Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 25 of 32
  1. #1
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    68

    Thumbs up Blesta & Hostbill

    Hi All,

    Just to starts us off who is using hostbill or blesta and likes it or dislikes?


    Since WHMCS cannot have a exploit free week lately has gotten me wondering what else is around and what is it like?


    Personally I have used Hostbill before in the past a while ago (liked it but was use to WHMCS - Like most of us) but they appear to be pumping some more effort into it now then they did a while ago.



    Just a thought.


    Zane.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jun 2009
    Location
    /
    Posts
    370
    hostbill is rich and lot of features
    BD Web Services Since 2009
    cPanel and Plesk | CloudLinux | Node.JS | SSD Server | Daily Remote Backup | North America and Europe | Money Back Guarantee
    USA | Canada | Germany

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2013
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    475
    Getting HostBill in to operational condition will cost a lot. License / Extra Modules + Migration effort.

    Those are the reason for me to still stuck with WHMCS.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    London
    Posts
    185
    I was looking into Blesta myself, but it still seems far behind WHMCS in terms of functionality. The truth is, if everyone was to switch to Hostbill attention would be turned to their exploits as it would be the most widely used.
    Jordan D - DeguWeb Ltd
    Shared cPanel hosting ~ Softaculous ~ 24x7x365 Support
    1 hour first response support guarantee, we focus on quality and not being cheap

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2006
    Posts
    939
    We use Hostbill, love it. Blesta seems too basic. HB has it's issues but they're generally resolved quite quickly, regular releases every Friday. Self updating too, so one click and you're done.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Portugal - My Paradise
    Posts
    224
    Yea, we using HBill, is a very complete system with many features.
    Blesta is Limited, too basic, lack of features.
    HB news updates every Friday.
    Blesta news updates Monthly, and only to fix bugs, if you are expecting new features, forgets.

    My opinion.
    ▄▀▄ Offshore Dedicated Servers
    ▄▀▄ Keep your privacy!
    ▄▀▄ Europe Servers with DDoS Protection
    ▄▀▄ evoluso.com / info@evoluso.com / Telegram: https://t.me/EVOLUSO

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Dallas, TX USA
    Posts
    2,812
    Quote Originally Posted by Gualter View Post
    Blesta news updates Monthly, and only to fix bugs, if you are expecting new features, forgets.

    My opinion.
    I disagree, they are working out bugs first rather than releasing new features. 3.1 will start to see new features not found in 3.0. With Blesta you get a company that's active with their userbase. The same can't be said for Hostbill.

    I honestly don't see how people can give money to a shady "company" like Hostbill.


  8. #8
    Join Date
    Oct 2012
    Location
    Portugal - My Paradise
    Posts
    224
    Quote Originally Posted by cloudrck View Post
    I honestly don't see how people can give money to a shady "company" like Hostbill.
    Maybe you have to use it ...
    ▄▀▄ Offshore Dedicated Servers
    ▄▀▄ Keep your privacy!
    ▄▀▄ Europe Servers with DDoS Protection
    ▄▀▄ evoluso.com / info@evoluso.com / Telegram: https://t.me/EVOLUSO

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Aug 2003
    Location
    Dallas, TX USA
    Posts
    2,812
    Quote Originally Posted by Gualter View Post
    Maybe you have to use it ...
    What makes you think I haven't? Because I don't agree with you?


  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    2,277
    Quote Originally Posted by Gualter View Post
    Maybe you have to use it ...
    I have used it for over 3 years now, and I used to like it before management went AWOL.

    Now I am running away as fast as I can.

  11. #11
    Quote Originally Posted by Gualter View Post
    Maybe you have to use it ...
    Using Hostbill won't change the fact that the "company" behind it is unethical, and you're risking your entire business with someone who has absolutely no problem at all to change the terms of your license agreement, has zero communication with their customers, and generally cares for you as much as you care for a pile of dirt.

    I will be the first to agree that Hostbill looks amazing, and it actually works quite well. (We have multiple unbranded licenses.) I will also be the last to ever risk my business by actually using this software to handle production data.
    We are eNom PLATINUM PLUS resellers!
    Sign up today for an eNom.com reseller account with lowest possible pricing.
    * We provide support and service to over 4275 happy eNom domain name and SSL certificate resellers!

