Grrr just lost like 20 min's because I had one damn link in the post!

I've been evaluating different host billing software and would like to get some feedback. Ideally i'd like to use open source software for a number of reasons which i'll list so people don't shout at me and demand I use paid software and want something for nothing.

1. It will probably be more secure since it will have a greater number of dev's auditing it's code base.
2. Will enable me to make modifications over time to suit my needs as I grow.
3. I can be more competitive in the marketplace as my overheads are lower.

I do know that there doesn't seem to be anything out there that would suit me and I am prepared to pay for the right product. I've evaluated all the products on the WHTwiki page (no link because I don't have enough posts) and also a couple of other like solidstate and logicbill.

So given my requirments what would you choose?

Required:
Cpanel/whm intergration and automatic provision.
Paypal payments
Support ticketing system
domain registation (openSRS first choice as i already have an account but eNom as second choice as i think i can get a free account right?)

Considerations:
Speed and ease of setup (i don't want to have to program 5 modules to get it working)
Cost (cheaper is better)

Does anyone think i've left any major holes in my thinking?

I'm swaying towards whois.cart as it seems to tick all the boxes (as do others) but then appears to be cheaper.

Many thanks

Why not try WHMCS - its what we use, and we can't really fault it (although we use Helm 4 rather than cPanel)

well It was one of the others that ticked the boxes but was more expensive than whois.cart, it's certainly high on my list as it's one of the cheaper rental software packages, however over the sake of £1 or $2 they are much of a muchness.

While I value the input you haven't really told me why you choose it over other products and i didn't really want to know everyone uses, rather experience using thier support or lack off and if the feature setthey will fit and or exceed my needs.

One of the reasons we use it is for its Helm 4 module. None of the other packages we looked at were giving an estimated time for supporting version 4, let alone actually having it built in. This must say something about the effort that WHMCS puts in to keeping up with recent developments and the speed in which they do it.

Everything else that i have required of WHMCS has been covered easily and without fuss - i've not actually needed to use their support system because of this (hence i can't actually provide input on this aspect).

Depends, are you using a Unix or Linux based server?

They all have their pros and cons. I have tested the main competitors scripts. It just really depends which interface you like; my developer told me Client Exec integrates and has a better API so I went with that. You can use whatever billing system/script you want.

The biggest thing in this industry to watch out for is fraud and security (I guess that goes hand in hand.)

Best,
Travis

It's linux based for what it's worth, but why do you ask almost all the "scripts" are platform inderpendant?

I've had a further look at clientexec and WHMCS and am now swinging towards clientexec as they do a deal for small web hosts which seems encoraging.

any more input?

logicbill is my choice. Test their product which is free for 10 users and the price seems to be good. Use Os Ticket for support system which is opensource.

That would bring your total cost down and you can have the investment on something other.

I would recommend ClientExec, they are coming up with a major release soon... version 3.1, which should give real competition for WHMCS.

Biju,
Last time i looked Logicbill was $130, given that i can get a copy of whois.cart for $35 or rent clientexec for a year for about $110 neither of which i'd need to intergrate a ticketing product into how is that good value?

Eastcoast,
you imply that clientexec isn't competition for WHMCS currently, but don't say why it's changing with V3.1 only that it is.

Everyone please if your going to comment (which would be great) try and justify why you use the product or why you would use it in my case.

Cpanel/whm intergration and automatic provision.

Were you actually able to find any open source billing control panels that integrate with cPanel and can automatically provision new accounts?

I would suggest you look into H-Sphere Control Panel (http://www.psoft.net) . It is a complete web hosting solution. There is no need for third party billing systems. Billing is built right into it.:D

Hsphereclub,
Sorry i did say i was cpanel exclusive.

Shaw Networks,
I think Solidstate did, they didn't have a module for opensrs tho' which turned me away, now however they are looking for a lead developer which kinda turns me off them. It's a really big shame.

Hmm, I've decided to try and live evaluate a couple of products. i know that WHMCS does a 15 day trial but does anyone know a client exec trial? while the demo is good it doesn't show you how easy it will be to template and do certain other things.

You should give a try to eJadSPM System too. It is powerful control panel system meeting most of your requirements. Here is the website www.machsol.com.