Reseller hosting is a type of hosting that lets you sell web hosting under your own brand using another company's servers.
Reseller hosting is a wholesale hosting account. You rent a share of a server from a hosting company, divide it into smaller hosting accounts and sell or give those accounts to your own clients. The hosting company runs and maintains the hardware, while you handle your customers, pricing and branding.
A typical example is a web design agency that builds sites for 30 local businesses. Instead of each client buying hosting separately, the agency hosts them all on one reseller plan, gives each client their own login and bills them for hosting along with maintenance.
How reseller hosting works
Most reseller hosting is built on cPanel and WHM (Web Host Manager):
- The host gives you a WHM login with a set amount of disk space, bandwidth and accounts.
- In WHM you create packages, such as "Basic" and "Pro", each with its own limits.
- You create a separate cPanel account for each client and assign a package.
- Each client logs in to their own cPanel, sees only their own sites and email, and can't touch anyone else's.
- You can often brand the control panel and use your own nameservers, so clients see your business name rather than the host's.
Many resellers also use billing software to take payments and set up accounts automatically.
Reseller hosting vs shared hosting
- Shared hosting gives you one cPanel account. You can usually host several websites in it, but they share the same login, files and limits.
- Reseller hosting gives you WHM on top, so you can split resources into many isolated cPanel accounts, each with its own login and limits.
If you only manage your own sites, shared hosting with multiple websites is usually simpler. Reseller hosting makes sense when other people need their own separate accounts.
Reseller hosting vs VPS
A VPS gives you a whole virtual server with dedicated resources and root access, but you, or a managed provider, look after the server software. Reseller hosting keeps server maintenance with the host. Agencies often start on reseller hosting and move to a VPS when they need more control.
Who reseller hosting suits
- Web designers and agencies hosting client sites
- Freelancers offering hosting as part of a maintenance package
- Small businesses that want to start a hosting brand without running servers
Things to check before choosing reseller hosting
- Support: your clients will come to you first, so you need a host that answers you quickly.
- Isolation: one client's busy site shouldn't slow down the others. Look for per-account limits.
- Backups: check how often they run and whether clients can restore their own.
- Branding: whether you can use custom nameservers and a white-label panel.
- Your responsibility: you'll be the first line of support, billing and abuse handling for your clients.