Are there any hosting services that let you test their service before you actually pay up?

There are some that do, you might have the best results by simply asking a host about their billing methods. Almost all offer a 30 day guarantee so as long as you get one that actually honors that then you should be ok.

Most hosts offer a 30 day money back guarantee, they do require you to "actually pay up". You ask for the money back if you decided not to host with them. But if you truly want a host that doesnt require your credit card number for the signup, I understand Unitedtec offers a 14 day free trial: http://www.webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?threadid=4279

30 day money back guarantee is the closest you will get to a try-before-you-buy deal.



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It's possible you might be able to find a host that has a small package for free then you upgrade to a fee-for-service package. Haven't seen such however but there could be a few out there somewhere.

You can signup here with a 30 day trial, I do believe
Contact Dave at
http://www.jrc-hosting.com
He is a super nice guy

Good Luck!

Yeah, the 30 day money back is a standard, the reason for that is some people will abuse if they find hosts that give you a trial period, it's great for the honest customer, but even greater for a disonest one, as he/she will use it for everything from spamming to warez and then leave widouth ever paying 1 cent :(

My $.02...

Just find the host that you like, e-mail them about a free trial... they will most likely say yes.

Since you took the time to e-mail them, it shows some sort of interest, not simply the casual 'abusing' behavior :)

Agreed... the only reason QWK.Net doesn't offer free trials is the (too great) potential for abuse. I'll bet a number of hosts would offer one if you take the time to present yourself as a serious customer and inquire.

Absolutely, Felix is right, I bet most hosts here wouldn't have a problem with that, just email then and ask

Just a general comment... "Try Before You Buy" is a nice idea, if more hosts could work out a way to do it without getting themselves screwed.

In my case, I often want to just prowl around and see if the server and features are really what I need -- and no amount of site documentation ever seems to fill the bill, really, no matter how well done it is.

It's great that almost all hosts offer a 30-day money-back guarantee -- but I really hate to sign on with a host and put both their accounting and my credit card through the refund process just for a shopping expedition.

Indeed. I would say if you ask the host for a free trial, most probably you will get it.

I think http://www.webauthorities.com gives the first month free, but I am not sure if they require you to give a credit card number or not.

with Tera-Byte you can try out the free service (www.spaceports.com), which is quite similar to what you get for shared server.

Originally posted by etLux
Just a general comment... "Try Before You Buy" is a nice idea, if more hosts could work out a way to do it without getting themselves screwed.

So true!

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