HI, is there any free billing software suitable for using with a hosting business,

i need something that takes in customer details, when they have paid, how much they have paid, and how long they have signed up for, it needs to tell me when they are due for a payment, or even better sends the customer and email telling them they are due, and giving them a link to pay.

I am using paypal and cpanel/whm if there is anything more specific for them.

Regards,
Mike

http://www.phpmanager.com
http://www.perlbill.com
http://www.phpbill.com
http://www.modernbill.com
http://www.clientexec.com

not quite 'free' now are they, amal?

try http://www.nixt.org

If you want to do it right I suggest perlbill - it's a great setup :)

JDT

Originally posted by munted
not quite 'free' now are they, amal?

try http://www.nixt.org


But really... you wont get anything god for free.
If you need something, pay for it. phpManager is not expensive, so it isn't that bad. If you want one that is free, create your own - it will turn out better, plus it will be free like you wanted!!

That is... if you code it. :D

I have to agree with Anjay.

Write it yourself and if you cant do that go with one like modernbill. They do offer a monthly plan if you can't afford it right at once.

Originally posted by RiotBob
I have to agree with Anjay.

Write it yourself and if you cant do that go with one like modernbill. They do offer a monthly plan if you can't afford it right at once.


*Anjay bowes as the crowds of people clap and applaud*

Firstly, welcome RiotBob!

Secondly, yes. ModernBill is nice but is very expensive. If you're new and just want to "Jump start your business today!" then I'd choose phpManager, cheap & well used. Plus, once their v2 comes out - it will be great. They are getting a new cool design, new things & new that. They're really going against ModernBill - only thing that worries me, are they going to raise their price again?!?! :cartman:

Originally posted by batcavenet
If you want to do it right I suggest perlbill - it's a great setup :)

JDT

Yeah, its a real great software for hosting companies.

The part that I am real impressed with is the fact that you can not seach for a client by his Domain name. (but thats not very important to a hosting company is it?)

Other than that its gre......, oh wait, did I mention you have to modify the script to search for your client by their name, first and last? Yeah, thats probably not that important for client management software to have, a search by name feature. Who needs that?

Other than that...oh wait there is one more thing, if a client uses the back button anytime during checkout and doesn't complete the order, the next time they return they can't even attempt to order again as the system won't let them back in because it has logged their email address and considers them an active user that already knows their username/password before thay have been approved.

But thats probably not that important either as you probably are in the business of sending your potential clients to your competetor after they find they can't even register...I know I am.

Other than that and a handful of other bugs and the fact that the knowledge base script included is virtually unusable by the end-user after "X" amount of entries have been made to it. Its a real winner.

:angry:

I don't know how the latest release is and what bugs have been fixed.
I tried to renew my license over 5 times but never received even the courtesy of a "piss off and die"

After it became apparent John was not interested in me I requested in parting the installation script as my original was lost in a local hardisk failure, but again not even a "sit on it and rotate"

You can try it though, chances are I surely am the ONLY one this has happend to and chances are similar problems will not affect you. (yeah, thats the ticket)

Be happy to change my opinion if someone would set me straight with the install script or perhaps an explination of why I am being ignored for no apparent reason.

My .02

The cheapest & best I know of is phpManager.
http://www.phpmanager.com/

It is as cheap as you will get to free. You cannot find a proper nice quality one for free, PerlBill has a lot of bugs as you heard from the above poster. I'm honestly shocked at how quickly PerlBill was released - I think John needs to sit down, and work hard and long on both PerlDesk & PerlBill; he is losing clients for the so many bugs in PerlBill & the price of PerlDesk while people don't think it's worth it.

ModernBill has plenty of features. Once you have sorted through all the features, got it all nice done - you'll have a great billing software which cost you an arm & a leg! :D

But phpManager & ModernBill are the best I think. True they are both in their own leagues, but phpManager is good for low end while for high end you cannot get better than ModernBill.
Apparently HostCMS is coming out from TaySoft soon. Dunno when, but they are planning loads of things.

Anyway - try phpManager or create your own.
I personally recommend doing your own. It may take a long time, be tough and you may think it is not worth it, but if you do not want to spend a penny; then it is!!

anyone have an experience with http://www.nixt.org ??
i am planning to use it. does it have bugs

yes very buggy...

it took several of us in the web hosting community I'm at, weks to get the older version to work.
Then the new one (2.1.1) I gave up on cause non of the fixes for old version worked for that.

