Movable Type-Friendly Webhost for $0-5/mo., Apache Preferred?

April 21, 2004 3:58 PM

Can anyone recommend a decent web host whose cheapie package will support the cgi magic that is Moveable Type? I'm about to start a new Moveable Type blog and I'd like to host it in the $0-$5 per month range. I don't need a lot of web space. I don't want to use Type Pad's "Basic" service, because of the features it lacks. Is there a MT-equivalent of Blogspot? Apache on *nix would be preferred.

SP - "Movable Type." Sorry!

posted by scarabic to Computers & Internet (31 answers total)

You could pay for TypePad, if you wanted.
posted by thebabelfish at 4:12 PM on April 21, 2004

Response by poster: Thanks, thebabelfish, but as I said in the question, I don't want to use TypePad, I want to host a MT installation.
posted by scarabic at 4:38 PM on April 21, 2004

1on1 is only 8 bucks a month but see an earlier ask.mefi thread on its less than steller support.

i use dreamhost but it is out of your budget but i've been pleased with the service and uptime i've received over the years. it offers imap email and is very mt friendly.
posted by birdherder at 4:47 PM on April 21, 2004

I don't use MT so I'm not sure of the minimum requirements. Cornerhost advertises their $10 plan as good for MT, but a MySQL database is $3 per month more. They allow unlimited domains or subdomains so maybe you could share an account.
posted by timeistight at 4:54 PM on April 21, 2004

affordablehost.com has a plan for 5.95 a month that supports MT and cgi scripts.
posted by bobo123 at 4:58 PM on April 21, 2004

I doubt this will help you, as it's a Canadian company, but I use Clickhost. I pay $6/month Canadian, and had no problem setting up my MT powered blog on my site.

I can't speak to their Customer service or Tech Support, as I've never need to avail myself of these areas (which I guess can be seen as a good thing). All I know is that I registered my domain with them and ordered their bronze hosting package and was up and running within 2 days, I think.
posted by aclevername at 4:59 PM on April 21, 2004

I highly recommend Logjamming. Their basic package is $5/month. I've used them to host three sites for the past 2 1/2 years, and they're great. Hardly any downtime, and the guys who run it are bloggers themselves and are really nice. Their support is good, too.
posted by bedhead at 5:16 PM on April 21, 2004

Did I miss something? Are we yankees not allowed to use Canadian hosts? Is it like the Canadian drugs which are apparently so DANGEROUS that fragile Americans cannot be exposed to them?

I use FatCow which is about $8.25 a month, and I haven't had any problems with my MT installation which has been up for a year or so. (Disclaimer; my partner now works for them). Ignore their strange marketing reference to pet rocks. (I don't know).
posted by answergrape at 5:35 PM on April 21, 2004

Response by poster: Logjamming looks about right. They appear to have a sense of humor, too. From their FAQ:

"6. I'm a scripting master, can i use PHP?

Sure. Josh is the resident PHP wiz, so if you have some question about why something isn't working on your domain, bother him. DON'T, however, bother him about general PHP questions that have nothing to do with our server, he's a busy man, i hear he masturbates every 120 minutes."
posted by scarabic at 5:43 PM on April 21, 2004

i'm not an MT user yet, but...

Totalchoicehosting.com

starter plan is $4 a month. check out their plans, i'd guess the requirements for mt would be covered... and they generous with space and bandwidth.
posted by jerseygirl at 5:45 PM on April 21, 2004

I pay $5/month and $5/year domain registration for rock solid hosting (333MB space, cgi-bin, excellent interface) at icdsoft.com.
posted by planetkyoto at 5:47 PM on April 21, 2004

Yep, totalchoice supports MT.
posted by jerseygirl at 5:48 PM on April 21, 2004

Response by poster: Nils - your site is very beautiful.

Looks like I have options to consider.

jerseygirl - are you a Totalchoice customer? I'd love to see a sample site hosted by them, just for a random performance gauge. Care to share a URL?
posted by scarabic at 6:06 PM on April 21, 2004

Answergrape, I wasn't trying to imply anything negative, I just figured more people perfer dealing with companies in their home country to avoid currency issues, etc.

Apologies if my response was misinterpreted.
posted by aclevername at 6:09 PM on April 21, 2004

Response by poster: Actually I'd love for my host to be in Canada, just for the hell of it. It would have to provide me some marginal extra layer of protection in the event I ever got into copyright or obscenity trouble. Right? < :\
posted by scarabic at 6:22 PM on April 21, 2004

I use Vortex Host for two of my sites -- $5 per month, 100mb of storage, MT-friendly, and excellent customer service...

And all of the usual stuff:

• Detailed Web Statistics
• PHP, Perl, CGI, SSI, Frontpage
• Protected Directories
• Shopping Cart
• PhpMyAdmin
• Web Based File Manager
• Custom Error Pages
• Mailing List Software
• Search Engine Submit

And much more.. Enjoy!
posted by davidmsc at 6:43 PM on April 21, 2004

Lot of good suggestions here. I second logjamming. I also would recommend 1and1. Their panel is extremely slow and, well, I find them to be rather annoying because they won't allow you access to the dns so once your site is with them as a registrar, you can't host anywhere else without paying for a transfer. (I consider 1and1's "100% free web hosting" to be a rip off.)

