Reseller Hosting is a web hosting product that dedicates specific server resources to an administrator who can create shared hosting accounts. Reseller Hosting is typically used as a stable, affordable product for freelancers & agencies to provide to clients. It allows agencies & freelancers to generate recurring revenue via hosting, maintenance & turn-key solutions while providing clients with world-class infrastructure & technical expertise.
Check out my guide to reseller hosting companies here.
How Reseller Hosting Works
Reseller Hosting is a variation of a shared, VPS or Dedicated Hosting plan where the customer has an administrator account to create new individual hosting accounts. It is literally reselling hosting to a 3rd party.
A reseller account has specific server management software so that the administrator can dedicate specific resources to each account and bill them individually.
Imagine real-world housing for a second. Ok – imagine a house or condominium building that is leased to someone who sub-leases the rooms to individuals. Reseller hosting is like that.
The individuals could buy their own condo or rent their own house. But if they simply don’t want to deal with leasing agreements or property management – and would rather deal with their friend, then it makes more sense to sub-lease.
That analogy makes Reseller Hosting sound informal and unprofessional. It’s not. It’s actually a very common service for freelancers & agencies who have clients who don’t want to even *hear* the words FTP or DNS.
lients get hands-off hosting. Resellers get recurring revenue and a long-term relationship. Hosting companies lease servers to someone who can pay, knows what they need, and will usually be around for a while.
Reseller Hosting can be part of a shared, VPS, dedicated or cloud server. It all depends on what the customer is using it for.
What Reseller Hosting Is Used For
Reseller Hosting is typically used for running known client websites at a predictable price. With a Reseller Hosting account, the customer will know what type of websites will be on the account, so they’ll be able to allocate exactly what each site needs. Ideally, the reseller will have a strong influence over the websites on the account. They’ll be able to set the billing and manage the traffic & resource use.
If you know how many visits you receive, and how efficient your website is – then you can pay a locked-in price for those resources. And you can rebill clients for very high-value add.
For example, if an agency has 10 local business clients with only 500 visits per month each – then the agency could easily put them *all* on a $20/mo reseller account with a solid hosting company. The agency could charge $50/mo for hosting, light tech support & WordPress updates. That’s $480/mo profit for the agency. And also quite a deal for each client. You can see how this could scale – especially if you charge more, provide more value, or balance more websites on the account.
Reseller Hosting Differences
Reseller Hosting sort of exists separately from other hosting products. Here’s how it differs.
Reseller Hosting vs. Shared Hosting / VPS Hosting / Dedicated Hosting
Unlike other hosting products, Reseller Hosting accounts are built to resell part of your server’s resources in a dedicated account. You can have a Reseller Shared plan where you are reselling accounts on a shared server. You can have a Reseller VPS plan where you are reselling accounts on a dedicated allocation of a single server. And so on – the key is to know what kind of resources your business and your clients’ businesses need.
What To Look for in Reseller Hosting
Since you are paying for the type of hosting product resources, shopping for Reseller Hosting is simpler than other products in many ways.
You are really looking for –
- Server Resources (memory, bandwidth, processors, etc)
- Server Management Support (how much they’ll help with setup)
- Server, Website & Billing Software (WHMCS, domain resells, WHM, cPanel, etc)
- Data Center Location & Security Setup
- Plan Bonuses (ie, automated backups, white labeling, etc)
Reseller Hosting Providers
I’ve used quite a few hosting providers both for my own projects and for clients. Here are the main 4 companies that I’ve used & really liked. I receive customer referral fees, but all the data & opinion is based on my professional experience.
| Name | Best if you want… | Features! |
|---|---|---|
| InMotion | …great overall value, bundled reseller features, solid support. | Visit |
| SiteGround | …unique program setup w/ diverse international data centers. | Visit |
| HostGator | …great pricing, solid bundled features, and known brand. | Visit |
| Namecheap | …cheap plans with low-commitment & UK data centers. | Visit |
I also created a more in-depth best reseller hosting guide with a quiz here.
Additionally, using a reseller host will not automatically solve your clients’ website speed issues. I wrote a Beginner’s Guide to Website Speed & Performance here.