Once you get it up it's pretty nice, clean and fast.

Most bugs can be worked out by viewing source code from WHM *hint hint* ;) :P

phpManager gets my vote if you just need a basic billing system, in my opinion if you need anything "bigger" then write it yourself because bigger comes with the caveat of "not exactly what I want" and "lots of extra things I don't use" (which is my opinion of Modernbill, too much stuff I don't use, too much stuff done in a way I wouldn't do it myself and too much "adjusting" I have to do myself).

For 8-95.com we're using phpManager and for Dixie we're writing our own.

hi,
is it possible that phpmanager.com is down??

Jonas Fietz

http://www.phpmanager.com/ :rolleyes:
Seems up to me.

PHPManager SUCKS!
At least version 1 sucks.

I suggest waiting for version 2, to see if they've made the corrections.

Version 1, if the phpmanager.com server is down, phpmanager will not work on your server! No matter what they say about updating the config files, it does not work. At least, it doesn't work for 90% of the people.

You can not customize any of the files. All the templates have HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE html.

Also, they said it's been encrypted, but it hasn't been. Only a very small portion of the code is encrypted it...If I wanted to, I could just edit the top about 30 lines (Info relating to connection the mysql DB, you know, host, dbname, username, password and all that stuff), and re-disribute the code for free.

If you edit 1 line, the entire script goes down.

Hopefully, they make the corrections in version 2.

I have developed my own Package/Billing/Client Management system in PHP/MySQL. As I think you need to compromize with other available features either in terms of features or money :D

So everyone is recommending phpmanager.com?

Well,
I played with the phpManager demo a little bit. It's a very simple script and side by side with nixt they are very similar. I would recommend you demo both. I was pretty sure I was going to buy phpManager but after I played with both, I held off buying phpManager.

I just realized that I may be better off writing something myself.

I don't agree with big_smooth that it sucks.
Plus, if 90% cannot use it - does this mean that the only people at the Support forums are the 10%!?! :eek:


I recommend, like Jazz, to test them both out - there are some good about both and obviously some bad about both; but try to research the bad out before hand as things like big_smooth said seem totally incorrect and incomprehensible.
90% of people do not hate phpManager. phpManager is well known here itself, and lots use it here - showing that lots & lots like it, not just 10%.

What is even funnier, is the fact that the way big_smooth wrote that, making it seem as if only 10% of people using phpManager like it! :rolleyes:

Originally posted by munted
not quite 'free' now are they, amal?

try http://www.nixt.org

Hmmm I guess free isn't always the best. Seems this site is down? I was gonna check it out but guess not.

I been using Modernbill for like a year, and couldn't be more happy.

MB rocks.. bets phpMan hands down..
like comparing apples to oranges!!!

As for Nixt.. it works great once you work out the kinks to your praticular server.
I even have a script that auto creates perlDesk accounts at signup. (if you decide to go w Nixt).

Nixt is surprisingly easy to edit templates too.. just take the form and copy into a template save as the same file name (after backing up orginal) and bam its done..

I'm a newbie to web design and I had it looking perfect w site.

But I would NOT suggest Nixt to anyone not at least half way decent in PHP ;) (Hence the reason I left it alone, any issues I cant resolve fast and theres zero support!!!)

Hi,

"MB rocks.. bets phpMan hands down..
like comparing apples to oranges!!!"

You contradicted your own statement. phpManager and Modernbill are not competiting products.

phpManager is designed for the startup webhost with little capital, hence the low cost.

ESR, did you ever get an error when you tried to craete the account in WHM? There was no errors specified in the email to the admin(admin email address you specify when setting up nixt)

I agree with Locutus and think phpManager cannot compete with ModernBill.

Hey Locutus, when will HostCMS be released?
*Has work even started? Wont this compete with MB?

Hi All

Regarding the PerlBill post above, I'd like to take a minute to address some of the concerns raised.

Originally posted by Gump
Yeah, its a real great software for hosting companies.

The part that I am real impressed with is the fact that you can not seach for a client by his Domain name. (but thats not very important to a hosting company is it?)


It is possible. You can search by 'sub-text' which is utilized for storing the domain name for client accounts.

