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An analogy can help to clarify what WHMCS is and why it is so crucial in the web hosting world.

Besides being the most widely used CMS, WordPress is the most popular blogging platform on the internet. If you run a blog, WordPress is the answer.

Similarly, for running a web hosting business, WHMCS is the most widely used software among hosting providers, web agencies, IT professionals, and developers.

It is the platform for excellence that automates all aspects of operating a web hosting and domain registrar business. Thanks to its flexibility, WHMCS can also accommodate other various business needs.

As a reference, I currently use it to sell softwares, but in the past I used it to run game hosting, web hosting, VoIP, and an e-commerce site. More recently, I used it to control mining rigs, masternodes, and cryptocurrency wallets remotely. I know people who use it just for billing and for the integrated support suite.

WHMCS has much in common with WordPress.

They are both the undisputed leaders in their respective markets, with the former attracting about 50.000 providers worldwide. If this number doesn’t impress you, know that the average provider hosts about 1.000 websites and that this often includes domain registrations.

But that’s where the similarity ends. WordPress is free, open source, and good at many things. WHMCS kicks off at $ 15.95 per month, the source code is obfuscated, and even though it is a solid platform for running a hosting company, there are some shortcomings we are going to address later.

What Does WHMCS Stand For?

First things first, let’s talk about mispelling and mispronouncing.

I know that WHMCS sounds like “CMS,” but it is not WHCMS nor WHMCMS. The letters stand for Web Host Manager Complete Solution, a name that recalls its reference market.

Who Owns WHMCS?

The WHMCS story began back in 2005 when Matt Pugh released the first version of the software. You can learn more about the WHMCS team on their About Us page.

Significant changes started in 2012 when WHMCS partnered with cPanel. A few years later, in 2019, following in the footsteps of Plesk and cPanel, WHMCS joined WebPros, a group started by the Oakley Capital Group.

In the web hosting industry, Plesk, cPanel, and WHMCS are big names. They effectively control the vast majority of the market.

Free License Key

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. The WHMCS starter license key starts at $ 15.95 per month.

You can get one from whmcs.com or from authorized resellers. In the latter case, the license can even be offered free of charge. This option is valid only if you also purchase a reseller plan. In essence, you host your customers’ sites on a multi-domain plan or a VPS for rent.

Pricing

License key pricing varies based on the number of active customers you have each month. Before April 6, 2021, the tiered licensing structure was as follows:

• Up to 250 clients, 18.95 $ per month
• Up to 500 clients, 29.95 $ per month
• Unlimited clients 39.95 $ per month

Considering the size of the market and the problems this software solves, the prices were reasonable, especially for hosting providers with high operating costs.

The very fact that the license can’t cost you more than $ 39.95 was a big plus, as it allowed you to run a successful business without high fees. Just to be clear, it had nothing to do with PayPal fees.

Based on my experience, small providers make 24.000 euros per year, but the vast majority are well above 60.000 euros. That said, there are many companies that make hundreds of thousands of euros, if not millions. As for the current situation, in 2021, in the middle of the COVID-19 crisis, WHMCS increased prices by up to 3154%. That’s not a typo. Most of my customers are moving from $ 479 to $ 3599 per year (if not worse). That’s a 651% increase.

I was expecting that for years. As I said earlier, WHMCS is currently owned by WebPros, a capital group that has completed many acquisitions in the hosting industry.

Before WHMCS, they even managed to acquire Plesk and cPanel, which had been competing with each other forever. Basically, it’s like Ferrari and Mercedes or Intel and AMD having the same owner.

Price-wise, understanding corporate structure is essential. WebPros resembles a monopoly and, over the years, has used its dominance to increase prices for both Plesk and cPanel. I guess 2021 was the right time to milk WHMCS customers.

Lifetime License

If, like me, you were the lucky owner of an owned license, support & upgrades were the only recurring cost (59.95 $ every 6 months). Bear in mind that WHMCS no longer sells owned one-time permits. Moreover, they can’t be traded.

