On behalf of HostBill developers I'm proud to announce that HostBill is finally out!
Designed and developed based on various system administrators' feedback HB is easy to use,
fast, and great to work with, thanks to intuitive, ajax-based, interface.

Shortly about HostBill
HostBill is complete Client Management, Billing and Support Solution for web hosting Companies.
Shipped with number of integrated third-party modules can make your life easier with extended
automation features. Everything you need to run hosting company is included:

* automated provisioning
* automated billing (recurring and/or one-off)
* built-in agile and administrator's friendly ticketing system
* integrated control panels modules (like DirectAdmin or cPanel)
* integrated domain registrars modules (like enom)
* integrated payment gateways modules (for ex: PayPal, 2CO, MoneyBookers...)
* easy to customise (templates/languages are open-coded)
* multi-language
* developer friendly (catchable events, easy modules development, soon-to-be launched API)
* integrated taxes, PDF invoices, Knowledgeable, Announcement system and more


HostBill is FREE to use for 3 months or until 5 accounts created using it - begin your hosting adventure with HB


For detailed informations about HostBill please visit http://hostbillapp.com


We're looking forward to hearing feedback from you after trying out online demo.

Note: We offer free migration from current billing software.

Thank you!
HostBill Team.

I like the look of this. This looks very much like the next WHMCS. I will keep watching over the next two or three months.

Is the script zend or ioncube encoded ?

ioncube encoded

It would be great to see the trial run 10-15 customers and/or 3 months before expiration or a required upgrade. To be honest, 5 customers isn't really a great way to gauge product testing on the WHP's end, especially a new product.

Any chance of having that increased to the above mentioned limits? If so, I'd probably jump on-board and give the software a go. I've used WHMCS for almost 2 years now and I've never turned to any other software, though given a larger testing span, I'd be willing and open to do so.

Yes this billing s/w looks promising by the look of it.
it do resembles whmcs a little.
what will be the owned license price ?

thanks

Great job folks!!!... Hopefully someone would post their first hand experience after using it.:)

i am definitely sure if it's priced below CE it will generate lotsa sales

kudo

Thanks for feedback.

We are adding new features (control panels, registrars) all the time. We highly encourage to download HostBill and see how it looks.

1. We don't have owned license at the time.
2. We are 3 php developers with years of system administration knowledge.
3. Just reuest module we will deliver it very quick.

It actually looks very promising. Good job! In many ways from a structural design it is identical to WHMCS 3.x. I'd love to look at the database structure and compare similarities to WHMCS's database, but I'm sure Matt will be doing that anyway :)

Why the script doesn't support Resellerclub?

Why the script doesn't support Resellerclub?
ResellerClub module is done and as we speak is in testing phase, so stay tuned for update about its release.

Well done, looks nice

Looks nice, reminds me of WHMCS alot, guess that is a good thing for encouraging customers to migrate?

I think the interface could do with be a bit cleaner, it seems very compact and a bit difficult to work out.

Good luck with it :-)

Very very very good move. This is something like "refreshed" whmcs and works a lot of faster.
Just few months and it will grow up to very popular with a lot of modules ;]

Thanks for feedback.

We are adding new features (control panels, registrars) all the time. We highly encourage to download HostBill and see how it looks.

1. We don't have owned license at the time.
2. We are 3 php developers with years of system administration knowledge.
3. Just reuest module we will deliver it very quick.

Looks good to me.

Suggestion:

Support 3rd Party Forum Integration. Or include a basic forum system. Many WHMCS users are after a forum to use with their company site but WHMCS doesn't support it. There is an unoffical forum addon available for WHMCS butit is very basic and is like £50 a year or something.

Support 3rd Party Forum Integration or include a mini one with the script and it will have something WHMCS doesn't have then. P2H could be good too. xD

So fast. Keep up the good work.

I will definitely use this for an upcoming project!

I would be interested in using this however, the price would need to make it worthwhile for me to move.

Also, the trial period is inviting however, this should be extended to cover 3 months or 15 accounts because those who are transferring to you will probably already have the minimum amount of accounts and will therefore, have to pay straight away !

I would also, like to see how the script integrates into "normal" webpages (xhtml/php) etc.

Thanks again for your feedback guys, its very important to us.

I would also, like to see how the script integrates into "normal" webpages (xhtml/php) etc.
Please visit our blog section - there's tutorial how to create/modify clientarea template. Its pretty simple as HB is using Smarty for templating.