PerlBill is not just for hosting companies, while it should fit in with the billing cycles well for hosting it can also be applied to other business models. So things like domain search and whois lookups are available, but not enabled by default.


Originally posted by Gump

Other than that its gre......, oh wait, did I mention you have to modify the script to search for your client by their name, first and last? Yeah, thats probably not that important for client management software to have, a search by name feature. Who needs that?


Not the case at all - please login to our demo (http://perlbill.com/demo.html) and go to Customers > Search.

You can search by both First Name and Surname.

Originally posted by Gump

Other than that...oh wait there is one more thing, if a client uses the back button anytime during checkout and doesn't complete the order, the next time they return they can't even attempt to order again as the system won't let them back in because it has logged their email address and considers them an active user that already knows their username/password before thay have been approved.



Not the case in 2.* - However you are correct in stating it was an issue prior to that release.

Originally posted by Gump
After it became apparent John was not interested in me I requested in parting the installation script as my original was lost in a local hardisk failure, but again not even a "sit on it and rotate"



I'm unable to do a search for your emails as I don't know what your email address, or name is from this post. You can ICQ me (108682504) or email me j.bennett@perlbill.com and I will deal with the issue.

Thanks and sorry for any confusion over email contacts.

Regards

John

There is also CBMS http://voxel.net/projects/cbms/

I used this when I first started out.

Originally posted by Locutus
"MB rocks.. beats phpMan hands down..
like comparing apples to oranges!!!"

You contradicted your own statement. phpManager and Modernbill are not competiting products.

phpManager is designed for the startup webhost with little capital, hence the low cost.

I agree totally... MB and phpmana are not even in the same playing field!!! hence the apples to oranges comment....

________________________________________

Big-smooth - yes i gotten errors for a week tha puzled me cause they where blank!!!
I added 1 line to the function.php file:
at top above all other code add
echo_request (This should at least on theroy show you where the hang up is.)

More than likely its in the package string causin the error....

_________________________________________

to get the whole string thing down I did this..

Go into "functions.php" find all the "$STRING" commands
you should see them in a certain order, follow that EXACT order when creating package strings!

Anjay, bonnmac, others...

I agree! Cheapest isn't always best. The question was for 'free' software... the listed ones weren't. That's all! :D

PS. I use phpManager personally, you'll have to go through some growing pains with it but I'm quite pleased. It's cheap enough so that if you ever find something better then you won't feel bad about cutting your losses and moving on, as I may well do :)

Originally posted by munted
Anjay, bonnmac, others...

I agree! Cheapest isn't always best. The question was for 'free' software... the listed ones weren't. That's all! :D

PS. I use phpManager personally, you'll have to go through some growing pains with it but I'm quite pleased. It's cheap enough so that if you ever find something better then you won't feel bad about cutting your losses and moving on, as I may well do :)



Yes it is true this was about free. But you also notice we all (or most) said that there were no free ones, good free ones that is - and you need one that you pay for.

.

** 'Gump' Deleted his accusations

I'm sorry, this is a ridiculous. I use BT, and do not have a dedicated IP - therefor all IPs I am on using ADSL would route to them and not directly to me, and IP's I use would not be in my name.

You say this happened shortly after my post, well, I welcome a moderator to verify my IP used on the previous post.

I did a look up on that IP and it goes to USA, Verizon. I am in the UK.

I'm sorry if you are unhappy with PerlBill, I truly am. I would like to rectify it but I still don't know who you are and this kind of false accusation is childish and I really do have better things to do with my time than go to someones LiveChat.

I will renew your service for free if you have been unanswered via email. As I said, I still don't know who you are.

Feel free to phone me, you pasted my number above.

Kind Regards

John Bennett

Well I have to say i've been a PerlBill client for about 1 and a half months now.

I have to say I looked @ and even purchased phpManager but it did not suite my needs. So I got a refund and looked into other solutions.

ModernBill is brilliant, but out of most people price range when first starting up.

I then found PerlBill and it was excellant. With the rate of PerlBill's development it could easily catch up with ModernBill. That is why I plan to stick with this despite it was only going to be an initial system I used until I got of the ground.

As far as John returning emails and calling people names, I really doubt this. I talk to John almost on a daily basis with regards to new fixes problems etc... He is always extremely helpfull. I have known him to not reply to emails and ICQ messages for a few days at times but you can hardly blame him. He is a single developer working on TWO products releasing updates and fixes regularly, I don't know of any other product that releases updates so regularly. This tell's me he is a very busy person.

