You know that game, “Two Truths and a Lie”? You share three things about yourself — two true, one false — and everyone has to guess the lie. If my husband were present, he’d win every round.

See, most people don’t know he once worked for an adult retailer as a marketer, promoting content, interviewing actors, and sharing news on social media accounts. And, although he was on the marketing side, he saw firsthand the kind of red tape that adult content creators and distributors face.

Naturally, as a HostingAdvice Staff Writer, I was dying to know: “Who hosts your websites? Do you have any limitations?” My interest was piqued by the types of hoops his company had to jump through to keep its content online.

There were a few hoops he noted:

  • Having a host that won’t boot you.
  • Complying with security and privacy regulations.
  • Incredible uptime, even during peak traffic hours.

Although I’d never really sat down and thought about it before, it’s clear that creating, hosting, and sharing adult content comes with its own set of obstacles.

One Google search (or Bing, if that’s your thing) will show you social media platforms are cracking down on sexual content. But some people in the industry weren’t blind to these issues, which the founders of Vicetemple felt needed to change.

“Even if you take the complex legal issues aside, companies treated these people as second-class customers, simply due to the type of content they dealt with. That’s how we realized there was a gap in the market,” said Vicetemple’s Co-Founder, Chris Veldhuijzen.

Vicetemple is a web hosting provider that specializes in hosting adult-only content, with a particular focus on helping aspiring porn sites, sex shops, webcam businesses, and dating sites practice their business safely, reliably, and without censorship.

Filling a Market Gap

It’s no surprise that Vicetemple was born out of necessity, just as it’s no surprise that many hosting providers avoid adult content altogether.

I actually came across a 2003 Web Hosting Talk poll that I still find pretty interesting just considering the results. When asked why web hosts refuse adult content, the top theorized reasons included:

  • Political or religious objections
  • Concern that other mainstream clients would leave if they discovered the host supports adult content
  • Vendor refusal to work with adult content businesses
  • Weak servers, particularly during peak times or while streaming videos — which, obviously, are pretty resource-intensive.

Although we didn’t get a chance to chat with Vicetemple’s other Co-Founder, Isaac Levinger, I’m sure these are some of the same issues that led to the development of Vicetemple. Before Vicetemple, Isaac was a customer support agent for a well-known hosting provider — and it looks like he witnessed a lot of shortfalls.

“Isaac was the one who noticed the huge disservice that all hosting services were doing to adult webmasters,” Chris explained. “People weren’t given proper — or any, in some cases — support, and they’d essentially be pouring their money down the drain in the long term.”

Vicetemple doesn’t shy away from what it stands for.

So after some trial and error, Vicetemple was born in 2016. From the beginning, the company’s mission remains the same: Support aspiring porn sites, sex shops, webcam businesses, and dating sites without the judgment or censorship that may otherwise come from traditional hosting providers.

“Our main goal has always been to remove any and all barriers to entry into the industry, allowing creators to get their sites up and running without hassle,” Chris emphasized. “Our objectives haven’t shifted.”

Tailored for Adult Webmasters

Earlier I mentioned how adult industry web hosts have a unique challenge that traditional ones do not. Chris noted a few specifics, including greater storage capacity needs.

Let’s say peak hours are Friday nights from 7 PM to 12 AM. Between these hours every week, thousands of users are attempting to visit the site at once. Vicetemple handles this delicately: Instead of making one server handle all these requests, a load balancer distributes them across multiple servers. This basically guarantees that no one server gets overwhelmed — which, for users, means no buffering.

Another important factor is privacy and data protection.

“Given the stigma that still surrounds adult content, ensuring utmost user privacy is a must,” Chris added.

So Vicetemple uses complex encryption, offers various billing options, and protects its servers with DDoS protection and strong firewalls. Its data centers also hold both ISO 27001 and ISO 9001 certificates.

“Our main goal has been to remove any and all barriers to entry into the industry, allowing creators to get their sites up and running without hassle.” — Chris Veldhuijzen, Co-Founder of Vicetemple

“We constantly monitor new trends in security and the overall pulse of the industry as it evolves and do our best to adapt our services,” Chris added. “Having these certifications not only demonstrates our commitment to security and quality but also ensures that we stay compliant with all regulatory requirements that are crucial in the adult industry.”

Speaking of servers, Vicetemple’s are located in the Netherlands, the U.S., and Canada, so users can choose the location that best aligns with their privacy and legal needs.

