When to start developing on host rather than local

[JakeFrederick]

At what point do you actually find and start using a host for a client? Most of the sites I have done until now have been small enough in scale that I simply develop the site locally and then choose the host and upload it. Now I am developing a timeline for a significantly larger site and I'm not sure at which point I should start using the hosting service. It would seem logical to set it up early in the devlopment so mockups and things of that nature can be posted, although I could use my host for this. I will also be using several services such as Paypal and Google for in site searches that will rely on the site being online to implement. The only downsides I can see are the fact that the host will need to be paid for during the development and the fact that I'll need to know exactly which technologies I'm going to be using for a few of the tasks such as a form that sends info to a database. If anyone could share their experiences it would be helpful.

[grnidone]

Is it possible to set up your own box to develop on? It may be more cost effective to actually set up a server for a big site like this. That way, you can test the site before you upload to live. (You can also use this for maintence in the future as well.)

If that is not an option, you might see how much your hosting service would cost to let you have a test box. The kicker with using the client's host box for development is that if they see the site on a bad day, or midway while you are setting the site up, they tend to flip out and be a real pain to deal with because it is not done. While you might be able to explain "Hey, the site isn't done," you'll still have to deal with them checking your work and nagging you until it is.

I like to keep as much as I can on my own boxes until I HAVE to show the client. That way, I can control exactly what they see and when they see it.

[onlineleben]

Allways develop on a local server.
As mentioned, it keeps your client quite in case anythings goes wrong.
I also was really grateful that I didn't put changes on the 'real' site directly, when i startet to mess around with htaccess.
Experiments going into the wrong direction can disable your(clients) web presence.
So be careful and stick to local development.