What is WHMCS?
Web Host Manager Complete Solution (WHMCS) is the all-in-one client management, billing & support solution designed for web hosting providers. WHMCS is a flexible, scalable, and extensible platform with hundreds of available apps and integrations for all leading service providers and a powerful developer API. WHMCS is a powerful automation & support tool, handling everything from customer signups, billing, support, orders, domain registrations, and client interactions all the way to terminations, all executed within a single platform. From setup to terminations, you can automate the entire client’s life cycle for hosting or domains all from your WHMCS dashboard. The WHMCS software was founded in 2003 and then launched in 2005. Ever since its launch, it has since dominated the web hosting industry.
What is WHMCS used for?
WHMCS is used to centralise and automate the control and management of web hosting and domain-related products or services. It was created to simplify every single aspect of a web hosting business. WHMCS tracks all the payments, forecasts income, and generates reports for analysing orders, revenue, and ticket ratings.
WHMCS provides customisable invoices which support recurring billing and multiple currencies. The platform enables businesses to generate custom invoices. It includes billing features such as new invoice notifications and payment reminder notices with integrated payment gateways such as PayPal, SagePay and Stripe. WHMCS automates various processes such as the setting up of services on receipt of payment, suspension of accounts for non-payment, password changes and service emails.
Below is what the CEO of WHMCS, Matt Pugh, said about the platform.
“Our mission is to simplify and automate all aspects of operations for web hosting companies. Handling everything from customer signup to provisioning, management and support, WHMCS provides a single centralised platform for managing your web hosting business so that everyday tasks become quicker, easier, and more efficient.”
Matt Pugh, the CEO of WHMCS
Why are so many Resellers using WHMCS?
Starting a web hosting business can be problematic and complex, but managing it doesn’t have to be. Resellers prefer WHMCS because it’s the complete solution which centralises numerous areas of operating a web hosting business into a single platform. This allows you to provide automated billing to your clients, meaning you’ll never have to worry about tracking payments again.
For example, when using WHMCS, if a client opens a support ticket for whatever reason, the customer’s hosting account details can be seen by the assigned member of staff, giving them direct access to that hosting account. Therefore, saving time spent providing support, and that, in turn, means lower costs.
Services can be set up for Hosting, VPS, Cloud and SSL. It also integrates with domain management allowing clients to manage their domain purchases from within WHMCS. The primary domain-related functionalities include automatic registration, availability checking, WHOIS data, domain locking and syncing. Reporting and statistics modules track payment, income, and more. The application enables the customisation of invoicing, client area and order form to suit the reseller’s business needs.
WHMCS allows integration with social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, making it easier for Resellers to market their business and engage with potential clients.
Reseller benefits for using WHMCS
There are plenty of benefits when using WHMCS for your Reseller Business. Let’s list the main ones below.
Self-hosted
WHMCS is a self-hosted platform giving you full control over your installation and customer data. Most of our resellers simply install their WHMCS installation onto a hosting account within their reseller plan, whilst some choose to host their WHMCS onto a separate server/plan entirely (such as our Premium Hosting).
Customisable
Every business is unique and has different needs. WHMCS makes it easy for you to customise to suit your preference. You can edit and customise your WMHCS modules, themes, and templates.
Integrations
You can use WHMCS’s API and hook system to interact internally and externally.
Support
All licences from WHMCS include free support available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They have plenty of online resources such as documentation, user guides and tutorials to assist you.
Updates
The development team is active; they aim to release at least 3 to 4 major releases yearly. This doesn’t include maintenance releases with more minor updates and bug fixes that are released more frequently.
Track Resource Usage
Keeping track of usage data is very important because you can see the exact amount of server resources your clients are using and Identify accounts abusing resources. Better yet, in WHMCS, you have access to this data without having to log in to other external systems to access the data.
Automated Suspension
The WHMCS system can easily detect overdue client accounts. Depending on your settings, by default, clients with overdue accounts will automatically be suspended and then unsuspended automatically once the unpaid amount has been satisfied.
