If you’re looking for the best personal web hosting, there’s plenty of choice for small websites and blogs. Similarly, if you’re a business, there are lots of choices including shared hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated server hosting.
However, if you want to run your own web hosting service, you may want to look into reseller packages. We’ve searched high and low for the best reseller hosting options and rated them for your convenience.
If you want to compete with the likes of Hostinger and SiteGround, you can do so with reseller hosting. However, that’s not the only reason why reseller hosting might be of use to you. If you want full control of your web hosting services, reseller hosting gives you the power to do so.
Some businesses might benefit from it too, e.g. if you’re a web development company, offering a web hosting service alongside web design might be an added bonus.
What is Reseller Hosting?
Reseller hosting ultimately gives you the ability to sell web hosting to other people. You can set up your own web hosting company or sell web hosting as part of an added service. You can even give it away for free if you really want to (though I wouldn’t personally suggest this).
If you create or manage multiple websites, reseller hosting could actually be a more cost-effective tool for you or your business. It’s often used by web developers or web companies who need different servers to showcase websites, or even to provide web hosting to their own clients.
What are the benefits of Reseller Hosting?
There are many benefits to reseller web hosting. I’ve already mentioned a few above, but here’s a list of why I highly recommend reseller hosting:
- Great for web hosting startups who can’t afford the initial investment
- More features available compared to shared hosting
- Server maintenance and security is still managed by the main hosting company
- No need for technical experience
- More control over your web hosting
#1: SiteGround
SiteGround’s reseller hosting may seem complicated at first (but I’ll explain it). Their reseller program is aimed towards web developers and designers who want to provide web hosting to their clients. The more reseller hosting you purchase with SiteGround, the cheaper it becomes.
Pricing
SiteGround use a credits system for their reseller hosting. 1 credit equates to 1 year hosting. It costs 5 credits to get started, as low as £27 per credit.
- 1-4 credits: £32 per credit
- 5-10 credits: £29 per credit
- 11+ credits: £27 per credit
Whilst that may seem like a lot of money when you take into consideration that’s for a years’ hosting, it actually works out quite affordable. You can pay for what you actually need, making the pricing much simpler than you may have thought.
Features
Because you’re purchasing accounts, all pricing plans come with the same features. This makes the whole thing a lot simpler! Features include 10GB web space, unmetered data transfer, cPanel, daily backups, 4 server locations, free CloudFlare CDN, unlimited FTP accounts and free email accounts.
As well as their ‘standard’ features, SiteGround also provide 24/7 reseller support from experts in the industry.
Pros & Cons
+ Very low prices
+ Simple pricing structure
+ 27/7 support
– You can’t expand or upgrade your hosting
VISIT SITEGROUND.COM (£27/MONTH)
#2: HostGator (Best Overall Reseller Hosting)
If you’re looking for low introductory prices with unlimited domains, HostGator is a wise choice. Whilst you may not get unlimited disk space and bandwidth, HostGator offer a wide range of features as well as free SSL certificates on all of their plans.
Pricing
HostGator have 3 reseller hosting plans to choose from. Before looking at each of them, it’s good to know that they all include unlimited domains, free SSL certificate, WHMCS, 99.9% uptime guarantee, 45-day money-back guarantee, unlimited email accounts, and 24/7 customer support.
Aluminium: $19.95 per month
- 60GB disk space
- 600GB bandwidth
Copper: $24.95 per month
- 90GB disk space
- 900GB bandwidth
Silver: $24.95 per month
- 140GB disk space
- 1400GB bandwidth
Features
Many reseller web hosting companies will offer similar features. However, it’s worth going through a few of the main ones to ensure that you know what you’re getting. HostGator offer free WHMCS on all of their reseller plans. This is client management/billing software which is essential if you want to start your own web hosting business. It makes the process of buying/selling web hosting much easier, managed all from one dashboard.
You’ll get unlimited domains, email accounts, MySQL databases, and FTP accounts which is essential for anyone selling web hosting. The control panel is incredibly easy to use, so managing client accounts won’t have you feeling confused at all.
HostGator’s 99.9% uptime guarantee is something which you’ll be able to offer all of your own customers. Although it’s the minimum we’d expect to see, it’s still nice to have a safeguard in place. Once you gain access to your account, you’ll be able to make use of the benefits of their free reseller club account. This includes 70+ gTLDs & ccTLDs to resell and easy integration.