Support 3rd Party Forum Integration or include a mini one with the script and it will have something WHMCS doesn't have then. P2H could be good too. xD
Thanks, we will put that under consideration.

Looks nice, reminds me of WHMCS alot, guess that is a good thing for encouraging customers to migrate?
Note that HB is being shipped with 3 different (easily customisable) clientarea templates , this particular one is for customers who don't wont their customers to get confused after billing system migration.

I know it's widely accepted that copying is the highest form of flattery, so thank you for that :) but HostBill, come on, your copying of WHMCS is outright blatent! You appear to have taken a lot of inspiration from WHMCS. Actually, let me rephrase that - copied a lot of layout from WHMCS and practically all of the tables/text within it are identical...

Hello Matt, glad you've joined.
We're not interested in discussion about similarities because its pointless as both solutions are made to solve same problems and we rather want to spent this time on improving our product and making our clients happy with better features.

So if you need some new feature to HostBill please let us know.

Just for the record - have anyone ever compared whmcs database against it ancestors - whmautopilot, modernbill or clientexec even?
All products have similar databases and HostBill or WHMCS also.

Informations for current Clients and new Clients:
We are 3 developers not one man show. We care only about our customers and we are waiting for new features request.
We won't be wasting time as Matt right now talking with competition as his customers are waiting for requsted features or support.

Customers will decide what is good for them not you Matt.

I think similarities are a concern here as the question has to be raised, is Hostbill just WHMCS with a couple of extra features ?

I understand that this is a competitive market with many different scripts looking to achieve the same thing however, ethics plays a major part in our business and as such, if HostBill has copied WHMCS's source and "dressed it up a bit", then this is a breach of intellectual property rights.

Hostbill, please can you confirm that this is not the case. I have not had time to examine the directory structure of the script or the code however, would like you to confirm that none of Matt's source has been included into your script.

Thanks

Barry

Hostbill, please can you confirm that this is not the case. I have not had time to examine the directory structure of the script or the code however, would like you to confirm that none of Matt's source has been included into your script.

I'm happy to answer this question. Not sure about WHMCS, but i guess they're using lot of oldfashioned solutions since it will work on PHP4. HostBill is designed for PHP5.1 and will run only with this or higher versions. Written entirely in OOP using MVC pattern (HostBill will soon become "framework" for custom solutions for other developers who want to contribute and create their addons to it) and it is no secret that HostBill uses PDO as database handler for models and its known as fast and secure solution.

So finally: No code were taken from whmcs (it even would be hard as its source is encoded as well as HostBill is).

Hello,

Suggestion:
1. idevaffiliate integration
2. kayako integration

We're not interested in discussion about similarities because its pointless

Wow, that's quite some attitude :confused: Not sure why you're trying to imply WHMCS is a one man show - because it's not, not just 3 staff either - or imply that we don't care about our customers as they're the people who've helped make WHMCS what it is today, and for that we're all grateful.

I'm certainly not wasting my time here, and not here to have a slanging match with you, just pointing out to everyone that you have plagiarised a lot of your text & layout straight from our WHMCS software (even parts of our site aswell) and now we see you aren't denying that fact. You've clearly recognised we're doing a good thing, it's just questionable the way you've gone about it.

Not really a fan of the navigation of the admin area. I also have to agree that the client area page really shows a lot of resemblance towards WHMCS. I would personally recommend that the layouts be changed to more of a custom look. In regards to "copying", as some people stated in here. I would suggest you read the following thread at Blesta.

http://www.blesta.com/forums/showthread.php?t=255

We're not implying anything, we just summing up things which droves us to do this software.
As for simmilarities ill quote myself:
"Note that HostBill is being shipped with 3 different (easily customisable) clientarea templates ,
this particular one is for customers who don't wont their customers to get confused after billing system migration."

And as for website itself - we do share number of features cause like i wrote before - our software is designed to do
same things, just better - so on website we need to point them out.

If you view source of template which concernes you and compare it to yours you'll see that
we use tableless design and its not plagiary, its just ment to look-bit-alike for reasons mentioned earlier.

In OS we have Windows, Linux, Apple. The same in webhosting HostBill, PleskBilling, Clientexec, PawBill, Blesta and whmcs.
If someone is using SUSE Linux cannot switch to CentOS?
And to finish ill quote myself again: Customers will decide what is good for them not you Matt. We can write here a lot but you cannot change that. Period.

HB,
dont worry about what other say. stick to your bill and price it competitively. important thing is customer satisfaction and their needs.

Is there a coupon option?