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    127.0.0.1
    Posts
    5,732
    Personally I've never used Hostbill, but what the owner did puts me off that business. I was like you OP, however I left after the first big security exploit (Well mild) that was what made me look for a new billing system. I remember coming across Blesta, and I was looking into their 2.5.

    I gave them a try and I liked the basic 2.5, it did what was needed and I was preparing to move and I was glued to the v3.0 videos. When I got told buying 2.5 gave you a free upgrade to 3.0 that's when I fell for Blesta.

    Some people bring it down due to "Lack of modules" but it does have the basics, they are human and they love security and so they take their time to ensure it's exploit free as possible. That's why they aren't shipping modules, day by day. But if you want to move and care about your customers, you'd rather go to a securer system where you can sleep tight.

    It's all down to taking the jump off the sinking ship. But that's why I chose Blesta.

    ClientExec 5.0 Looks promising now, and they look like another good billing system to jump ship to, they have more modules as-well (I think). So you could swap Hostbill as your choice with ClientExec. I've not used their 5.0 version so I can't comment on that, but that does look impressive as-well.
    Last edited by Atlanical-Mike; 10-20-2013 at 10:01 AM.

  13. #13
    Quote Originally Posted by Zimple View Post
    Getting HostBill in to operational condition will cost a lot. License / Extra Modules + Migration effort.

    Those are the reason for me to still stuck with WHMCS.
    HostBill has a WHMCS import script so migration isn't that difficult. The license cost is not that large when you compare it to some of the other billing systems on the market like Ubersmith.

    OP: I've been using HostBill for the better part of three years now with no issue. The software is solid and works quite well.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Calgary, Alberta
    Posts
    688
    Quote Originally Posted by cloudrck View Post
    .

    I honestly don't see how people can give money to a shady "company" like Hostbill.
    Hard to give them money when they want a scanned copy of your photo id or company documents before they will even give you a quote. Reason behind it is so called large amount of fraud purchases (sure promotes the "HostBill Auto Fraud Protection" feature as a real good line of defence..)

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Posts
    2,277
    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler S View Post
    HostBill has a WHMCS import script so migration isn't that difficult. The license cost is not that large when you compare it to some of the other billing systems on the market like Ubersmith.

    OP: I've been using HostBill for the better part of three years now with no issue. The software is solid and works quite well.
    Correction, they did have an import script, but thats outdated and stopped working a long time ago.

  16. #16
    Quote Originally Posted by LV-Matt View Post
    Correction, they did have an import script, but thats outdated and stopped working a long time ago.
    Can't have been that long ago since I used it a couple months back.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    /roof/ledge
    Posts
    28,088
    Quote Originally Posted by Tyler S View Post
    The license cost is not that large when you compare it to some of the other billing systems on the market like Ubersmith.
    Which is the most expensive product on the market I believe, and not on the same level at all from what I've read. Hardly an apples to apples comparison.
    Quote Originally Posted by benj114 View Post
    Hard to give them money when they want a scanned copy of your photo id or company documents before they will even give you a quote. Reason behind it is so called large amount of fraud purchases (sure promotes the "HostBill Auto Fraud Protection" feature as a real good line of defence..)
    Good point there. Feels more like a "who's asking" kind of hurdle, or possibly a way to quote higher for more successful businesses?
    Your one stop shop for decentralization

  18. #18
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    918
    Host bill has more content, but seems to be chaotic on pricing.

    Blesta has a great foundation, but is lacking modules at this point. So depending on your needs blesta may or may not work. Updates on Blesta seem to happen on average twice a month. So far I am happy and I like the extended module for cpanel that was just released. I feel much will be added in the next 6 months. So just really depends what you need to me with Blesta.

  19. #19
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Top Secret
    Posts
    14,135
    Quote Originally Posted by bdwebservices View Post
    hostbill is rich and lot of features
    Not to mention a company that has zero plan for the future. If they did, they wouldn't be changing crap up constantly.


    Quote Originally Posted by bear View Post
    Which is the most expensive product on the market I believe, and not on the same level at all from what I've read. Hardly an apples to apples comparison.
    Correct. Uber is not hostbill, and hostbill isn't even close to uber. Uber is a much more complicated, much more expensive, much more expansive system. They're just nowhere near the same.