Owned licenses were available for a one-time up-front purchase, including 12 months of access to support and updates. Personally, I paid $ 324.95 for my Owned License, No Branding. Before the trade ban, such licenses were selling for about 1.000 $.

That said, watch out if someone is trying to sell you a WHMCS lifetime license. It’s a scam since they can’t be traded.

That being said, due to the 2021 price changes mentioned in the previous chapter, WHMCS went back on its word. It sounds ironic, but lifetime licenses have expired, so we’re all on the same boat. I think this one deserves a new meme.

WHMCS Nulled

Nulled or decoded software refers to products that have been stolen and are available for free. When you download nulled WHMCS from random websites, there is no guarantee that it is safe to use. Not to mention using nulled is illegal.

One can easily hide malicious code in a nulled software. On one hand, you enjoy free software, but on the other hand, you risk security flaws and vulnerabilities.

How about I give you a nulled WHMCS that contains a “surprise” that lets me remotely access your servers, steal domain names, and steal all your passwords? It would take me less than 10 minutes. On the contrary, you will need years to find the backdoor in a million lines of code.

Apart from that, another question arises. WHMCS provides a License Verification tool that anyone can use to identify domains that are not authorized to use their software.

There have been many cases of hosts ruining their online reputations by running nulled installations.

That said, it is worth spending a few words about this tool.

We use multi-domains in WHMCS. Our website is also accessible from katamaze. I use it for Italian visitors. A lookup for this domain results in the following message.

This is a false-positive. The problem is that license verification only looks for the primary domain name. The tool can’t be used to check secondary ones.

Free Alternatives

Let me give you a little background. I started using WHMCS in 2007, and since then, it has always been with me, following all the transitions I made, from being a game hosting provider to web hosting and now a software developer.

Believe me, free alternatives to WHMCS are scarce. After so many years the only hosting panel that comes to mind is BoxBilling but it is more a freemium software. The free version, in fact, is set with a lot of limitations:

• 1 staff member
• 2 product categories
• 5 products

It also clearly lacks many of the WHMCS features. The very fact that their forum is locked due to spam doesn’t sound promising, but that’s just my opinion.

Speaking of my opinions, I don’t get why free softwares exists in this market. I mean, we are talking about running a hosting business. If one can’t afford a few bucks for such critical software, maybe one shouldn’t do hosting altogether.

WHMCS Expert

The sooner you learn you need a WHMCS expert, the quicker you’ll be successful. I’m not talking about developers who are experienced in other areas or with different softwares. You need an actual WHMCS expert.

To put it simply, being an expert in WordPress doesn’t play any role in using WHMCS. The learning curve of such complex softwares is very steep. Being a developer is not enough.

Over the years, I’ve seen many tragicomic WHMCS setups where companies dissipate energy and waste time by employing workers to perform unnecessary, labor-intensive processes. All because they haven’t figured out how to fully configure and use it.

Part of my job is to train companies. I also help them to rethink their operating models to get out of traps that many people fall into.

There is nothing worse than misconfiguring settings that, in the long run, cause trouble. Making bad decisions can make the difference between success and failure.

To give you an idea of what I’m talking about, one day I saw an extensive PHP library (as big as WHMCS) used to run database queries. That isn’t good if you think that all it takes to interact with a database is a single line of code.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not applying for the job. It’s just that I’ve seen so many messed-up systems that my eyes hurt. Below, I’m going to list WHMCS experts, including our competitors. With one exception, I can recommend them to anyone.

Support

If you can’t afford consulting a professional and have a small budget, go with the learning-by-doing approach. To this end, I prepared a WHMCS guide to get you started as quickly as possible.

Once you are ready to go, move to more advanced topics like SEO and integrations. But using this software isn’t all tickles and hugs. WHMCS has a “dark side” made of some terrible bugs: MUST read before launching a WHMCS website.

