What Is WHMCS Hosting
If you are going to become a hosting reseller, it is more important than ever to get the right base host. In this article, we will go over WHMCS and explain how to find the right host.
What Is WHMCS?
Selling web hosting is a great way to support an existing business or start out a new venture offering web space for profit. As your reseller business grows, it will become harder and harder to manage everything manually, and automation becomes an essential part of the job.
WHMCS is a tool that automates vital processes and ties up all of the tasks you’ll need to carry out.
It can also be used for other businesses where billing and support are needed.
What Is Reseller Hosting?
Briefly, let’s clear up what reseller hosting is before we explore one of the most popular tools for managing reseller accounts.
Ways to Create a Reseller Hosting Business
If a person wants to create a hosting business, they have a few choices. One is to invest in the (usually quite expensive) hardware to create a network of servers sufficient to support the websites and data associated with all their hosting clients.
Another much more economical way to enter the hosting industry is through the reseller model. Instead of acquiring your own hosting hardware, you essentially rent another company’s infrastructure, then resell it to your own clients.
Benefits of a Reseller Hosting Business
The reseller hosting model, therefore, offers a number of benefits for savvy digital entrepreneurs. It’s also a natural fit for web developers who need a convenient place to host client sites for continued access, administration, and maintenance in the future.
- Income for entrepreneurs
- Increased control and flexibility for web developers
- No large setup costs
- Ability to focus on customer service
- Branding opportunities
History of WHMCS
WHMCS History via Cybernewsguide.com
WHMCS was released in 2005 to help resellers streamline their hosting administration tasks. The application is developed by the same team that makes cPanel and Web Hosting Manager (WHM), tools which many resellers will be familiar with prior to starting their reselling venture.
What Does WHMCS Stand For?
WHMCS stands for Web Host Manager Complete Solution, although you’ll almost never see it referred to under that title, since the abbreviation is used most of the time.
Its name reflects the fact that it was initially designed for use with WHM and cPanel, although that requirement has now been removed and it works with a variety of control panels and services.
WHMCS Functions
WHMCS Functions via Cybernewsguide.com
Initially, WHMCS combined two functions: invoicing and technical support for web hosting.
Now, WHMCS supports a range of industries as well as hosting, offering full client management. Its focus is still hosting administration, and that’s where you’ll find most of its functionality.
- Control panel operations
- Accepting payments
- Generating client invoices and estimates
- Client account setup and suspension
- Performing client support and social media functions.
Control Panel Operations
Users can link WHMCS to hosting control panels including WHM, cPanel, Plesk, XPanel, and Helm.
Accepting Payments
They can also take payments through a dizzying number of gateways; PayPal, 2Checkout, Google, Amazon, Skrill, PayPoint, Nochex, and other recognized brands are supported, as are many small providers and bank transfer payments.
Generating Estimates and Invoices
WHMCS generates estimates and invoices in multiple currencies and lets you bill on a one-off or recurring basis. You can collect any number of data types using custom fields, create promotions and coupon codes, and let users add items to a cart before they check out.
Account Setup and Suspension
Once a user pays, WHMCS triggers account setup and can suspend accounts if payment is not received. It also has a nifty pro-rata function that syncs up everyone’s billing dates.
WHMCS also integrates with many services and web hosting add-ons, so resellers can use it to upsell extras on top of hosting plans. For example, you can resell SSL certificates, domain names, and cloud backup services.
Support and Social Media Functions
In terms of support, WHMCS handles your announcements, social media feeds, knowledge base, and ticketing system. The help desk area is surprisingly good, given that it’s not the main focus of the tool.
Differences Between WHMCS, WHM, and cPanel
Beginners are often confused by the differences between WHMCS, WHM (WebHost Manager), cPanel, and other similar software.
