I am basically selling 1 software product and 4 hosting packages. So I need something that is not just for hosting but for regular products.

The things that I need:

1. has to be reliable

2. has to accept recurring billing and automatically Charge the client every month without them having to do it manually.

3. simple checkout process and simple client login area.




Please let me know what you would choose and why?

If you want all this things to be included:

1. has to be reliable

2. has to accept recurring billing and automatically Charge the client every month without them having to do it manually.

3. simple checkout process and simple client login area.

And even more, then you will need to choose ModernBill. I am working with this Panel over a year and I will recommend it to anyone.

hi and thanks for this recommendation. What website are you using modernbill with?

I tried using ModernBill (now being rebranded as Parallels Plesk Billing) for two years, and finally switched away to WHMCS. WHMCS is secure and reliable, has a great feature set, adds features with every major release (and doesn't break the old ones), simpler to configure than ModernBill, and costs less - both to buy initially, and to renew support.

PPB and WHMCS both accept recurring billing (either through Paypal, or through another merchant gateway) and will charge the client monthly without your client having to do a thing.

Parallels Plesk Billing (formerly ModernBill) licenses based on how many active users you have. WHMCS charges one price for owned branded, and another for owned unbranded. There's no difference in cost based on how many active users you have.

Plesk Billing also now no longer has an owned option. This kind of stinks, since depending on product stability and flexibility you can end up paying less with owned software than with leased. (Though if you just want to test it out, or use it for a small number of clients, their 10-user demo license is apparently free. I don't know how long that demo license lasts...but it still doesn't give me any option to own rather than lease.)

Promotion codes were supposed to work in Parallels Plesk Billing v5. They didn't when I was using the product. They do work in WHMCS - you can add promotion codes, decide which products they apply to, and limit the codes by number of uses or expiry date. (You can probably do more - but I haven't explored this feature thoroughly.)

Affiliate tracking works well in WHMCS. You can track referrals, clients can get their monthly reports via email or at the site, and you can set conditions on the payout (referrals only on certain products; referred clients must remain active for a set period of time before the payout; referrals based on percentage or fixed amount.)

Emails sent out by WHMCS are fully customizable.

WHMCS generates PDF invoices - and the invoices are customizable as well (not as easily as the templates or the emails, but they are customizable.) It's a simple matter to swap in your company's logo - but other bits of the PDF, like wording, font, and layout, can also be customized with a little work.

ModernBill's team said that v5 could be used for bill people for many types of things, including software products - but last time I was on the ModernBill support forums (early 2008), people couldn't easily use it to generate one-off or variable-cost invoices for things like development, freelancing work, et cetera. It may have gotten better since Parallels bought them - I don't know, and don't care. I own an unlimited license with MB (bought it when v5 was set to launch and was demo'ed so prettily), but it's unlikely that I'll be using it. At the present time, WHMCS is just so much easier for configuration, client use, customization, upgrades...you name it.

I also have some concerns about any software acquired by Parallels. They own Plesk, and in the past six years have bought many other hosting software products (Helm, now ModernBill). I worry about product consolidation, like what happened to HomeSite once Macromedia bought Allaire (Homesite's originating company). Logically, Parallels won't need umpteen bajillion control panels, billing software solutions, et al. There may be some shakiness while they cherrypick feature sets and codebases from among their acquisitions and consolidate - or there may be the continuing compatibility problems, such as Helm's no longer working properly with SmarterMail. At any rate, I was dissatisfied with ModernBill before Parallels bought it and rebranded it as Parallels Plesk Billing. I don't have much more confidence in it now...and I've found a solution that does everything I need it to, and has plenty of room to grow.

I use ClientExec, and I couldn't be happier.

I found it is easier to configure, and my customers love it

WHMCS is good billing/support system, we been using it for over 3 years.

We recently switched to modernbill (aka PleskBilling). I've used several systems, and modernbill seems to be the most advanced, although complicated system. Honestly, their support is pretty much useless, and Ive found several small bugs in the system (purely UI bugs, nothing really as far as billing itself goes), but I still favor it over WHMAutoPilot.

However, Ive heard many good things about WHMCS. I would look into that one. The only reason we didnt use it is because there seems to be a little more control with modernbill's pricing config.

Nice post Lesli, you hit the nail on the head with many of those topics!

We used Modernbill from 1999 until 2007. I've had many conversations with Michael Fountain, and have met many of their programmers over the years. MB4 was a decent product, but when they decided to re-invent the wheel with version 5, EVERYTHING went downhill. Paralells stepped up to the plate and bought the product, but I'd not switch from where I am now - WHMCS.

Not only do we use WHMCS on our regular hosting site, but also with programming and software licencing it has some really neat features. Self sufficent in every way, and easily extended if you want. We've extended the product's API for work with reboot switches, custom reports, integration with live chat systems etc.

Matt and the rest of the team with WHMCS are VERY helpful, and as mentioned, WHMCS comes in two flavors - owned or rent. You're not penalized for being popular and having many clients. This is something that programmers need to be aware of. They've already done all the work, there's no reason to charge more just because someone makes more money (in theory)!

WHMCS is the way to go. Go direct through WHMCS or locate a reseller of the product and pay discounted rates for monthly. Easy import from various other products, and worth every penny of the low price they charge!

I still have a ModernBill license (which was transferrable under the MB structure, but now that Parallels took over, they reject our OWNED licence for transfer I'd not switch back. Bought the OWNED licence of WHMCS within a week of testing it in 2007, spent a month playing with it, and then migrated all customers in 2008. I've heard nothing but GOOD things from our customers too!

Dear I suggest use WHMCS because it is very easy to use and configure nd has Nice & Good looking template and nice features

Definitely WHMCS.

Modernbill - If you are considering modernbill, I would personally go with the v4 or v5 and not Plesk. I seen the Plesk demo and it seems to be a stripped down version of Modernbill. I'm not a fan of the interface. We used Modernbill 4 but started eying WHMCS.

WHMCS - Besides the fact that almost any hosting company you run into will use this, it is pretty darn good to use and feature packed. The automation is superb, the license is affordable, and the support is always there to assist you. However, there are a few quirks, mainly of which I notice is the difficulty implementing a few marketing schemes. Example, if you wanted to offer a few months free on the hosting, this seems to be something you have to do manually and not on order checkout. Overall, I would prefer this over the others. I haven't tried Clientexec but looking at the demo interface, it just doesn't match up to WHMCS. One ultimate plus for WHMCS is that depending on the registrar you use, the nameservers and domain contact information can be edited right from the client area using API.

We work with WHMCS, and we don't have any issues, I think it's good choice!

WHMCS hands down. It's honestly a must, so I'd recommend it. Don't take our word for it, give it a trial run and see how you like it. http://www.whmcs.com. If you're running a bit short on cash, you may decide to purchase your license from http://licensepal.com/ and it will save you $3/month

I have used both WHMCS and Modernbill v4. We use neither because both of them don't do what we need. For most folks though, I would recommend Modernbill v4.

it depends on what you need out of the system. Many users will vote whmcs, personally I dont trust its security or past record in security.

We use both CE and whmcs on a daily basis - CE is the more reliable. It also allows multi currency which whmcs doesnt at the moment. It's support system is far superior to whmcs and includes many features that kayako etc have.

Ce is also cheaper - you can get a limited client license from licensepal / licensehut etc for about $6!

Best advise? try both and see what you prefer.