Running a web hosting business is quite lucrative, but setting it up from scratch isn’t the easiest.
The process is quite complex, and you’d have to be managing data centers to keep it running. In short, it’s a real business and would take a great deal of time and effort.
However, if you’re looking for something along the lines but don’t want to put in that crazy amount of time and effort, then I have a solution for you. It’s called reseller hosting.
The easiest explanation of reseller hosting would be – you buy enough server power (space/bandwidth) from a trusted hosting provider and then go on to offer that directly to customers as if you yourself are the web hosting provider. This way, you can sell hosting services without really owning any data centers. You’re simply utilizing the power of White Label.
And in the process, you’re also earning a significant amount of income and building a business around it. This type of business can be scaled up to an impressive level, and you can enjoy a flow of semi-passive income.
Now, there are also things you need to keep in mind while choosing a hosting provider from which you’ll buy the server resources. Some of them are discussed below.
Uptime score
Probably the very first thing that needs to be on your checklist while choosing a hosting platform, uptime score is super important. You need to choose the one that runs 24×7, built on powerful servers, and has reliable network connections.
To make things easier, you’d want to look at hosting providers that have a minimum uptime score of 99.5%. Anything below that will make things difficult for you and your customers.
Customer support
There are a lot of possibilities of things going wrong or you being stuck at some point, so having sound technical support is essential. Something that operates 24×7 and has different means of connecting, like phone, email, and live-chat, will be ideal.
An around-the-clock support system is important when you reside in a different time zone.
Maintenance
A regular maintenance routine is a must to look for in a hosting provider. They should perform timely hardware refresh, software updates, server check, and security patches.
Security
No matter how tight the security is, there will always be at least slight chances of it getting hacked or manipulated. To stand the best chance of not getting hit by it, it’s important to choose a hosting provider that puts a lot of emphasis on security.
With all that in check, let’s jump into the list.
A2Hosting
With ultra-reliable servers, A2Hosting offers a super speed service to you and your customers. Their “Turbo Servers” option helps you achieve mind-blowing 20x faster page loads, and it’s one of the best in the market.
You can expect a 99.9% uptime guarantee and a server that hardly causes any hiccups. They’ve won several awards over the years, and it’s purely because of their great service. Their servers are speed optimized, and you get the freedom to choose your desired server location, along with free SSDs.
Moreover, it’s developer-friendly and easy to use, thanks to their Web Host Manager (WHM) control panel. You get 24×7 support from a team that is highly knowledgeable and skilled enough to tackle any technical problems.
It’d be a shame if I tell you that this hosting costs an arm and a leg. Thankfully, that’s not the case. Their starting plan is as low as $9.80/month.
SiteGround
I’ve said it before, and I am going to say it again, SiteGround, in general, is one of my favorite hosting providers. I’ve been with them for years and never felt the need to switch to another company. They’re THAT good, especially their support team.
For less than $15/month, you get their reseller GoGeek hosting plan, which offers 40GB of webspace. You also get:
- Unmetered traffic
- Unlimited sites
- Unlimited email accounts
- Priority 24×7 support
- Add collaborator accounts for your members.
- Free SSL
- Cloudflare CDN integration
You can offer a complete White Label version of the hosting to your customers without any of SiteGround’s branding. Overall, there are so many more features of this hosting provider that’ll make your business a lot more rewarding.
InMotion Hosting
With free SSDs, SSL, cPanel, and WHMCS, InMotion Hosting is as good as the other ones in this list. You get free transfers, brilliant 24×7 support, and unbeatable pricing. Their entry-level costs just $15.39/month and offers 800GB of bandwidth and 80GB of disk space.
It is developer-friendly, and you get free email accounts, along with unlimited domains option and various security features. You get full control over your reseller hosting, and you can customize it as per your liking.
The great thing is, their servers are equipped with Corero’s DDoS protection and Patchman’s malware detection, so there’s not much you have to worry about in terms of security.
Namecheap
You get unmetered bandwidth, and free cPanel accounts for your reseller hosting with Namecheap. It’s easy to manage everything from one single dashboard and seamlessly set up content management systems along with creating your own nameservers.
You can also add unlimited domains and protect everything with firewalls and anti-virus software. Moreover, you can easily manage your clients’ hosting accounts with the help of Web Host Manager (WHM).
Not to mention, you can customize everything and set up your own billing platform to White Label the service. Security and speed is never an issue with Namecheap because that’s been their core focus always.
HostGator
For many years HostGator was the go-to choice for reseller hosting, but then other options came out, and it got sidelined a bit. But what’s impressive is, it’s still one of the prominent ones, and that’s why it has a place in this list.
Here are some of the many benefits of using HostGator’s reseller hosting:
- Unlimited domains and email accounts
- 99.9% uptime guaranteed
- Private nameservers based on your domain
- Free WHMCS client management and billing software
- WHS/cPanel control panel
- Developer-friendly
- 24×7 technical support
You can get started for as low as $19.95/month and set up your web hosting business.
Flywheel
You can use Flywheel to White Label and sell their services at your own prices, that too, on a recurring basis. You get your own client management area and billing system to start rolling the dice from the word go. 😉
Also, you can integrate Stripe into the billing system so that the payments go directly into your bank account. Flywheel has an amazing support staff that’ll help you in any step of the process. They’re available 24×7 to back you up.
One thing to note here is that Flywheel’s reseller hosting is available as an add-on for any of their plans. This means you’d have to pick a web hosting plan from them and then purchase the White Label add-on. The add-on costs $99/month on top of the regular hosting fees you pay.
ResellerClub
With ResellerClub’s Linux reseller hosting, you can get started for just $11.39/month when billed for three years and start your own web hosting business. It’s fairly easy to set up and manage all your sites from a single management panel.
Here are some of the main features you need to know:
- Free WHM and cPanel
- One-click app install with Softaculous Installer.
- Protected with CDN
- Unlimited email accounts
- Free migration from another hosting provider
- Unmatched server speed
Moreover, you can enjoy tough security and a support team that’s highly knowledgeable about any affairs.
Conclusion
As stated before, starting a reseller hosting business is quite profitable and surely doesn’t require any rocket science. Without a doubt, the above hosting providers are what you’ll need to choose from to get the best start to the venture.