Here are some of the key differences between the software options:
| Software | WHMCS | WHM | cPanel |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type | Billing Software | Master Control Software | End User Control Panel |
| User | Web Hosting Reseller | Web Hosting Reseller | End User / Client |
| Function | Controls billing and support functions | Performs administrative tasks for hosting accounts on a server | Client interface for managing own hosting account |
Customization
WHMCS is designed to be themed so that it blends in with the rest of your business website. You can download templates to change the look and feel as well as remove features that you don’t intend to use.
If you want to fully integrate WHMCS with your website, it’s possible to match both appearance and functionality. From CSS tweaks to the API, all options are open to you, providing you have the skills to edit the code.
Use of Plugins
There’s also a plugin system. Modules can be installed to extend what WHMCS can do. Developers can create their own modules and contribute them to a growing library. WHMCS integrates with more than 150 different services via these modules, so there’s bound to be a combination that suits the way you sell web hosting.
Pricing
You’ll need to pay for a license to use WHMCS. There are three ways to do this:
- Buy a subscription, so you essentially lease WHMCS for as long as you need it
- Buy it outright
- Buy a license from your web hosting provider.
All options include a secondary key that can be used for a testing server, essentially allowing you to run a live copy and a staging copy.
Ongoing Updates
Note that buying the software doesn’t entitle you to ongoing updates, which attract an additional fee. You will also have to pay extra to remove the “Powered by WHMCS” link at the bottom of the page; this is essential if you want to completely blend WHMCS with your website template.
WHMCS System Requirements
WHMCS System Requirements via Cybernewsguide.com
There are a number of minimum system requirements you need to meet in order to run WHMCS 7.0 and later:
- PHP Version 5.6.0
- PHP Memory Limit: 64 MB
- PHP Database Extension: PDO
- PHP Extensions: Curl with SSL, GD2 Image Library, JSON Support, XML
- MySQL Version: 5.2.0
- ionCube Loaders: 6.0.2 or later
WHMCS can be installed on most web hosting packages, although you’ll obviously need a reseller account at the minimum. For most customers, a virtual private server (VPS) makes sense, since it’s difficult to isolate your clients’ sites from other sites on a shared server.
WHMCS can run on Linux or Windows servers with PHP version 5.2 or above. You’ll need MySQL version 5.2.0 or above, plus the ionCube Loaders installed and configured.
WHMCS and WordPress
WHMCS and WordPress via Cybernewsguide.com
Previously, if you wanted to utilize WHMCS to automate your reseller business but also use WordPress as your hosting site platform, integration could be a struggle.
The world’s most popular content management system is a convenient way to build beautiful, functional websites. For most purposes, WordPress is a well-coded foundation on which to build a site.
Possible Issues with WordPress
However, WHMCS is a bit different from most functional platforms. It’s designed to manage your reseller client accounts in an automated, independent fashion. It wasn’t built specifically to integrate into WordPress, and as a result, it can take a little extra effort to achieve the smooth integration you’ll want and need.
WordPress Functionality
Plugins such as WHMPress can help bridge the technological gap between WHMCS and WordPress. WHMPress helps improve your site performance by caching data such as your plan price list. It also helps you publish plan details, price charts, order links, and buttons.
WHMCS-Friendly Themes
In addition, there are a number of themes available coded specifically to integrate with WHMCS. However, theme developers often abandon niche theme projects such as WHMCS/WordPress integration, so it’s important to read updated reviews on such themes before you install them on a live site and hope for the best.
Ideally, you should set up a duplicate test site on a local WordPress installation and work out all the details of configuration there before porting over to your live domain. This will help minimize conflicts and issues.
Top 3 Hosts
WHMCS Top Hosts via Cybernewsguide.com
InMotion Hosting
Among our WHMCS-friendly hosting companies, we especially like InMotion Hosting. A feature-rich hosting provider, InMotion is an excellent choice for resellers. Prices for its three reseller plans are competitive and come with unlimited email accounts.
You’ll also enjoy around-the-clock customer support and your choice of Linux or Windows servers. The top reseller package features 160 GB disk space and 1.6 TB bandwidth.
