Hello all,
I'm in the planning / research stages of opening a image host and find myself stuck.

Do I:
1. Give a striaght upload form on the homepage AND offer users the ability to create a free account with albums, image tracking, etc.
2. Force users to sign up for a free account AND offer the ability to upgrade for more space/bandwidth for a small fee.
3. Same as (1) but users have to pay for the account.

Finally,
Would it be better to buy a custom made image upload script (is it relativly inexpensive?) or just buy a premade one?

Thanks for your help guys.

You may want to start free then gradually add paid services.

True, I think the main point for now is...
Do I force accounts or not?

This is more a question of what your goal is as an image host. Those two sites are subtle differences in terms of coding but they attract extremely different types of audiences. In the long run, there are opportunities for both. However, they each attract different types of consumers.

Your best bet would be to write down an effective business model about where you want it to go with this project. If you're willing to post or PM that, then we can give a more direct answer as to what type should be pursued.

Good luck

Good luck. There's a ton of free image hosts out there.