How WHMCS works with Reseller Hosting
Billing System
The automated billing system is probably the most sought-after feature WHMCS has to offer. WHMCS automatically sends notifications to your clients when payments are due or overdue. You can automatically apply a late fee charge in each timeframe if an invoice is not paid (optional). WHMCS is highly configurable and can be tweaked and customised to operate exactly how you want your business to run.
WHMCS allows you to integrate with a number of payment gateway providers (either a single gateway or multiple) including PayPal, Stripe and many more. In addition, most providers operate through a method called ‘tokenisation’, which means that card details are not stored directly within the WHMCS software. Instead, a ‘token’ is stored, which can be used to capture further recurring payments.
On top of that, your clients are able to receive email notifications for all your services including invoices, overdue notices, and payments. Also, WHMCS allows billing and payments in multiple currencies, and your services can be used anywhere in the world.
Domain Management
You can do everything you need to manage and sell domains using WHMCS. From domain registrations, name suggestions, ID protection, DNS management, WHOIS lookup and renewals.
As a Brixly Reseller, you are also able to use our ‘Domain Reseller’ module which works natively with WHMCS to simplify the process of selling over 150 domain TLDs. We have an article on how to install this here…
https://support.brixly.uk/en/knowledgebase/article/how-do-i-sell-domain-names-through-whmcs
WHOIS Domain availability – With WHMCS, your customers can check the availability of domain names in real-time before attempting the registration. You can see when the domain was registered and when it is set for expiration.
WHOIS Lookup – If you want to find out information about a domain or website, you can use the WHOIS Lookup tool. Which reveals who or what establishment owns or manages a specific domain name. The information provided includes their contact information, such as name, address, phone number etc. This information is only available if the registrant or owner doesn’t have ID protection.
Automated Renewals – No hosting business can operate at scale without automation, and renewals are an integral part of that. WHMCS handles automatic renewals fantastically, simplifying your day-to-day administration.
Ticketing & Support system
WHMCS has a robust support system, allowing you to manage your entire customer support process from within the software using an automated ticketing system found in the ‘Client Area’ of the dashboard. Customers can raise a ticket there, which will be reflected on the panel for you to address.
Other Features
WHMCS Marketplace
WHMCS Marketplace is a place within the WHMCS Interface. The marketplace allows users of WHMCS to connect with other applications and find and discover modules, add-ons, extensions, and templates for the WHMCS made by developers.
Affiliates Management
WHMCS’s affiliates system is a great marketing tool for resellers. Hosting companies can essentially recruit people on a pay-per-click or pay-per-conversion basis. Affiliates help generate revenue by referring customers to your business. WHMCS includes a comprehensive affiliate system which supports one-time and recurring commissions, either in percentages or fixed values. It also includes minimum withdrawal limits, pay-out delays, live statistics, and information for affiliates in the Client Area.
WHMCS generates a unique link for each affiliate to use. When customers click on this link, it takes them to your website and saves a cookie on their computers (lasts for three months). The affiliate will earn a commission if the customer orders a service using that link. At Brixly, we offer all our affiliates a 10% recurring commission on our services.
Reports & Analytics
WHMCS includes a wide range of reports to give you in-depth reporting and analytics on the performance of your business. Including graphs and charts to help you interpret the data. All the reports are fully customisable, and you can add your custom reports to WHMCS modular reporting system.
There are plenty of reports available to you, ranging from; daily performance, annual income reports, affiliates overview, monthly transactions, client statements, invoices, transactions, and disk usage summaries. All the reports can be exported in CSV format.
Recommendation
To run a successful business, it’s absolutely essential you have the right tools to simplify things not only for you but for your clients. The beauty of WHMCS is that it centralises a number of tools and modules and tools into a single pane of glass making operating your hosting business simple, fast and in most-part, automated.
Brixly is a proud partner of WHMCS – we work closely to ensure our resellers have a seamless experience and that our reseller packages are smoothly integrated with the platform. Brixly offers discounted WHMCS licenses for WHMCS to streamline your hosting business.
More Information
- For more information about WHMCS, please visit https://www.whmcs.com
- Try our cPanel Reseller Hosting, please visit https://brixly.uk/cpanel-reseller-hosting
- Try our DirectAdmin Reseller Hosting. please visit https://brixly.uk/unlimited-reseller-hosting-directadmin
