I'm desperately looking to an alternative to MB and WHMCS. Ill describe what I dont like about the 2 to better explain what im looking for.

First Modernbill Dislikes:
This system is by far the best (v5.3/v5.6) When its working correctly and when parallels doesn't own it. However their are 2 problems. first parallels owns it and second its not working correctly (just tried to upgrade)

Secondly WHMCS:
This really is a "Kiddie Host" solution. I know it gets great reviews on here, But honestly i have used it and i can say the reason they are getting great reviews are: 1. Its cheap, 2. Its got support, 3. Its easy to use. But this software is really "Weak" and lacking in many areas that MB is not. Whoever designed the orderform must have been drunk. Its like the OSCommerce of the billing CP's.

What i would really like is something comparable to MB. any suggestions?

your intitled to an opinion, but WHMCS rocks in mine.

For kiddie hosts? Thanks. You just knocked 20 years off my age :p

Seriously though, what specifically do you struggle with in WHMCS?

For kiddie hosts? Thanks. You just knocked 20 years off my age :p

Seriously though, what specifically do you struggle with in WHMCS?

The whole ordering funnel and client area is so.. (trying to find the correct word) cheap feeling.

IMHO, modernbill 5.3 (not v4 or 5.6/6.0) has the absolute best ordering process/client area out of the 4 of them (referring to MB v4 / V5.6 / V6 / WHMCS)

Unfortunately, I have this bug were my 5.3 is not able to tell whether or not a domain is available for ordering, It just says "Checking Availability" and never updates. Tried contacting Parallels.. But parallels doesn't know what is wrong.



BTW I didn't mean to bash or flame anyone using WHMCS, But it really feels like a step down from MB 5.3

Well you can heavily customise the order process and client area to move away from that feeling if you spend the time on it. Personally I'm about 90% happy with it so far but the remaining 10% are cosmetic tweaks.

The fact that WHMCS is not owned by Parallels is actually it's biggest selling point ;)

in house developing is the best billing application.
Both , ModerBill (Plesk Billing) and WHMCS are not perfect.

WHMCS even doesn't support UTF8 encoding and in those years application which doesn't support UTF8 is absolutely ridiculous.

In the mean time , Plesk Billing (aka ModernBill) doesn't support multi currency.

Also , the big and major problem inside both billing application is regarding Invoice. The simple definition of Invoice says that the hosting compant received into it's bank account the money from the customer. but this is not true. it's take some period that the hosting company will receive the money into it's bank account.

The right way is to issue "transaction invoice" for the customer which doesn't count in the tax payment. only after the moeny was transfer into the hosting bank account company then the billing application need to issue regular invoice for the customer. In case that regular invoice is issue before the money goes into bank account that this means that the hosting company is paying tax before getting the money. and why to pay tax for virtual transaction that it's not 100% sure that money will enter into bank account.

so , the conclusion is that both are not perfect and I can find alot's of issues inside each one.

client area is so.. (trying to find the correct word) cheap feeling.

Customers love to see this Client Area, easy to use and understand...:)

We have been using www.awbs.com for many years, and it's very good. I can recommend it with no problem at all.

(For the front-end that customer sees.. use the "portal mode" in your configuration, so that awbs doesn't take over your whole site. This way, you can have your own web design and just use it for customer management/signup/order/customer area only.)

:)

I prefer to WHMCS. it's easey to use

I'm desperately looking to an alternative to MB and WHMCS. Ill describe what I dont like about the 2 to better explain what im looking for.

First Modernbill Dislikes:
This system is by far the best (v5.3/v5.6) When its working correctly and when parallels doesn't own it. However their are 2 problems. first parallels owns it and second its not working correctly (just tried to upgrade)

Secondly WHMCS:
This really is a "Kiddie Host" solution. I know it gets great reviews on here, But honestly i have used it and i can say the reason they are getting great reviews are: 1. Its cheap, 2. Its got support, 3. Its easy to use. But this software is really "Weak" and lacking in many areas that MB is not. Whoever designed the orderform must have been drunk. Its like the OSCommerce of the billing CP's.

What i would really like is something comparable to MB. any suggestions?

I never knew the software you used defined your age... :eek:

I've spent 2 weeks trying to customize WHMS design, there's a lack of template customization/features as WHMCS uses 'smarty' template system, everywhere tables, crappy code in templates etc etc. Also it's hard to make a custom feature, or something get done right. I wish it had something like 'codex' from wordpress :idea:

dont know why nobody mentioned it.. but ClientExec is working perfectly for us.. we are a mid-sisez web hosting company and ClientExec proved to be solid, stable and flexible.

give it a try...

http://www.newedge.com

first i want to say the we use WHMCS and we are very happy with it - it is missing some features that we know are coming like dual billing -
but the reality is every program you will look at will be missing things so you have a few choices, customize, add on, or create your own from --

Actually, I was impressed with the look and feel of ihost. It reminded me of a mixture of modern bill and whmcs.

http://www.ihostdev.com/

we have used both MB and WHMCS. Started with MB and it just didnt work, took loads of resources and was slow. WHMCS gave several issues including not billing for upgrades and others, plus i dont like their staff attitude, which i have experienced recently whist testing the software.

We currently run on AWBS and love it, the latest release is stable and everything works on it. It might not be as simple to config as WHMCS, but is far easier than MB.

I am more than happy to recommend AWBS to anyone that needs a reliable billing system. There is also CE which we are using for a new venture, the new version of it is alot better than what it was

WHMCS is what most companies use.

I like it myself

agreed that most companies use it, but still doesnt mean its the best

There are thousands of thousands web host companies, how can one conclude "WHMCS is what most companies use"?

There is no perfect billing software that suits every company, I don't like whmcs as well, simply because I don't like the look. I used to love MB in the past, but it's already discarded in my list.

