How to have an anonymous website

You might want to create an anonymous website for all kinds of reasons. I’m a strong believer in personal privacy, not in supporting anything illegal. I enjoy thinking through scenarios I don’t actually need to worry about, like how I’d handle a zombie apocalypse in NYC, or how to design the best user experience for an ATM.

Then Julien asked this on Bluesky. I fumbled some responses while on the subway, and decided to put something more complete here.

How do you register a domain anonymously (and the domain is useless unless you host it)?

This guide assumes you’re hosting something relatively simple, like a personal blog. Hosting forums, wikis, or web apps gets more complex and will depend on your provider. That’s on you.

What I’ve tried to outline here is a practical path to registering and renewing a domain over a few years, setting up hosting, and running it in a way that keeps your identity separate.

Important note: I don’t believe anything here is illegal, but laws vary by country and state. I’m not a lawyer. Some of what I suggest may breach the terms of service for certain providers. Do your research. Get legal advice if you need it.

Also, I mention some specific service providers. There are no affiliate links or referral deals, just sharing what I’ve used or considered.

What Does Anonymous Mean?

For me, it means avoiding easy connections between you and the site.

Depending on who you’re concerned about, the public, a corporation, or a government. Your approach may be too much or not enough. If you just want to keep friends and family from knowing it’s you, that’s simple. If you’re worried about legal action from a company, it’s more work. If you’re a whistle-blower fearing state persecution, this guide is probably not sufficient.

There are no guarantees. You’ll need to manage a lot of small details carefully.

The goal is to operate the site without it being easily linked to you.

Advance Preparation

Most service providers will ask for names, email addresses, mailing addresses, and phone numbers. They’ll also want payment. You won’t be able to use cash.

Before you get started, prepare the following:

Name and address: Choose a realistic name. For a mailing address, consider a large apartment building. Try a unit number that may not exist – like 8F in a building that stops at E. Don’t overthink it, and be ready to adjust if your gift card requires a specific ZIP code.

Phone: This is trickier. Many providers reject VOIP numbers. Google Voice usually works. Create a new Google account just for this number and don’t reuse it elsewhere.

Email: Use ProtonMail. Their free tier is reliable and doesn’t ask for personal info. Choose a boring username and a strong password. Avoid references to pop culture, sports teams, or anything identifiable.

None of these details should link back to you.

Payment & Costs

Estimate how much you’ll need for setup and ongoing use. I budgeted for three years:

  • $11 for a .com domain per year
  • $100 for a hosting provider per year
  • $5.25 for a VPN for a month

Total = (11 + 100 + (5.25 * 3) * 3 = USD$ 158.25

Other essentials should be free or bundled:

  • Email: ProtonMail
  • SSL certificate: via Let’s Encrypt
  • WHOIS privacy: ensure your registrar supports this

How to pay:
I recommend buying a prepaid Vanilla Visa gift card from a store like CVS using cash. Load the estimated total amount. For me, $195 for a simpler setup. Keep each transaction under $200 to avoid ID checks. Some providers may not accept these cards depending on their payment processor.

Note: If your gift card requires a ZIP code, make sure it matches the address you’re using when registering.

Domain Registration

Some hosting providers let you register a domain as part of their service. That’s convenient, but I prefer separating domain registration from hosting.

I recommend PorkBun: good prices, solid service, and free WHOIS privacy.

The main benefit of using a separate registrar is flexibility. You can switch hosting providers without touching your domain registrar.

Hosting

I use DreamHost (USA-based). They let me run custom apps and manage both domains and hosting.

Am not a lawyer but if jurisdiction matters to you, look into Norway. It has strong data privacy and freedom of press protections. Germany and Iceland are also worth considering.

For example, I found a VPS plan from UltaHost in Norway: $4 per month if prepaid for 3 years ($144 total). I haven’t used them personally, so do your own research.

Considerations:

  • Do you need one-click WordPress installs, or are you fine doing it manually?
  • Do you need SSH or SFTP access?
  • Do they offer a file manager or web-based upload?

Match the provider to your comfort level and ensure you are getting what you need.

Almost Ready

By now, you should have done some digging and assessed your own needs. I believe there is value in hiding your presence in terms of connection and reducing your footprint as much as possible.

Depending on how deep down the rabbit hole you’d like to go, many of these steps are a bit much.

Device Setup

I use macOS. I create a new user account with FileVault enabled and a strong password. I use Firefox or Safari and adjust settings to maximize privacy (more info here or here). I install extensions to block tracking and ads. I promise myself to only use this account for dealing with my anon website.

Paranoia Bonus: For extra points, create an encrypted disk mountable image. Use a different password from your user account – and do not save it to the Keychain. This is the location for storing account details, notes, drafts, and materials related to the website or that could link you to the website. You should keep any records minimal and review things for deletion often.

Honestly, create 10 of these. Flood the zone. Scatter public domain ebooks and Creative Commons images in a few. Give them long unique passwords and then forget about them – except the one you actually use.

Network Setup

Always use a VPN. Always. Preferably on public Wi-Fi, even if it requires a password.

Why? If you log in from home, your IP is logged by your hosting provider. Matching an IP back to your ISP is easy. Your ISP knows which customers were assigned a given IP at a given time. Very often your service provider will not immediately hand over customer information but it varies based on context and their policies

A VPN makes that tracing much harder.

Update: Many routers have VPN support built in. (Thanks Julian)

Email Account

ProtonMail. It has a free tier that just works. You will need this for all account based creation and correspondence.

Use a dull boring username and a long strong password. No favorite sport teams or clever pop culture references. Make a note of it in your secure encrypted workspace.

Registering for Services

You’re still on VPN and you have already written out all the information of this persona you are using. You have credit card details, a working Proton email address, and a phone number where you can acknowledge texts.

This is the big unknown. Will they accept your information and improvised credit card? Likely yes, and you’re done.

Hopefully all very anti-climatic.

So now what…

You are on your own. Just always use the VPN and make sure to monitor your balance. Get used to switching account on your computer (yeah, its may be mildly annoying but its a huge form of protection). At some point you’ll need a new prepaid credit card.

See anything thats factually incorrect? Email me and I’ll make updates.