What Exactly is Reseller Hosting? Fully Explained
Reseller Hosting is a website hosting product which allocates server resources to an administrator that can create shared hosting accounts. Reseller Hosting is a product that freelancers and agencies can offer to their clients. It is stable and affordable. This allows freelancers and agencies to make recurring income through hosting, maintenance, and turn-key solutions. Clients are provided with technical expertise and world-class infrastructure.
See my guide to reseller hosting here.
How Reseller Hosting Works
Reseller Hosting can be described as a variant of a shared or VPS plan. The customer is granted an administrator account that allows them to create individual hosting accounts. This is essentially reselling hosting to third parties.
Reseller accounts have specific server management software that allows the administrator to dedicate resources to each account and then bill them individually.
For a second, imagine real-world housing. Okay, now imagine a condo or house that’s leased to someone who subleases rooms to others. This is what reseller hosting looks like.
They could rent or buy a condo. If they don’t want or need to manage property leasing, or are unable to handle it themselves, sub-leasing might be a better option.
This analogy makes Reseller Hosting seem informal and unprofessional. It’s not. This is a common service that freelancers and agencies offer to clients who aren’t interested in hearing the words FTP/DNS.
Clients get hands-off hosting. Resellers enjoy recurring revenue and long-term relationships. Hosting companies lease servers to someone who is able to pay, understands what they need and will be available for a while.
Reseller Hosting is available as part of a shared, VPS or dedicated cloud service. It all depends on the purpose of the customer.
What is Reseller Hosting Used For?
Reseller hosting is used to manage websites for clients at a fixed price. A Reseller Hosting account allows customers to know the type of websites that will be included in the account so they can allocate the appropriate resources. The reseller should have strong control over the websites in the account. They will be able set the billing and manage traffic & resource usage.
You can set a fixed price for the resources you need if you know how many visitors you get and how efficient your website works. You can also rebill clients to get very high-value added.
If an agency has 10 local clients and receives 500 visits per month, it could easily set them all up on a $20/mo account with a reliable hosting company. An agency could charge $50/mo hosting, technical support and WordPress updates. This is $480/mo profit to the agency. This is a great deal for each client. This is how you can scale, especially if your charges are higher, offer more value or balance more websites.
Reseller Hosting Differences
Reseller Hosting is a separate product from other hosting products. Here are the differences.
Reseller Hosting vs. Reseller Hosting vs.
Reseller Hosting accounts allow you to resell a portion of your server’s resources, unlike other hosting products. A Reseller Shared plan allows you to resell accounts on a shared host. A Reseller VPS plan allows you to resell accounts on a specific allocation of one server. You can do this by knowing what resources you and your clients need.
What to Look For in Reseller Hosting
Reseller Hosting is easier than other products because you only pay for the hosting resources.
What are you really looking for?
- Server Resources (memory, bandwidth, processors, etc)
- Server Management Support (how they can help with setup)
- Server, Website, and Billing Software (WHMCS domain reseller WHM, cPanel etc.
- Data Center Location and Security Setup
- Plan bonuses (i.e. automated backups, white-labeling, etc.)
Reseller Hosting Providers
I have used many hosting companies for both my projects and those of clients. These are the top 4 companies I have used and really enjoyed. Although I do receive referral fees from customers, all data and opinions are based on my professional experience.
| Name | If you really want… | Features! |
| InMotion | Great overall value, great reseller features, and solid support. | Visit |
| SiteGround | …unique program setup w/ diverse international data centers. | Visit |
| HostGator | Great pricing, solid features, and a well-known brand. | Visit |
| Namecheap | Low-commitment plans available with UK data centers. | Visit |
A more detailed best reseller hosting guide was also created with a quiz.
A reseller host won’t solve all your clients’ speed problems. You can find my Beginner’s Guide to Website Performance & Speed here.
