce.....le-use-policy/ )
You agree not to run a banner exchange, free adult tgp (thumbnail gallery post), or free adult image galleries on your website.
That may or may not be a deal breaker depending on what you want to do.

NearlyFreeSpeech (was the only suggestion that may work).
( https://www.nearlyfreespeech.net/help/abuse )
A NearlyFreeSpeech.NET member site contains offensive content.
At NearlyFreeSpeech.NET we firmly believe that censorship is a dangerous and misguided approach to the problems of society. We believe that the price we pay for the huge number of fantastic sites we host are a few sites that we feel are significantly less fantastic.
We believe that the price you pay for living in what we hope is a free society is that when you encounter something offensive, you must resist the urge to censor it and instead research, investigate, and speak out passionately in opposition to it. That is the essence of free speech.
Please do not send us abuse complaints of this nature. We will discard them.

However, they do not seem like a very robust/thrust-worthy/easy-to-work-with establishment? But I will leave that up to you to decide since I haven't tried them out.

http://hostingmatters.com ?

http://hostmatters.com/acceptable-use-policy/
Illegal or Obscene Content:
Use of any Hosting Matters service to make any illegal or obscene content available via transmission, storage, or display of such material is prohibited.

Thank you for the thorough post, Shiuk. I take it you've been down this road before.

You've brought up a ton of information here, including a lot of good points. I usually only end up Ctrl+F-ing for 'obscene' and 'porn', but the other keywords you've mentioned are ones I'll be keeping in mind from now on.

It seems like practically every site includes some legal stuff that'll protect them, which is understandable, but always incredibly frustrating when 'obscene' could really encompass so many things.

Dreamhost certainly is looking promising, and it's reassuring knowing that other similarly related sites are using their services... although it looks as though they don't allow file distribution, which is something I'm hoping to use the hosting services for. I kind of dislike having to ask directly as it feels like it red flags you, but ultimately that might be what I'll have to do to know for sure.

NearlyFreeSpeech also sounds pretty promising as far as what they allow. I haven't quite looked in to all the sites mentioned as thoroughly as I want to yet, but hearing their stance on things feels reassuring.

Thanks again for the breakdown and information!

Seconding the earlier person who said nearlyfreespeech they're pretty much the best

Awesome, thank you for seconding it =)!

http://www2.warnerbros.com/spacejam/

Here's your chance, do your dance at the Space Jam!

I actually just got a response about Dreamhost that the policies regarding the free adult galleries is only for shared plans, but any VPS or dedicated server accounts are okay, since you wouldn't be affecting other sites. More info: https://www.furaffinity.net/journal/6481083

Oh awesome, thank you so much for linking to your journal, and posting up the clarification!

Most shared web hosts these days are roughly the same. Just about anyone will sell you a decent amount of space and bandwidth for about $100 a year. Finding something for cheaper than that can be a bit of a challenge.

I use ASmallOrange.com for my web site, specifically because they had a decent $60 pear year plan. It's got a fixed storage and bandwidth cap (as opposed to "unlimited" bandwidth that some providers offer), but it was more than enough space for me. If they look like something you might be interested in, feel free to use my referral code http://asmallorange.com/?ref_id=kUx8DKWkrWiM and the coupon FRIENDME for 15% off your first invoice.

If you're interested in getting a domain for your site from someone besides your web host, Hover.com has been pretty good for me so far. ASmallOrange will sell you a domain with your site, but I've got a few other domains I manage through Hover and use with ASO.

Awesome, thank you for the suggestion! I'll be sure to look in to them =)!

I had a website for my portfolio for the last 4 or so years, and I have nothing bad to say about them to be honest. I just canceled it out because I just don't need it anymore, but it was 96$ for two years plus a 12$ for the domain registration.

Not sure if that can help or not haha. Also, good luck with your website :D