InMotion Hosting WHMCS via Cybernewsguide.com
A2 Hosting
If you need more fine-grained control over your plan’s features, A2 Hosting is a solid choice.
Offering four plans each for both Linux and Windows-based plans, A2 allows resellers a greater degree of control over major features such as bandwidth and storage. The top three levels come with free access to WHMCS. Top Plans include up to 100 GB storage and a 1,000 GB transfer limit.
Certain accounts also come with a free eNom reseller account, free SSL, SSD storage, and access to the WHM control panel.
A2 Hosting WHMCS via Cybernewsguide.com
HostPapa
Our third choice is HostPapa. Their reseller packages come with WHMCS and WHM control panel support.
The top package also features up to 2.5 TB bandwidth along with 250 GB storage space. All reseller packages support unlimited websites and email addresses, 24/7 tech support, and a 99.9% uptime guarantee.
They also offer white label name servers to allow you to build your own brand.
HostPapa Hosting WHMCS via Cybernewsguide.com
Points to Remember
Selecting a WHMCS-enabled hosting company is not much different than selecting any reseller hosting provider.
Research existing providers carefully, specifically with respect to reseller features. Compare these features to your own goals and plans for your new reseller business.
Once you have a shortlist, narrow it down by the company’s support for and integration of WHMCS. We’ve rounded up our preferred group of hosting providers that offer WHMCS for reseller accounts here as well.
You’ll want to consider:
- How many customers you reasonably believe you can attract within a short period of time
- What price points you’d like to offer to your customers
- Your budget and resulting profit margins
- Hosting company’s integration and support for WHMCS
- Hosting company’s commitment to WHMCS.
Other features in Control Panels
WHMCS Frequently Asked Questions
- Can customers buy other things besides hosting through WHMCS?
Yes, WHMCS supports over 20 domain registrars including NameCheap, ResellerClub, PlanetDomain, and others. You can offer your customers SSL certificates from Enom, ResellerClub, and GlobalSign. Your customers can register, transfer, and renew their domains, as well as change their nameservers, update WHOIS information, lock or unlock domains, and more.
- What kind of plugins are available to extend the features of WHMCS?
WHMCS supports a library of hundreds of plugins by various developers. They add a huge variety of functionality. Some of the most popular plugins add VAT tax options for EU invoices, allow customers to sign up for free trials, or automatically integrate Google Analytics tracking or social media accounts.
- Is WHMCS free?
No. A license is required to use WHMCS. You can pay a one-time fee to download the software, but support and software updates are only included for a limited time. You can pay to extend support and updates on a yearly basis. Another option is to pay a subscription, which will include future software updates.
- What billing cycles can I offer my customers with WHMCS?
You can set up one-time billing as well as monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, and biennially (every two years) billing cycles. You can also pro-rate a customer’s bill for partial cycles.
- What can my customers do in the client portal area?
Customers can log in to update their personal information, change their password, view their order and payment history, purchase upgrades, request cancellation, and manage domains.
- How does WHMCS compare with Blesta?
Both Blesta and WHMCS are very popular hosting reseller management tools, with many proponents for each.
Blesta is reputed to be more straightforward, with comparatively limited functionality since it doesn’t have all the plugins available for WHMCS. However, Blesta’s code can be modified to support whatever functionality you need, and it has a well-documented API for developers.
- How does WHMCS compare with HostBill?
HostBill is another popular client management, support, and billing software application for hosting resellers. In contrast to WHMCS’s single order form design, it comes with many order form templates for your customers.
John
June 5, 2019
Hi there,
Thanks for this great article. I’d like to offer a couple of corrections if I may:
* WHMCS is developed and operated by a different company and team to cPanel/WHM.
* Only pricing options 1 and 3 are available. There is no-longer a “buy outright” option.
* This also means that support and updates are included in the price.
* A fully-featured and documented API is part of WHMCS
* There are 8 order form templates to choose from as-standard. Over 100 themes available from third-parties in the WHMCS Marketplace: https://marketplace.whmcs.com/
Thanks for your time.