New year, new hustle: are you looking to become a reseller web host?
Reseller hosting is a great way to start your own web hosting business without investing a lot of money. But to get started as a reseller, you will have to find a primary hosting company.
Throughout my decade in the corporate world, I’ve familiarized myself with each web hosting provider on this list time and time again.
Furthermore, the TYB team has conducted extensive research on each of these hosting providers, including:
- Independent lab testing
- Researching third-party reviews
- Exploring company history and mission
With that background in tow, I’ve ranked and reviewed the best reseller hosting software based on affordability, unique features, pros, and cons.
Our Top Reseller Web Hosting Picks for 2023
A Small Orange may not offer some of the major-scale plans of other reseller hosting services, but its level of customer service and quality care makes up for it.
We chose this provider because of its live, 24/7 customer service chat, as well as its affordable price plans.
Both of these factors make it a great option for beginners in the reseller hosting business.
Check out our A Small Orange review for our in-depth look at the product.
Key Features
- 99.9% Uptime Guarantee with daily backups
- Reseller WHM dashboard allows you to manage the back end of your servers
- Intel Xeon E5 Dual Hex Core processors
- 15x performance with fast SSD servers
- Live online customer support chat available 24/7/365
- Email access included, along with spam and virus filters, list creation, forwarding, etc
- Script installer to make setup smooth
Pricing Plans
A Small Orange offers small, medium, and large pricing plans.
The small plan is ideal for beginners. It comes with 20 GB of storage and 250 GB of bandwidth to help you host up to 30 sites, at a rate of $31.99/month.
ASO recommends the medium plan for businesses “who want to migrate customers to a quality host.” As such, it comes with 25 GB of storage and 500 GB of bandwidth to host up to 50 websites at $44.99/mo.
Finally, the large plan is great for growing designers and agencies, due to its 50 GB of storage and 1500 GB of bandwidth which can host up to 100 sites at $63.99/mo.
Pros
- Highly affordable price plans
- Free domain after 12 months of purchasing any reseller plan
- Strong uptime guarantee
Cons
- No Windows-based servers
- 24/7 support doesn't include telephone, only chat
FatCow’s reseller hosting plan offers great value at an average price point.
With their WholesalePlus Program, you can completely control and monitor the hosting experience without having to deal with server management.
The sites are hosted on an unbranded interface, which you can then brand yourself to represent your company.
Key Features
- 24/7 customer support
- Centralized management system for client sites
- Customizable control panel
- Branded email access
- Options for a private server name
- Simple setup process
Pricing Plans
FatCow offers the WholesalePlus Program for resellers.
This plan is $49.95/year.
Upon purchase, resellers receive major discounts on web hosting, domain registration, and more.
These discounts are what allow you to purchase and resell web services while still making a profit.
Furthermore, your responsibilities as a reseller will be left to technical support for clients and billing.
FatCow will take care of the rest.
Pros
- Wide variety of hosting types
- Excellent uptime
- Customer service on par with other sites at 24/7/365
Cons
- Lacks Windows-based servers
Godaddy is one of the most popular domain name sellers, and offers pretty solid reseller hosting plans too.
Their packages are feature-rich, cost-effective, and easy to use.
With reseller hosting, customers can manage multiple websites using one control panel and also customize their reseller hosting plans as per their requirements.
Godaddy’s services also allow resellers to resell not just hosting services, but also domain names, applications, SSL certificates, and other web-hosting-related services.
Key Features
- Includes Windows-based shared web servers, along with Linux
- Email integration with Microsoft apps
- 24/7 customer service
- Website-building software included
- Free domain name with signup longer than 12 months
- Upgrades and customizations available
Pricing Plans
GoDaddy offers multiple web hosting pricing plans, but their Deluxe plan is most relevant for reseller hosting.
This plan is $9.99/month and offers one free domain, SSL, email, unmetered bandwidth, a 1-click WordPress install, and 3 Microsoft 365 mailboxes, all for 10 sites and 50 GB of storage.
Not to mention unlimited SSL for all hosted websites!