Pros & Cons
+ Very low prices
+ Unlimited domains
+ 45-day money-back guarantee
– 3-year commitment required for best prices
VISIT HOSTGATOR.COM (£15.95/MONTH)
#3: GoDaddy (Best Affordable Reseller Hosting)
GoDaddy offers simple pricing plans for reseller hosting. All of their features run throughout, the only difference being the number of accounts. Web hosting isn’t the only thing you can resell either. GoDaddy allows their customers to resell a number of their services including domains, emails, and WordPress based services.
Pricing
If you’re simply after a basic reseller account, GoDaddy’s cheapest plan starts from just £6.34 per month. This will allow you up to 25 customers, as well as all of their reseller features. If you want to go all out, GoDaddy’s pro reseller package is for unlimited customers and prices start at £10.50 per month. Features on both plans include:
- Pre-built and customizable eCommerce storefronts
- Access and manage customer accounts
- WordPress API
- Make your own profit margins
- 24/7 support
Features
GoDaddy is slightly different from its competitors in that you can resell a multitude of products and services. If you’re selling web hosting, it’s nice to be able to sell domain names too! Whilst you’re at it, there are emails, website builder, SSL certificates (a real selling point), servers, website security, and managed WordPress.
GoDaddy’s services allow you to provide an all-in-one solution if that’s what you’re after. Being able to customise your own storefront is a big bonus too. The problem with some reseller programs is that every site looks the same. Being able to set yourself apart is a winner; you can set your own product prices too. If you don’t want to handle payments, GoDaddy offers this service as part of the package. There’s no need to worry as they’ve got it all covered.
Pros & Cons
+ Very low prices
+ They manage your payments
+ Plenty of reseller services to choose from
– Disk space and bandwidth is ambiguous
VISIT GODADDY.COM (£6.34/MONTH)
#4: A2 Hosting
Although a lot of the world wide web runs on Linux servers, not everyone wants to use them. A2 Hosting offer both Microsoft and Linux servers, catering to the whole market. They have various pricing packages on their reseller program which should suit most across the board. These are priced per operating system, so the choice is all yours.
Pricing
A2 Hosting has 4 pricing packages; bronze, silver, gold and platinum. Each of these offer different features, starting from £10.84 per month. The bronze package offers 30GB storage, free SSL and SSD, WHM, and a free eNom reseller account. Whilst there’s not a lot on offer in terms of storage, it’s a good place to get started if you want to try out reseller hosting.
Each of the plans guarantees a 99.9% uptime, which you can offer to your customers too. They also have the option of 20x faster turbo, which according to A2 Hosting “Give your site a boost! Host on our fine-tuned, blazing fast Turbo Server option”. If you want to move your site across to A2, they do have a free migration service, so it’s worth looking into.
Features
One thing which stands out on A2 Hosting’s reseller program is their money-back guarantee. You can try their packages with the confidence that you’ll get your money back if you don’t like them. It’s certainly worth a try with this kind of offer!
You’ll get the choice of a free WHMCS or Blesta license when you sign up. If you want an extended version of WHMCS you can pay extra for this. However, I do find this a little bit odd because most reseller hosting comes with these WHMCS features already.
Pros & Cons
+ Low introductory prices
+ Unlimited domains
+ Generous money-back guarantee
– For the cheapest prices, you’ll need to sign up for 3 years
VISIT A2HOSTING.COM (£10.84/MONTH)
#5: ResellerClub
ResellerClub’s reseller program has almost 1/4 million budding entrepreneurs signed up. As well as their reseller program, ResellerClub also attracts customers across the world who use their other products like shared hosting and domain services. ResellerClub offers an all-in-one solution that stretches further than any other hosting provider I’ve seen.
Pricing
ResellerClub has a range of pricing plans to suit multiple users. Their server locations are based in either the U.S. or the U.K. and their prices change based on this. I’m not sure I necessarily agree about the price changing depending on where the servers are located, but it’s hard to argue with a company that’s been in the business for a long time.
Similar to A2 Hosting, ResellerClub also has Windows hosting. Their Linux servers start from £12.49 per month and offer 40GB disk space, 800GB data transfer, and unlimited websites. Their pricing seems to be quite average compared to the rest of the market, but they do offer 1-month terms. The nice thing about ResellerClub is that the price doesn’t change regardless of how long you sign up for.
