WHMCS alternatives following price increase?

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nathany

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Given the recent WHMCS price rise and general dissatisfaction of having to purchase lots of add-on modules to implement required functionality I am looking at alternatives. The only serious alternative I can find is HostBill but it seems to have mixed reviews. Others such as Blesta lack any real (i.e. manage from the client portal) integration with DirectAdmin, PowerDNS, Nominet, Quickbooks, etc to name but a few.

Is anyone using HostBill, would you recommend?
 
Yip we currently moving everything to Hostbill but we have not fully changed as yet. I think the 2 things you have to worry about Hostbill is:

1. Support Response Time
2. Initial Cost

But the cost savings outweigh everything else. Just remember after a year you have to pay $99 each year to keep having hostbill get updated.
The modules and plugins of Hostbill just work - We have tested so many of them and its awesome. They have almost everything we use with modulesgarden.com and a standard cost. Where costs each year for updates on those modules are at fraction of cost of initial purchase.
Its also nice getting everything from the same company rather than different companies to provide these modules.

So far our testing has proven all work currently and it has all our requirements. So for us its a good choice. We will be moving all customers from cpanel to directadmin also after this aswell. WebPros has just messed us around with these insane increases.

I'd recommend you see if it will fit your company as no one can really say if its suits yours or not.
 
Thank you @sahostking for the feedback. I had already concluded similar to you that long term it would be cheaper moving to HostBill than paying for all of the modulesgarden add-ons that we have to make WHMCS do what we want. Over recent years we were paying modulesgarden a number of times more than WHMCS as our collection of their modules has grown over time.
 
If you are Shared only Blesta is good
Anything else Hostbill.

Here Goes Nothing - Page 1

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www.hostbillforums.com

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www.hostbillforums.com

Several things I like and several I don't

About whats available:

WHMCS: I don't like subscription software. Seems to be getting better. Don't like the 3rd party implementation of modules. I prefer the company that created the software to Build Functionality.

ClientExec :Simple to use, Good implementation of plugins, Admin area is awful. Slow development. Hard to build products. No 3rd party development (good). No real Forum. Slack doesn't rock...

Blesta: Simple to use, Good implementation of plugins, super slow development. A lot of 3rd party development (not Good) so we are clear its not the coding by the devs. No real clear direction. What is built I like but its not complete enough.

Hostbill: Own Lifetime License. Simple to use, Good implementation of plugins, weekly development, no 3rd party plugins, not a subscription, nice admin area, good module choices for option past shared hosting.

I don't know until Clientexec or Blesta improve or some one makes a better app. I suppose I wait until I get more money or get smarter.. which is all negotiable.
Click to expand...
 
nathany said:
HostBill than paying for all of the modulesgarden add-ons
Click to expand...
Completely cheaper.

There is not automated Migration to Hostbill from WHMCS.
There is no Support forum run by the company.
There is only Email support and its in Poland.
Updates are $99 a year the updates are weekly.
They do fix bugs if you report them.
I have never needed support.
 
bdacus01 said:
Completely cheaper.

There is not automated Migration to Hostbill from WHMCS.
There is no Support forum run by the company.
There is only Email support and its in Poland.
Updates are $99 a year the updates are weekly.
They do fix bugs if you report them.
I have never needed support.
Click to expand...

They do have a WHMCS import module (if you ask support) which they have lots of disclaimers attached to which is not surprising as WHMCS has been kicking around for some time so they may not have tested every scenario. I am still testing the import tool but despite their cautionary notes it seems to do a comprehensive job.

Although the admin interface looks a little 1999 in style I am impressed with the functionality and thought that has gone into the software. For example, WHMCS has a Nominet (UK domain) module but it only permits a single instance but we have multiple accounts (IPStags). WHMCS have failed to do anything to support multiple tags despite requests, HostBill supports it by abstracting 'modules' and 'connections'.
 
There is a newcomer on billing, namely WiseCP, but they don't have many supporting modules yet, but I think for the size of shared hosting it is enough. I have tested it on the free license they provide and it looks similar to whmcs.

Another alternative I recommend hostbill, because I'm also hesitating to move from whmcs between to hostbill or wisecp
 
ai8 said:
Why?
Click to expand...
Let me rephrase it for you.
If you are a Shared only provider and that is all you do or plan to do aka sell shared hosting and domains. Then Blesta is a good choice. Not saying Hostbill is not good for Shared.
 
I am torn between clientexec and HostBill.

HostBill seems to have everything we need and more.
DirectAdmin integration
GoCardless
CloudNS
Xero
Comet Backup


Clientexec seems to have things in the pipeline such as:
Xero Plugin
Hexonet

Nothing on CloudNS / Comet Backup

From what I have read there is no link in clientexec for DA either.?

GoCardless is available, but has an extra cost per month.
 
HostBill all the way, WHMCS cannot compete with that, HostBill has so many features, integrations and options, it's a no-brainer, especially if you go multi-brand, multi-purpose ;)
 
Here is a list of best WHMCS alternatives you can consider if planning to switch:

  • BoxBilling
  • Blesta
  • Kaseya VSA
  • GoCardless
  • Pulseway
  • AuthAnvil
  • Cloud Management Suite
  • Brightidea
  • FreshBooks
  • Zoho Assist
  • Ubersmith
 
AWBS should be also a good alternative, isn't it?
As far as I know WHMCS and AWBS were the biggest competitors in the past.
 
I have a reseller hosting account that I pay yearly for just to get a "free" Clientexec license and send my invoices with premium transit (MailChannels). It's cheaper than going through Clientexec's hosted solutions on the official website. I've been using it for over a decade.

WHMCS is too bloated for my needs, because I do more regular invoicing than I do automated-hosting-server stuff like creating a new account upon sign-up.
 
Clientexec for the win!

I've seen people selling older owned versions of WHMCS at around $1k.

The directadmin extended plugin for whmcs by modeulesgarden is something I really think my users enjoy so I'm stuck with it. Lol
 
I know HostBill have an extended DA module.
I hope Clientexec makes some new plugins or other companies make them.
For now WHMCS is still affordable.
 
We initially used 2x Lifetime Owned WHMCS then they changed to only monthly and screwed us out of our Lifetime Owned.
We've been using HostBill for many years now and no major issues.
It's more expensive to get going and there are some issues but they issue weekly bug fixes and updates.
Only potential downside is that it's not easy to customise and there is basically no community, every development is managed by HostBill
HostBill assisted with a full migration from WHMCS
 
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