Be patient. He does answer emails etc eventually but from time to time these messages can most likely be lost.

Any way, John has my vote for both PerlBill & PerlDesk.

Oh and before I go, I agree with John on the IP argument, I also use and ADSL connection with BT and as with most ISP's you get given a random IP address. There's know way of knowing if that was definately John or not. So you cannot really accuse him of anything.

John is very helpful and polite. Ive been testing all 3 billing solutions and we will probably be going with PB purely because of john being so helpful on ICQ.

I wonder how difficult it would be to setup one of these for reoccurring billing for access to a site as opposed to webhosting. Or maybe there's other billing software for that?

PerlBill is not specifically for hosting Alex042, it will work perfectly for any other type of thing - such as a subscription site.

Hmm I am now interested in trying out Nixt but there site has been up and down all day... I wonder what is the matter...

Why almost nobody likes offline billing systems?? I think it is not easy to use php-based script for companies who host more than 1000 customers/domains.

We use modernbill w/ Authorize.Net / Ensim / Enom intergration and it's the best configuration I have ever used.

PerlBill is not specifically for hosting Alex042, it will work perfectly for any other type of thing - such as a subscription site.

PerlBill is a little beyond my budget right now since my sites are still in production and not currently generating income, but I had considered customizing nixt or phpmanager unless I can find something else.

We use ModernBill / 2Co / ModernAuthorize / Enom w no problems.

I used demo for 30 days and the first mtnh of payin 15$ to learn MB well enough to start understanding how it works..

To me there is no other choice...
Its only billing software fits so prefectly w web hosting and get support and not worry if "the programs" main site is down u cant process orders.
Also you can change CC processors or revert to backup seemlessly to your clients, plus many things that would normally embarass yor company if you had to go back to client and be like "ah my Cc processor messed up I need u to enter info again"

True that - it would be nice if you didn't have to rely on your billing software's server to be up.

Hopefully phpManaged will work like this soon, although who knows. Possibly in a "later" version in v2 perhaps?

It'd be very very nice.

do know if no body heared about :
http://www.whmautopilot.com

i installed a demo lisc in less than 5 mins and i think its promised software

PHPManager v2 will probably have more features than you'd expect for such a low cost, not to mention a *nice* new design :D

Hi,

"the scripts not working when our server is down" bug was fixed several weeks ago.

if our server is down, the scripts will still function.

Regards,

Locutus

Yes they have, and phpmanager has some pretty good support.
I would recommend them.


Originally posted by Locutus
Hi,

"the scripts not working when our server is down" bug was fixed several weeks ago.

if our server is down, the scripts will still function.

Regards,

Locutus

I don't think anything can top Modernbill

What about http://ubersmith.com ?

I haven't heard of 1 person actually using uber...

I dont have any idea on it if it is worht the money, but seems higher than MB (didn't think that was possible ;) )

ubersmith.com!!!

to use the script for my 7000 domains i have to pay $9,540 ???

waaaaaaaawwwwwww

Well i just tried the alpha of phpManager and it looks real good (similar to another service ;P) but a nice improvement.

I did find the colours to bright, but i'm sure it's fully customizable, so that should be the least of my worries.

It seems that phpManager is really taking the streaks here.
It seems to be the cheapest of its kind - and the cheapest for the amount of features. All the others cost a lot more, and apparently phpManager v2 will not be too pricey, and will have different pricing systems allowing small companies to start up too.

I'm not sure if I misunderstood the forums for phpManager, but apparently there will be a free version which is exactly the same only with this you cannot custermize and you can only have 10 clients - but either way, if you don't have $50 or so for the script, it seems like a great idea as you then really can test phpManager out perfectly without hassle or worries.


I really look forward to v2, if it is as good as it is hyped out to be, I'll definately purchase it.

I've noticed that a lot of these billing systems include a client panel for the user to make payments; is this usually (specifically looking at PerlBill and ModernBill) an optional thing such as if the user needs to make changes to their payment method? I'd like to keep things simple for customers and automatically do recurring payments. I don't want to do recurring payments with the card processors directly since I may want to modify the billing day/offer credit for one reason or another. Any input would be appreciated.