Don’t get it twisted — Vicetemple only supports legal activities, so this is not your underground, black-market provider. But even speaking within the legal limits, there are still a lot of gray areas regarding sexual content.

See, different regions define obscene material differently, so what’s legal in one place may be illegal in another. Take California and Utah, for example. California has pretty permissive laws regarding content while Utah has passed several laws that declare pornography a public health crisis.

Another consideration surrounding legal issues is copyright infringement, such as protecting content creators’ content. Chris said Vicetemple protects its users’ work by offering “rapid DMCA takedown support” and “robust anti-piracy measures to secure and protect all intellectual property.”

And then there’s the social aspect of it. Although I’m sure nobody would come right out and say it, I think it’s a fair assumption for some that hosting adult content might be seen as taboo or morally unacceptable…which in turn might draw extra attention from regulators and law enforcement.

It’s kind of like how some people advise against driving a bright red car since it’s more likely to catch the attention of law enforcement. (While it’s a bit of an exaggeration, there’s some truth to it: White cars get the most tickets simply because they’re the most common, but red cars are a close second.)

Now that you know how Vicetemple backs its customers, it’s time to see what kinds of features it offers. Here’s a look at the options:

  • Adult Shared Hosting ($6/month): Offers unlimited traffic, a dedicated IP, up to 15GB of storage, and an easy one-click setup for your content management system (CMS). You also get 10 subdomains and 10 extra domains.
  • Adult Virtual Servers ($28/month): Ideal for sites expecting more traffic, this plan includes 2 GB of RAM, 2 CPU cores, unlimited traffic, full control (root access), and 20 GB of storage.
  • Adult Dedicated Servers ($165/month): For high-demand sites, you can have a server entirely dedicated to your website(s), with 16 GB of RAM, a powerful processor, 2 x 1 TB storage drives, and a user-friendly interface.

In addition to hosting, Vicetemple offers domains (they’ll even help you decide on one), adult website themes, adult SEO, web design, and web development services.

Take one look at Vicetemple’s homepage and you’ll see it’s basically a work of art, so it’s no surprise that its current themes are also carefully thought-out:

  • ModelX: Best for adult models who want complete customizability, member subscription options, payment integration, a built-in store, and plenty of visual features.
  • TeaseX: For all the content creators or Only Fans models out there, TeaseX is a single-page website designed to showcase your best content.
  • PornX: For aspiring streaming site entrepreneurs, this is the only theme you’ll probably ever need. It’s super easy to navigate through content, integrates photos and GIFs, video trailers, advanced search methods, a community page, and even allows user uploads.

“We are all about custom, tailored solutions. We are used to working with clients with rather specific and unique needs, and we’re good at fulfilling them,” Chris added. “So, I’d like to encourage anyone looking for a unique hosting solution to reach out.”

Chris said new themes are coming, too: “We’re currently working on new adult website themes and scripts, designed to streamline the site creation process and make it easier than ever for clients to set up their own sites.”

In addition to these awesome themes, Vicetemple also offers an affiliate program where you can get a 20% commission per month.

If you’re already in the business and looking to expand, you can actually sell your porn site with Vicetemple. In fact, Chris shared that Vicetemple recently helped two webmasters sell their sites. Here’s to some happy endings.

Accessibility for Everyone

Behind the scenes, Vicetemple does a lot of charity work focused on nonprofits addressing sexual abuse, human trafficking, neglect, and funding supportive programs. Some of the foundations it works with include RAINN, Thorn, and NSPCC. Now that’s a green flag.

Chris also highlighted its commitment to support, which is another great feature.

“We’re proud to be entirely human-powered, which is crucial in today’s automated world that values efficiency over client needs,” Chris said. “Our agents handle every inquiry personally, taking as much time as needed to respond and assist each customer.”

Recently, the company expanded its DDoS protection and content delivery networks (CDNs) to maintain top performance, even during peak times.

Chris mentioned enhanced malware protection is also on the way.

From what I’ve learned about my husband’s time in the adult entertainment industry, spammers, bots, and cyberattackers are basically running rampant — so every security measure seems absolutely necessary.

I wouldn’t be surprised if, in the next few years, it becomes a standout name in the industry: a web host truly dedicated to offering personalized, flexible, and stigma-free solutions for adult webmasters, content creators, and retailers alike.

“Our goal is to ensure the quality of all our current products and services remains unchanged and that our client base continues growing,” Chris emphasized.

Whether you’re looking to switch hosts or have a business idea, I really think Vicetemple is worth a chance.

This interview was originally posted on HostingAdvice’s blog.