Clubs and associations
Create a club or association website without a subscription
Yes, an association can have its website without paying a subscription. With TOWeb, a program for Windows and Mac, the site is built on a volunteer’s computer and published with the host of your choice. The Standard edition is free with no time limit; the paid editions are bought once. You can work even without a connection, and the site stays with the association when the volunteer moves on.
Updated on 25 October 2026.
Why avoid a subscription for an association website
A subscription is paid for as long as the site exists, and an association’s budget is voted every year: a treasurer prefers a cost known in advance to a monthly charge that outlives changes of committee. Online builders have their qualities, everything is in one place; but their free plan often shows advertising or an imposed address, and the useful features (your own domain name, forms, members-only pages) come with the paid plan.
With TOWeb, the software is bought once, or stays free in its Standard edition. The only recurring cost is hosting, with the host of your choice: an ordinary plan is enough for an association website, and your domain name is attached to it. If your association collects donations or memberships on a dedicated platform, a simple link connects it to the site.
What your association puts on its website
News
Your news as posts: minutes, announcements, results. A post can be scheduled to appear on the date you choose, and your members can comment on it.
Forms
Sign-up for an outing, contact request, membership form: you receive each reply by e-mail.
Photo gallery
Photos of your events, as a gallery or slideshow, automatically resized for phones.
Documents to download
Articles of association, rules, general meeting minutes: put your PDFs online and link to them in one click.
Members-only pages
A password-protected page for internal documents or the members’ directory (from the Premium edition).
Bookings
A room slot, a class, an office hour: your members book online and you are notified by e-mail (from the Premium edition).
Directions and contact
A map to find your premises, your opening hours and a contact form.
Several languages
For a twinned or cross-border association: a translated site, each language at its own address (from the Premium edition).
Selling T-shirts, a calendar or things you make? The e-Commerce edition adds an online store with no commission on your sales: create an online store.
Work without a connection, from anywhere
An association’s website is often worked on in the evening, between two meetings, or in a village hall with no Wi-Fi. With TOWeb, the site is a project on the volunteer’s computer: they open it like a word processor, write the weekend’s article on the train, add the tournament photos when they get back, and see the site exactly as it will look online.
Only publishing to your host needs the network; you launch it when you have it, from TOWeb (built-in FTP or SFTP). Online builders, on the other hand, stop as soon as the connection drops. The detail of what works with and without a connection: build a website offline.
What an association website really costs with TOWeb
The Standard edition is free, with no time limit, no account to create and no credit card. It has its limits, and they should be said: the mention “Created with TOWeb” on the pages, a single published site (50 MB at most), a single language, and a store and bookings in demonstration mode. For a small association that wants to present its activities, publish its news and receive registrations, it is often enough.
The Premium edition is bought once and removes the mention; it adds password-protected pages, bookings, a multilingual site and audience measurement. The e-Commerce edition adds the store. No subscription, no renewal: TOWeb 15 updates are included. The details of the editions: see the pricing.
What remains is hosting, paid each year to the host of your choice, with your domain name. For a showcase site, an entry-level plan is fine; forms, bookings and the store need PHP, which most hosts offer.
When a volunteer hands over
It is the question every association ends up asking: the site was made by someone, and that someone is leaving. With an online builder, the site is tied to an account and its payment method. With TOWeb, the site is a folder on a computer: copy it to a USB stick or a shared drive, open it on the successor’s computer, and everything is there, pages, photos and publishing settings included. Just remember to keep a backup in the association’s name.
The licence follows the same path: it is deactivated on the old computer and reactivated on the new one, from TOWeb’s Licence screen. And if the new person is on a Mac when the previous one was on a PC, the project is the same: TOWeb exists for both.
Association website: online builder or TOWeb, point by point
| Online builder | TOWeb | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost over time | Subscription for as long as the site exists; free plan with advertising or an imposed address | Free software (Standard) or bought once; only hosting is yearly |
| Working offline | No, the editor is online | Yes: the volunteer works wherever they like; only publishing needs the network |
| Who owns the site | An account with the service, tied to a person and a payment method | The association: a folder to copy, back up and hand over |
| When the volunteer changes | Transfer of the account and billing | Copy of the folder to the next computer, Mac or PC |
| Hosting and domain name | With the service, included in the paid plan | With the host of your choice, with your domain name |
| News, photos, forms | Yes, depending on the plan | Yes, in every edition |
| Members-only pages | Depending on the plan | Password-protected pages (from the Premium edition) |
| Online donations and memberships | Built in with some specialised services | Through a link to your fundraising platform; product sales with the e-Commerce edition |
Putting your association’s website online, in four steps
- Download TOWeb (Mac or Windows) and create the site: choose a style that looks like your association, understated for a book club, colourful for a village fair; the layout adapts to phones by itself.
- Add your pages: who you are, your activities, the season’s calendar, photos, a registration form and a contact page with directions. Your news goes into posts.
- Take out hosting and a domain name with the host of your choice, in the association’s name; an entry-level plan with PHP is enough.
- Publish from TOWeb, by FTP or SFTP, and republish with each piece of news. If you are replacing an old site, paste its old addresses into the “Old addresses of this page” field: TOWeb redirects the old address to the new one (301 redirect), and your search ranking is kept.
Frequently asked questions: an association website with TOWeb
Launch your association’s website this weekend
Download TOWeb for Mac or Windows, build your site without a connection, and publish it with the host of your choice. The Standard edition is free with no time limit; you move to a paid edition, once, the day the association needs it.
TOWeb has been developed for more than 20 years by Lauyan Software, a French company.
Further reading: build a website offline · Wix alternative · WordPress alternative.