This software is complex and unforgiving. There’s no room for second thoughts. Keep your feet on the ground. Reading documentation and participating in the whmcs Community is crucial.

As for the forum, among all softwares of this kind, WHMCS has no doubt the largest community. Don’t forget this is still a small niche compared to, say, WordPress, so do not expect fast replies.

In Marketplace, you can find thousands of third-party modules to extend your system’s features, but not all developers use it, so learn to rely on Google, too.

Obviously, you can also submit support tickets to WHMCS staff, but I suggest using this channel only as a last resort. As you can imagine, many people open tickets daily; therefore, using the forum is usually preferable.

Automation

Many fall into a trap of believing they don’t need automation. The very essence of using WHMCS is to embrace automation so that you can focus on growing your business.

The most common excuses I hear are «I prefer to check it manually» and «I want to double-check some stuff». But «Oh, I didn’t know that» is a classic.

This attitude halves productivity, leading to lower profits. At the same time, it increases the number of defects due to human error.

Automation frees workers from frustration and allows them to focus on more value-added activities, such as attracting more customers.

Features

The numerous features, combined with a large number of third-party add-on modules, make this software suitable not only for managing hosting, domains, and servers but also for other types of businesses.

When you install WHMCS, you will not use all its features from day one. But it’s nice to know that it can support any growing company scaling from a small to a large enterprise.

To give you an idea of how well the software performs, companies with millions in revenue use it. The fantastic thing is that anyone can get such a powerful tool for as low as 15.95 $ per month.

Customization

The list of WHMCS integrations that offer countless customization options is long. What do you need?

• Templates
• Addon Modules (eg, Mercury, Billing Extension)
• Server Modules (eg, Plesk, cPanel, DirectAdmin)
• Registrar Modules (eg, eNom, Internetbs, Hexonet, ResellerClub)
• Payment Gateways (eg, PayPal, Stripe, Bank Transfer, Bitcoin)
• Fraud Protection (MaxMind and FraudLabs Pro)
• Reports (clients, transactions, notes, domains…)
• Widgets (income, To-Do list, Activity Log…)

WHMCS integrates with leading web hosting control panels, providers, registrars, SaaS, and payment solutions. There are over 200 native integrations, not counting third-party modules. If you need something more, read the following chapter.

Action Hook

Action hooks are one of the most essential features of WHMCS. The combined use of hooks and API opens up a world of unlimited customization. Mastering the creation of an action hook can make the difference in learning this software.

As the name suggests, an action hook allows you to execute your own code when specific events occur inside WHMCS. Hook Index lists all hook points, available parameters, and responses. Begin by reading the Getting Started guide.

When you know the basics but you still can’t code, don’t despair. I have a great surprise for you. So maintain an updated list of free action hooks for WHMCS, 100% open source. I continually add new ones and improve existing ones. You find things like:

• Forcing payment method depending on invoice balance
• Offer one-off products
• Stronger password generator for provisioning
• Group clients based on purchased items, registration date, or domains
• An improved integration with Chatstack
• Conditional support departments
• Churn rate report

Feel free to use them on your system, adapt them to match your needs, or use them as a source of inspiration for other projects. I know it takes time, but if you plan to use this software for an extended period, learning action hooks is really worth the effort.

IonCube

There’s a lot of debate over whether WHMCS should be open source. PHP files are, in fact, obfuscated with ionCube. Some people claim that scripts should be open to make developers’ jobs easier.

Curiously, such claims don’t come from developers specialized in WHMCS. I’m not a genius, but since 2007, I have never needed to see source code. You can get almost anything done with action hooks, API, and programming skills.

On some occasions, having access to source code would have helped me, but I still think that code obfuscation is not a problem. If you suggested staying away from WHMCS because of ionCube, understand that we’re the living proof that working with closed source is perfectly fine.

CMS, Billing, Affiliates

Some parts of WHMCS are not as good as you would expect—namely, CMS capabilities, billing, and affiliates. Running a hosting business with such limitations is not ideal.

FAQ