There are better (that's my opinion) alernatives, like blesta, ubersmith, or even freshbooks. There is another one call V**billing (sorry forgot the full time)

Im also looking for alternative scripts to whmcs,mb and clientexec. they seem so complicated. awbs is hard to customize. im looking for a simple billing software which is not too complicated to configure and cheaper than whmcs

Definitely WHMCS. Ease of use and kiddie like appeal is what the end user looks for. Seems like you are judging it from a strictly technical prospective. My advise would be reconsider it from this point of view.

Sorry I don't have any other recommendations for you.

Blesta looks promising. clean interface.

It looks like Blesta is lacking many features that whmcs already has, like domain registration and if there's a spot for promo pricing, I didn't see it. Why take a step back??

Actually, I was impressed with the look and feel of ihost. It reminded me of a mixture of modern bill and whmcs.

http://www.ihostdev.com/

I've worked on this script a few times and find the templating system to be pretty bad. I also noticed some issues when it came to the speed of the script.

In reality their is no actual real "good" alternative to WHMCS or MB. Your best bet is to seriously consider creating or hiring someone to build you a custom solution. :agree:

It looks like Blesta is lacking many features that whmcs already has, like domain registration and if there's a spot for promo pricing, I didn't see it. Why take a step back??

Blesta does support domain registration, though we agree there is room for improvement. Coupons can be issued for promo pricing for initial purchases, and automatic recurring coupons for continuous promo pricing is on the way.

Im also looking for alternative scripts to whmcs,mb and clientexec. they seem so complicated. awbs is hard to customize. im looking for a simple billing software which is not too complicated to configure and cheaper than whmcs

whmcs is cheap depending where you get it. some datacenters only charge you a 15 dollar a month fee. and if you just buy the lifetime license its cheaper in the longrun.


you could always take a open source billing software and make your own or look how whmcs is made.

We use WHMCS for many things. Licensing of our scripts (which happen to be WHMCS modules), domain registration, hosting, dedicated servers, regular software, memberships...and even a site that is based on micropayments. It has worked out great for us. It is simple, yet advanced.

I would recommend WHMCS rather than anything else. Reliable and have most festures you need.

I believe WHMCS is teh best and most popular.. I really dont like MB.. It dosnt work properly, you can not trust!Modernbill has fallen out because they don't listen to their clients

WHM autopilot is not good.. there are a lot of bugs, issues with ordering..

ClientExec - affordable and easy in use

iPanel - I have never used Ipanel, but I have seen that some hosting companies accepts payment by using Ipanel

Tried contacting Parallels.. But parallels doesn't know what is wrong.

Hardly surprising. Most of the time they can't find their a*rse with both hands...

WHMCS works really well for us.

i have used awbs and whmcs both. but i find awbs better. the whmcs gives a different look.......it shows the customer that our script is two different, 1 for website and 1 for actual beackend. but awbs shows a totally integrated look. the new version is great. and if you can work on the templates then it is surely to give a better impression.

You have two primary choices:

1. Create your own billing solution which would most likely take many man hours to create - but then you could of course sell it on to everyone at WHT because it would be fantastic...

2. Make a compromise and use an 'off the shelf package' such as Modern Bil, WHMCS or something else.

People like software that works, is easy to understand and has good support hence why many have gone for WHMCS.

If I am not mistaken I do believe HostGator uses phpcoin. Maybe you may want to take a look at the option of phpcoin?

*edit* I think my source was mistaken, nevertheless phpcoin could be an alternative? *edit*

Why dont you guys talk about AWBS......anything wrong with it?

Why dont you guys talk about AWBS......anything wrong with it?

Yes...It's not a billing system...it's a mess. You have to use THEIR template for your ENTIRE website.

Yes...It's not a billing system...it's a mess. You have to use THEIR template for your ENTIRE website.

Actually, no you dont, you can use it as a portal just like what most people use whmcs. Really think you need to have another look at it before you start dising it. We use it and it works really well for us, have not had a single problem, but i cant say the same for whmcs which i had loads of problems with.

I thought Hostgator used ModernBill.

Anyway, ClientExec is also good and cheap compared to other systems. A lot of hosts offer it free with there reseller packages.

Thanks
Doopt

Actually, no you dont, you can use it as a portal just like what most people use whmcs. Really think you need to have another look at it before you start dising it. We use it and it works really well for us, have not had a single problem, but i cant say the same for whmcs which i had loads of problems with.

Agree. First use it. i have been using awbs and i feel it is the best in this.

try iHost, is a complete package for small hosting companies.
also you can try ClientExec.

If WHMCS, AWBS, or any of the others don't suite your needs you can develop a system from scratch. People tend to by packaged software because they know the risks of trying to create something from scratch and the associated risks. Being a long time Java Developer - I have spent most of my career being part of failed software projects, mostly because of poor requirements. I would take a look at what you are trying to do, and see if you can match those requirements to existing products and then see if you can customize to meet your needs. Unless your ticket system or billing system is going to give you a competitive edge, I would think you would be better off spending the money on marketing.

Well, developing your own script is not something I can recommend, unless you have the time and the speed.

We are currently using whmcs. I think it is nice and complete enough, even for the country we are doing hosting business more.. Greece.

We have tried iHost, but I can only recommend it for small web hosting business. Mostly for WHM resellers. We had to develop our own customer managing system to accompany iHost.

Also before concluding to WHMCS, we have tried for a month or so, almost every web hosting billing system that had a demo.
We have also tried WHMCS. We contacted them and made a special lisence for us so we can try it!

(+) The support is good. It is a working software. The price is good. It's complete enough. Good documentation. Easy to upgrade.

(-) The layout is not that good (but you can customise it). Not very fast. No new technologies as ajax domain search