Is there a coupon option?
Nope, not at the moment, but we will sure implement it in future it is just a matter of time as it is important option in hosting.

Really nice system guys, very easy to use. Will definately recommend :D

Honestly I agree with Matt/WHMCS. This system looks and acts almost identically to WHMCS - especially the back end. I find it quite surprising and immature that the developer of this product is simply writing off such opinions, considering the fact that if any of the system was copied directly from WHMCS - including text content - WHMCS would have a valid legal claim. I can't see this product being successful if it is just a "hosted" copy of WHMCS with less features.

our software is designed to do
same things, just better - so on website we need to point them out.

Judging by the demo, it doesn't seem that "HostBill" is more advanced than WHMCS by any means. It seems to be lacking many of the features powerful and useful features that WHMCS has evolved to have over the past few years.

We'll be sticking with WHMCS for now! A word of advice for the developer - your immaturity, as demonstrated on this forum, certainly does not help add credibility to your project.

Just signed up for this new billing system. I will be throwing my 2cents worth here shortly.

Honestly I agree with Matt/WHMCS. This system looks and acts almost identically to WHMCS - especially the back end. I find it quite surprising and immature that the developer of this product is simply writing off such opinions, considering the fact that if any of the system was copied directly from WHMCS - including text content - WHMCS would have a valid legal claim. I can't see this product being successful if it is just a "hosted" copy of WHMCS with less features.



Judging by the demo, it doesn't seem that "HostBill" is more advanced than WHMCS by any means. It seems to be lacking many of the features powerful and useful features that WHMCS has evolved to have over the past few years.

We'll be sticking with WHMCS for now! A word of advice for the developer - your immaturity, as demonstrated on this forum, certainly does not help add credibility to your project.

Hello,
There may be a reson for the similar look and feel; it can assist potential customers in making a seamless transition into their new product. This is both from the Customer and Client End. This is definately a product to keep an eye on, however before I even concider moving to this procuct, I would need to see it mature.

WHMCS is the product I currently know and love, it is the cornerstone of my hosting business. I have no intent in moving now as I have an Owned License.

Actually, I find the admin interface to be somewhat similar to Gmail. Regardless, I honestly don't see why anyone would switch from WHMCS, a product that is well developed and trusted by hosts large and small, to a copy of it that was just recently. Just my opinion, though.

you are pricing it at $12.95 per mth on par with WHMCS and higher than CE which I doubt anyone would buy that. Its too ex

I would think the price would have be more appealing than the current.

I would think the price would have be more appealing than the current.

Not if it supports 3rd Party Forum Software Integration or comes with a mini forum of its own. If there's neither of them though, then yes, lowering the price would get more to switch software.

Not if it supports 3rd Party Forum Software Integration or comes with a mini forum of its own. If there's neither of them though, then yes, lowering the price would get more to switch software.

If I read right, it's more directed towards hosting companies, and forums really aren't that needed for hosting companies. Not enough to justify switching your billing software.

Im happy with WHMCS. Though if HostBill had the same features as WHMCS plus had forum integration support or had a mini forum of its own (which WHMCS doesn't have) then I may well switch.

A lot of top hosts have forums where customers share info etc and it works.

Its a right PITA when a customer has to sign up to WHMCS and then sign up on the forum as well.

Congratulations to the HostBill team. We need more competition in the billing systems space. Keep up the good work. WHMCS uses outdated technology and new entrants are welcome. I have reviewed the functionality offered HostBill and we are running it in tandem - works great I encourage all to try it and especially for new hosts to use the system rather then going with WHMCS especially that those hosts can try the system to up to a few clients free of charge. Great work HostBill team!

I for one love the look. I visited the demos and they do seem to be very promising. I hope its xhtml valid and it is easy for us to integrate into our current websites :)

Just downloaded it... but it looks like there isn't any support for CentovaCast... ? :(

Does HostBill support Free Trials?

Hello again and thanks for feedback, we really appreciate this.

Just downloaded it... but it looks like there isn't any support for CentovaCast... ?
Nope, HostBill currently does not support CentovaCast, but we will put it under consideration, especially if more requests will show up.

Does HostBill support Free Trials?
What do you mean by that?

...What do you mean by that?

I think he is asking regarding the ability to let a client sign up for free for a specific trial period, i.e one month free then onto a paid package.

Does HostBill support Free Trials?
Thanks Carl for clarification. Such functionality can be obtained manually using HostBill - as for now our system does not support this automatically, but if such requests will show up more often we'll be happy to solve this problem with HostBill.