Features
You can check out a demo of ResellerClub’s reseller hosting, including WHMCS here. All of their reseller plans are extremely flexible; they include unlimited customers so you can sell hosting to whoever you like. Unlike most other reseller hosting companies, they offer a 99.99% uptime guarantee. I know it sounds silly, but that extra .09% makes a huge difference.
Their features are very similar to other reseller’s. What sets ResellerClub apart for me is their infrastructure. They use DELL Rack Servers w/ Dual Quad Core Xeon processors, Cloudlinux and have state of the art datacenters. Their customer support is pretty good, offering a live chat service for instant responses.
Pros & Cons
+ High-quality web hosting and servers
+ Unlimited accounts
+ U.K. and U.S. server options
– Customer support can take a while to respond
VISIT RESELLERCLUB.COM (£12.49/MONTH)
Reseller Hosting: What To Look For
Uptime (How reliable the host is)
Uptime represents the period in which your website is online and available. If your website isn’t ‘up’ for your clients or website visitors, then you’re pretty screwed as you may have lost a potential customer.
Whilst you can’t control your web host’s or server’s uptime, you can choose a web host who has a good reputation for offering a solid uptime, thus a reliable web host.
Uptime should be a priority if you’re considering selling hosting to other people. If their uptime is poor due to your own web host, you’re going to look bad and I’m sure you’ll agree that isn’t the plan!
Speed
If your website doesn’t load within a few seconds, abandonment rate increases and your potential customers will go elsewhere (probably to one of your competitors whose website loads in a reasonable amount of time)!
Loading speed is essential when considering your web host; speed can affect your SEO, sales, and website traffic.
Fast loading websites will make your visitors happy, and after all, first impressions matter! If you’re keen on speed (and no, I’m not talking about the 1994 film, although that was great), then SiteGround comes up trumps.
Customer Support
If something goes wrong with your web host, this filters down to your customers, and will likely really pee them off!
Like people, technology makes mistakes too, and things won’t always run smoothly. If your clients come to you with a technical issue, you’re going to need a reliable support network to refer back to.
Customer support is a top priority for me and should be for you too. Even if you’re hosting a website on a shared hosting plan, customer service should never be snuffed.
Live chat and phone support is a must; having easy and quick access to support issues, and resolving them in an acceptable time frame is going to reassure you, and make you look better to your customers. If they receive good support, they’ll likely recommend you to others – win, win!
Reseller Hosting FAQs
How Does Reseller Hosting Actually Work?
Reseller hosting allows you to essentially run your own web hosting business. You buy web hosting servers in bulk (often allowing you a lot of resources), then sell them onto your clients for a tidy profit – nice huh?
One of the best things about reseller hosting is that it isn’t too expensive. You also won’t need to fork out for software licences, domain names, and the likes!
Reseller hosting comes with something called WHM which is Web Host Manager. This allows you to add customer accounts and manage them; you can manage admin rights and restrictions, create hosting account plans, email accounts, etc.
Can You Create Your Own Hosting Plans?
Yes, that is a mega bonus of reseller hosting, you can create anything you like! Most web hosts offer three-tier plans, but you can do whatever you see fit.
The most common approach is to offer a basic and affordable plan for simple websites and beginners, then create plans all the way up to a premium plan for customers who want more resources.
What Is WHMCS?
WHMCS is an automated billing system – it’s super easy to use and I highly recommend investing in it if your reseller hosting doesn’t include it (though most do).
It basically does everything for you, creating customer invoices and contracts, and all the boring administrative stuff no one likes to talk about.
Where Do I Start To Become A Reseller Hosting Company?
Hosting is a fundamental aspect to every website; without web hosting, a website doesn’t exist on a server, and therefore cannot be viewed or visited by people on the internet.
However, there are thousands of web hosting companies fighting for a space in the market, so the key to success is creating a unique selling point (USP).
Whether you decide to offer the cheapest hosting on the market, offer free features or a VIP experience, you need to choose what you do carefully, then jump into the pool.
Conclusion
Choosing the best reseller web host is a bit like choosing the best free website builder, it really depends on what you need it for.
For example, you may only want to resell a certain amount of hosting accounts, in which case you could opt for a cheaper reseller host with less flexibility. On the other hand, you may want to market to the masses, thus you need a flexible and unlimited reseller account.
Whether you’re a developer working on multiple websites or you want to try your hand and selling your own web hosting, reseller hosting is a great place to start your journey.