Personally, I use dreamhost.com, but they're $10 a month so may be out of your budget.
posted by dobbs at 7:00 PM on April 21, 2004

jerseygirl - are you a Totalchoice customer? I'd love to see a sample site hosted by them, just for a random performance gauge. Care to share a URL?

I'd love to, except the only domain I have registered at the moment (i have downsized my domains and am trying to decide if i want to blog again), I'm only using for storage of pictures, and some file transfer. Not a whole lot to see actually. I've recommended them to some friends, but I don't think they'd want me MeFi-bombing their sites. :) Totalchoice has a customer comments page though.

I've only had to contact support once or twice for problems that I created for myself, but my communications with them have been very professional, very prompt, courteous and they were pretty good with helping me out with my boneheaded boo-boo. Haven't had any problems with downtime either. All in all, I've been pleased with their service and their price. I used to pay upwards of $12 USD a month for less service/storage/bandwidth, so I am more than happy with totalchoice.

hey, good luck with whomever you choose!
posted by jerseygirl at 7:19 PM on April 21, 2004

I use Mesopia.com to host my MT blogs, and I haven't had any problems with them thus far. Their cheapest package is $3.95/month.
posted by gwyn at 7:41 PM on April 21, 2004

Scarabic, I wouldn't be too concerned about running MT.

Any fully featured host should easily meet the basic requirements (a fairly recent version of Perl and, optimally, a MySQL database). My advice would be to double your budget from $5 to $10 a month. For the extra five bucks you'll get more storage, better support and maybe a few goodies like add on domains, a shell, and some extra databases.

Just to throw another name in the pot, I've been very happy with Verve and I believe they have a plan that is in the $5 range. I recently threw an MT3 alpha up there and it worked flawlessly.
posted by cedar at 8:17 PM on April 21, 2004

If you want the coolest name servers in the world, you can sign up with halfass hosting.

It's a 2 man operation (i'm one half of halfass) and the servers are quite speedy.

/shameless plug
posted by fletchmuy at 8:29 PM on April 21, 2004

Oops. Sorry scarabic, I assumed TypePad basically amounted to hosted MT installations by the MT people and was responding to "Is there a MT-equivalent of Blogspot?". Guess I was wrong. : /
posted by thebabelfish at 8:36 PM on April 21, 2004

i use dreamhost but it is out of your budget but i've been pleased with the service and uptime i've received over the years. it offers imap email and is very mt friendly.

Actually, many people have had problems with dreamhost in regards to MT, especially those with high traffic.

And I'd stay away from 1and1 like the plague.
posted by justgary at 8:39 PM on April 21, 2004

Response by poster: No worries, thebabelfish. You were pretty much right about that. When I said "Blogspot" I just meant "free," but I didn't specify that very clearly.
posted by scarabic at 9:36 PM on April 21, 2004

I use Future Point. $7 a month for 600MB of space and 10GB transfer. Everything needed for MT and more. Uptime and speed are great.
posted by swank6 at 9:59 PM on April 21, 2004

I chose phpwebhosting.com on the recommendation of Paul Ford of ftrain.com and I have no regrets. It is $10/mo. though...
posted by gen at 10:35 PM on April 21, 2004

scarabic-- I'm currently spending far too much money per month on a reseller hosting account, and am looking to ease the burden bit by bit, so if you just need a reasonable amount of disk space and bandwidth, I could offer you something for about $2 US/month. I've had no problems running MT on my accounts, plus you get all the usual amenities (cpanel, ftp, email accounts, ponies). You'd have to take care of registering your domain name yourself though.

Let me know if you're interested. hosting (AT) prqueue.com
posted by DrJohnEvans at 10:59 PM on April 21, 2004

I'll third the recommendation for Logjamming. Never had any problems whatsoever.
posted by Vidiot at 8:11 AM on April 22, 2004

f2o.org has $7/month hosting with all you need for MT. Plus it's a community so if you have troubles there's a lively forum and they have an educational mission in case you ever want to learn more programming-y things.

disclaimer: f2o is run by djc and it's my husband who's teaching the PHP class
posted by mimi at 8:40 AM on April 22, 2004

I actually use 1and1 for one of my sites, and I haven't had any problems, even after getting 18,000 unique visits one day (thanks, Fark!) Other friends have had mixed results with them, though, so perhaps they are a little inconsistent.

I just started using 1and1 for the new site because they were offering the free hosting package, and I was all broke and stuff. I still love Logjamming, and still host 3 sites with them (as I previously mentioned). They host 5 or 6 of my friends' sites, too, and all of them have nothing but good things to say about them.
posted by bedhead at 11:14 AM on April 22, 2004

I've used 24hostingnow.com for 3 months now with no problem. It is/was $60/year and MT was no problem to get up and running.
posted by turbodog at 11:26 AM on April 22, 2004