Pros
- Shared servers for both Windows and Linux
- Many offerings in their Deluxe price plan
- Excellent customer service
- Easy WordPress install
- Excellent customer support
- SSL certificates included
Cons
- Minimal mail availability
- Pricing plans are limited
InMotion has a larger-than-usual variety of web hosting services, including robust offerings for reseller hosting.
The reliability of service and value of pricing plans made this provider a shoo-in for our best reseller hosting options.
Key Features
- Six different reseller hosting plans
- Unlimited domains for certain plans
- Options to buy SSL certificates
- 99.99% uptime (three site replicas are stored to ensure no disruption)
- Free migrations and site transfers
Pricing Plans
The most optimal pricing plans for reseller hosting are in the VPS Hosting category.
These plans are highly customizable and allow you to enter how long you’d like to subscribe to find the best fit for you.
The plans range from $20 to $60 per month, with additions per $20 such as # of sites, amount of RAM and SSD storage, and dedicated IPs.
Pros
- Packages contain unique offerings like website transfer and cPanel licenses
- Fantastic uptime
- Unlimited email on all plans
- Money-back guarantee
Cons
- Pricey, with some plans lacking month-to-month options No Windows servers
- No Windows servers
A2 offers a plethora of beautifully customizable reseller hosting plans designed to fit your needs as best as possible.
They set up the reseller to manage only technical support and billing, then go even further to offer client management systems to help with this side of reseller hosting.
Key Features
- Help getting started for the absolute beginner
- Assistance with client management
- Excellent hosting speed
- High security levels
- Easy setup
Pricing Plans
There are literally dozens of pricing plans available on A2, so you’re more than likely to find some to suit your web hosting needs.
A2 offers shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting options.
Each of these hosting options contains customizable and specific packages according to your needs, all at fairly normal-high price points.
These packages also come with a lot of guaranteed features you might not always see, such as cPanel controls and SSL certificates.
Pros
- Variety in price plan
- Solid uptime
- Excellent for WordPress hosts
Cons
- On the pricier side
- Not as Windows friendly as other reseller hosting providers such as GoDaddy
Dreamhost is a web hosting business that allows users to resell under any of their hosting plans.
Their VPS (Virtual Private Server) hosting option is great for individuals looking to start a reseller hosting operation.
Dreamhost is so easy to use and offers such affordable hosting plans that we consider it one of the best reseller hosting options out there.
Key Features
- Unlimited sites on VPS plan
- 1-click WordPress installation
- 24/7 support
- Control panel to update site information
- SSDs on any plan
Pricing Plans
While Dreamhost offers multiple pricing plans, their VPS plan is the only option that accommodates reseller hosting.
That’s because this is the only plan that offers more than one website.
In fact, it offers unlimited sites!
The plan also boasts easy domain additions, unlimited web traffic, unmetered bandwidth, 30 GB of storage, and unlimited email.
This start at $13.75/month.
Pros
- Unlimited email (uncommon among many hosting services for resellers)
- Reasonable price point
- Aspects like 24/7 support, control panel, and 1-click WordPress install mean this package is great for beginner web hosts
- 97-day Money-Back Guarantee
Cons
- No re-branding
- Limited packages for advanced resellers
This web hosting service offers an extra-large variety of hosting plans, some tailored specifically to reseller hosting.
Their site also includes a thorough Q&A section to help you decide which plan is best for your purposes.
Their reseller plans are convenient because they’re laden with features to make the reseller process easier, such as software for billing and client management.
It’s one of the best reseller hosting sites we can think of.
Key Features
- WHM (WebHost Manager, control board for your Virtual Private Server)
- Billing software automatically installed
- Promised scalability
- Unlimited websites
- SSL certificates
Pricing Plans
HostGator offers three different reseller hosting plans: Aluminum, Copper, and Silver.
The main differences between these plans are the disk space offered and the bandwidth.
As a complete beginner who’s only looking to host a few websites, the Aluminum plan is a great option as it comes with unlimited sites and ensured security through an SSL package.
The more sites you want to host, the more you can scale up.
The introductory offers on these plans range from only $19.95/mo to $24.95/mo.
