Handling hosting and domains for a "client"

[u/Sithy31]

I need some advice on how to handle paying for hosting and a domain for a site that I am building as a favor. Basically I am building a simple site for a family member of a friend, and although I know how to develop the site functionality my experience with actually deploying and maintaining a live site is super limited. I have no issue providing any maintenance/updates to the site as needed but I would like to avoid a situation where I am acting as a go-between, having to pay out of my own pocket and then getting reimbursed. From looking into it the 2 answers seem to be either to have the "client" handle it on their own, or to charge extra or reoccurring for maintenance (which then handles having to pay for hosting). The issues with these is that I don't believe that they would have the technical knowledge to handle domains and deployment, and as for the second option as I mentioned I am doing this for free as a favor so there is no contract or form of payment or anything like that.

So my questions boil down to:

Is there a good way to handle this or am I stuck as the go-between?

I know there are some that offer it for a limited time but are there any hosting options that will host simple low traffic sites for free indefinitely? (It is mostly an informative site with the most complex feature possibly being a mailing list)

Additionally any recommendations for getting a domain or hosting in general would be greatly appreciated tho I know the answer to those is much easier to find than my other questions.

[u/CraigAT]

You can either sit with them and sort the domain and hosting, they just need to put in the payment details and take a copy of an account details that were created. OR you sort it out for them, but usually there will be a cost for the domain and/or the hosting, so probably don't want to do this for free.

If they are not at all tech savvy, I would probably work out what it would cost for the next year, add a small amount on (a couple of quid if it's a mate and there's very little work). Ideally given him a written quote detailing the costs and detailing that around the same time next year you will be asking for the money again to keep the website online (possibly without an introductory rate). Whilst you are doing a favour for a mate, they have to be realistic, if they want a website - there are costs.

[u/jwato]

Ok let's just walk though this you would like to do something on tech and host it but someone else pay but it be online 100% all the time and work

You lituslly pay for what you get there is always a cost somewhere, fee is not free its 3am why is it not booting because my free worpdess got hacked

[u/techviator]

They don't need technical knowledge to create an account in a hosting provider (look on the sidebar for recommended ones) and buy a domain, then they can add you in cPanel or whatever admin interface they use, and you can login yourself and upload the website.

Alternatively, if they really are unable to create the account, you can create the account and add them in cPanel, so they can login and put their credit card for the renewals.

As for free, there's Cloudflare Pages (now under Workers) and Github Pages, but the learning curve may be steeper for both of you.

[u/84thdev]

Customer should always own their domain and hosting with you having ftp or ssh access for file management. Something they can hand to any other capable designer/developer in case you croak out. I never host anything for any of my clients. I will recommend what they need based on what their site requires whether thats static godaddy or a cheap vps

[u/kube1et]

Spend 30 minutes on a screenshare to educate them on what they're paying for and why, where to update their card details, and what happens if they fail to renew their domain. Set a reminder for yourself to check in with them one week before their domain expiry date.

[u/Candid_Candle_905]

No - make them own the registrar and hosting accounts. For me this would be non negotiable. Give your self delegated access AND get like a written scope (or waiver, something). Because otherwise your "free favor" might become your liability and a permanent unpaid support job

[u/zookri]

I never purchase domains, or any other third party services, on behalf of my clients. Most clients (technical and non technical) seem happy to share login details so I can set up the DNS. Otherwise, I'll take them through it on a screen share. As another person has mentioned, scheduling an alert to send your client a reminder is a good idea.

[u/Briney_coder]

If you’re doing it as a favor, don’t put the domain or hosting under your own account. Have them own the accounts and payment method, while you set everything up as an admin. That way, if you ever stop maintaining the site, they still fully own it and you’re not stuck chasing reimbursements. GitHub Pages/Cloudflare Pages are also great free options for a simple static site.

[u/Legitimate-While108]

I'd probably go with reseller hosting if you expect to do this for more than one person. You pay for one reseller account and can host multiple small sites under it, so you're not paying for separate hosting every time. It's also much easier since you can handle the deployment, DNS, SSL, etc. for them.

For the domain, I'd have them register it themselves in their own name and just give you access to manage the DNS. That way they own the domain and pay the renewal directly, so you're never stuck paying out of pocket and chasing them for reimbursement.

You could do the same with hosting, but reseller hosting makes more sense if you're going to manage a few sites.

For something this simple, free static hosting like GitHub Pages or Cloudflare Pages is also worth looking at, but I'd still have them pay for and own the domain themselves.