The internet can be an unwelcoming place for those without credit cards. It can seem at times, that a lot of popular hosts and registrars are unwilling to accept any other popular means of payment leaving you out in the cold.

I've experienced this time and time again as a high school and now as a college student. Credit card companies simply aren't willing to chance their arms with the ravenous credit threat posed by unemployed students.

Enough whinging, I am here to offer hope to those of you out there without plastic. Although my means of acquiring domain names and hosting is not exactly ideal - it is effective if you have a Paypal account.

"Paypal!??!" I hear some of you murmuring. Yes. It has it's critics and I'm one of them but until I hit the jackpot (or get a full time job) it remains one of my only options.

There are a few hosts out there who accept Paypal, namely Hostgator, who I have had experience with, and Dreamhost who I have not. Although hosting payments made by Paypal are nowhere near as convienent as credit card transactions, they still are relatively painless. Hostgator have integrated the Paypal payment system well into their system which makes things much easier.

As for domain name registrars who accept Paypal - I cannot recommend Dynadot enough. I've registered nearly 20 .com's with them over the past year at $7.99 each for a year and I've yet to experience a problem.

I would love to extend this article to include more hosts or registrars who accept Paypal so if you are aware of any please do not hestitate to reply with the relevant URL's.