Pros
- Reliable and high uptime
- 24/7 customer support
- Informative and thorough plans and Q&As for beginners
- Good offerings for shaped and VPS hosting
- Affordable plans
Cons
- Windows server option not guaranteed
Shared hosting can be a great option for web hosts, particularly if you’re just starting and would prefer to opt for a more affordable and basic hosting form.
Shared hosting means that multiple websites run on one physical web server — thus, they share it.
Because these sites use the same bandwidth, database, and storage resources, this option is wallet-friendly.
This hosting method doesn’t always make for the fastest-running sites, but it’s a sensible option for web hosts or reseller hosts looking to run a handful of simple, small-scale websites.
Here’s a quick look at the best shared hosting providers.
HostGator
HostGator is a stellar option for beginner or small-scale web hosts because of its reliability in basic features like Uptime and WordPress installation.
Their packages are all-encompassing, offering a major bang for your buck at cheap prices like $2.78/month for shared hosting.
Finally, if you have an existing site but want to manage more, you can easily transfer any current sites to HostGator.
The comprehensive nature of their packages and the exceptionally cheap price plans puts this web hosting company at the top of our list.
Dreamhost
Dreamhost, like HostGator, has a great reputation in both services offered and the cost per plan.
DreamHost is especially great for WordPress hosting, as their plans come with a 1-click WP installation as well as a WP firewall for extra site security.
The shared starter plan is very affordable at only $2.59/month for a 36-month term.
They especially stand out because their renewal fees don’t increase — they’ll be the same as the deal you receive on your introductory offer.
This is of great value because their plans include a domain name, unlimited traffic, and a highly-ranked site speed.
These benefits ultimately end up leaving your shared server functioning more like a VPS server.
Best Dedicated Web Hosting Services
If you stumbled across this article looking for a server of your own, you may have thought you’re in the wrong place…
But think again!
We’ll quickly discuss some of the best options for dedicated web hosting services, just to make this article as comprehensive and informative as possible.
Dedicated web hosting is a hosting option where each paying customer receives a physical server to run their site (or sites).
Thus, the site owner can work to optimize the server to their own requirements without having to worry about coexisting with other websites.
This is a pricier option but comes with worthy benefits like extra speed and optimization options.
Godaddy
Godaddy offers a few options for dedicated web hosting, including SSD NVMe plans for increased speed and slightly more affordable HDD plans.
You can add managed support to any of these plans.
The managed support provides services from the Godaddy team to help you set up and maintain your site, like Firewall configuration, optimization for Apache and MySQL, and server hardening.
Help with these technical aspects of site-building comes with an added cost, but for a first-time dedicated web host user, it’s probably worth it.
On the flip side, if you’re looking to manage your host servers yourself, you have the option to do so at an affordable price.
All of Godaddy’s plans are on Intel Xeon-D servers, with global data centers in either Europe or the United States.
Liquid Web
Liquid Web’s dedicated server hosting services are managed in real-time.
They offer multiple data centers in Central and Western United States, as well as in Amsterdam, so you can choose the center nearest to your major audience.
Liquid Web is an excellent option because they offer customizability.
Even though they have multiple comprehensive packages, they also offer the option to chat with a hosting advisor to come up with the best hosting route for your business, site, or project.
What Are Reseller Hosting Plans?
Online business is, and has been, facing a major boom.
The result? More people need websites.
This is how reseller hosting was born: increased demand for websites, and people who know how to run them.
Reseller hosting plans are available as a business option for people who want to offer web hosting at a profit, without having to manage the technical side themselves.
Becoming a web host reseller is a fairly low-cost and simple process to begin.
- Individuals or companies can purchase hosting space (bandwidth, hard drive space) from larger host companies.
- Then, they can resell them at whatever price they choose.
- Resellers then manage their clients’ accounts and create packages for them.
- Sometimes, they can opt to rebrand their host site to represent their own company.
This can save them money because they don’t have to buy the hardware or software that is needed to run their websites.
Who Uses Reseller Host Sites?
Reselling host sites is a great business option for people already in contact with clients who need websites, like web designers or digital marketing agencies.
If they can offer web host space, there’s no need to outsource, which means more capital for them.
Reseller host sites also allow access to better features and more storage space than individual hosting plans, making reseller hosting a great choice for anyone with multiple websites or heavier traffic.
What To Look For In a Reseller Web Hosting Provider?
Choosing the right reseller hosting plan for your business can be quite a daunting task, especially if you’re just jumping on the bandwagon.
You want to make sure that you’re getting a reliable provider, not spending too much, and gaining features that are necessary for your business needs.
Here are some of the key factors to consider when searching for reseller hosting plans.
Good Pricing Plans
The cost will vary depending on the reseller web hosting provider, so it’s important to compare prices between different resellers before making any decisions.
Prices also often change depending on deals and industry demand, so make sure you’re frequently watching larger companies’ price packages to stay up-to-date.
The better a deal you can strike on the web space, the more profit you’ll gain when you start working with clients.
Great Customer Service
It’s always a good idea to find out what kind of customer support is offered by resellers as this could be crucial in case something goes wrong with your website or service.
Many individuals who opt for reseller hosting as a business plan don’t know much about the technical server side of running a website.
This is why it’s important to ensure you can maintain contact with experts.
You’ll potentially need their help satisfying your clients, so look for sites with 24/7 customer support. Don’t forget to check reviews for an idea of the quality of that customer support.
Uptime Monitoring
As a reseller, you’ll be hosting multiple websites.
You need to make sure that your host company has a reliable uptime monitoring service in place so that your websites are accessible and running as much as possible — ideally, always.
Uptime is important for any website because it ensures the site stays online more often than not.
This is essential for the obvious reason of wanting people to be able to visit your site — but did you know, it’s also really important for SEO (search engine optimization) purposes?
If your site frequently experiences downtime, it’ll make it harder for search engines to index your site. This could prevent it from appearing on SERPs (search engine results pages)
Look for resellers that offer at least 99.9% uptime. Anything lower than this could mean unreliable service and lost clients.
Fast Hosting
Speed is crucial when it comes to reseller hosting.
You want a host that can promise fast loading times for your sites.
Keep in mind that unlimited bandwidth or storage might not actually result in faster speeds due to their shared server setup.
Unlimited bandwidth is great for smaller websites, but if you’re running a site that will get hundreds of thousands of clicks per day, maybe opt for a dedicated server.
Dedicated servers have more powerful hardware and concentrated bandwidth that ensure top-notch performance.
In Conclusion,
Choosing reseller web hosting is a great way to make extra money on the side while running your own business.
It’s important to research and compare reseller hosting plans before making a decision.
There are many factors to consider in order to ensure an effortless transition, such as uptime monitoring, customer service, pricing plans, and speed.
Only you know what’s best for your purposes.
Doing this research will help you to make an informed decision when selecting the reseller hosting plan that best suits your business needs.
We hope this list gave you a place to start!
Good luck!
Reseller Web Hosting Service FAQ
Different needs call for different reseller hosts, but we can say for sure that HostGator, Inmotion, and Godaddy offer such a wide variety of reseller options that you’re sure to discover the right fit for your business plan.
Reseller web hosting is a for-profit business model that involves buying web host space from a large company, then reselling that space to clients at a profit.
There are multiple types of web servers and host plans that can execute this model depending on the needs of the client.
Like any business plan, it’s important to set goals and identify your target client’s site needs.
For a basic idea of starting a business from home, check out this article by Hanna Kim.
With that information, it should be fairly simple to choose a web hosting provider to rent web space.
From there, you can decide whether you want to brand and what additional services you can offer with your web space, if any.
These are all necessary business aspects you’ll need to eventually finalize your offerings and start promoting your company.
Reseller hosting is reliably lucrative because it requires less investment than traditional web hosting.
If you’re willing to run a business, reseller hosting is a great option due to the ease of setting up, minimal technical involvement, and potential for massive returns.
If you’re looking to start a business and are interested in web-related fields, we don’t see a reason why you shouldn’t!
Web hosting is a recent development in the realm of online businesses, but we don’t see it going anywhere soon.
The relative ease and DIY nature of starting a reseller web host business have major appeal for people who want to work independently and make a profit.
We know the demand for online jobs is continuously growing, and more and more people want to become their own boss.
Whether your background is web-related or not, if you have a passion for being online and the self-starting drive required to start a business, we’d encourage you to go for it.