    Quote Originally Posted by bear View Post
    Good point there. Feels more like a "who's asking" kind of hurdle, or possibly a way to quote higher for more successful businesses?
    Yup. This is exactly why I didn't even bother with them, haven't for the past few months. You offer software, not services. If you can't put your pricing out there to begin with, then you have a problem, and a very poorly done business plan. If I have to contact you for a trial, and then give you my license, social security #, credit card, etc, no, you just lost a customer. Which is sad, because they can benefit a lot from the condition WHMCS is in right now.


    Quote Originally Posted by Silvatech View Post
    Blesta has a great foundation, but is lacking modules at this point. So depending on your needs blesta may or may not work. Updates on Blesta seem to happen on average twice a month. So far I am happy and I like the extended module for cpanel that was just released. I feel much will be added in the next 6 months. So just really depends what you need to me with Blesta.
    Blesta might be great, but when they disable core modules for a trial, not so much. I understand the purpose of a trial is to just try the product for a limited time, but I'm done spending money just to find out that you and your product doesn't work with what I need it to at the core. Wasted far too much time (and money) with CE to do that again
    Tom Whiting, WHMCS Guru extraordinaire
    Linux problems? WHMCS Problems? Give me a shout
    Check out my WHMCS Addons

  20. #20
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    127.0.0.1
    Posts
    5,732
    Quote Originally Posted by twhiting9275 View Post
    Not to mention a company that has zero plan for the future. If they did, they wouldn't be changing crap up constantly.



    Correct. Uber is not hostbill, and hostbill isn't even close to uber. Uber is a much more complicated, much more expensive, much more expansive system. They're just nowhere near the same.


    Yup. This is exactly why I didn't even bother with them, haven't for the past few months. You offer software, not services. If you can't put your pricing out there to begin with, then you have a problem, and a very poorly done business plan. If I have to contact you for a trial, and then give you my license, social security #, credit card, etc, no, you just lost a customer. Which is sad, because they can benefit a lot from the condition WHMCS is in right now.



    Blesta might be great, but when they disable core modules for a trial, not so much. I understand the purpose of a trial is to just try the product for a limited time, but I'm done spending money just to find out that you and your product doesn't work with what I need it to at the core. Wasted far too much time (and money) with CE to do that again
    They don't disable anything except the length of the license.

    Trial you get 30 days then it expires. The Demo.. however has disabled features for security reasons. I know that because I've used the trial when someone had issues installing it .

    ClientExec 5 looks so nice though, what happened before?
    Last edited by Atlanical-Mike; 10-20-2013 at 07:52 PM.

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    918
    Quote Originally Posted by twhiting9275 View Post

    Blesta might be great, but when they disable core modules for a trial, not so much. I understand the purpose of a trial is to just try the product for a limited time, but I'm done spending money just to find out that you and your product doesn't work with what I need it to at the core. Wasted far too much time (and money) with CE to do that again
    Do you mean the Demo on their website? As the 30 day trial you should be able to install any of the modules you want.

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Sep 2002
    Location
    Top Secret
    Posts
    14,135
    Quote Originally Posted by CW Mike View Post
    They don't disable anything except the length of the license.
    If that's the case, they don't make the location obvious either. I shouldn't have to dig around to find each and every little thing. I have more important things to do with my day than configure a billing client because they couldn't be bothered to
    A> put out documentation
    B> place things where they need to be so clients can find them.

    I do seem to recall reading a post on their forums where they said just the opposite, and replying to it, though someone's had some editing fun on that, it looks like.

    Quote Originally Posted by CW Mike View Post
    ClientExec 5 looks so nice though, what happened before?
    months to get registrar modules working (I don't even know if they actually are, even now), massive delays on quantum gateway modules, still no actual card processing (gotta do that one manually, even after all these years).
    Tom Whiting, WHMCS Guru extraordinaire
    Linux problems? WHMCS Problems? Give me a shout
    Check out my WHMCS Addons

  23. #23
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Posts
    918
    Quote Originally Posted by twhiting9275 View Post
    If that's the case, they don't make the location obvious either. I shouldn't have to dig around to find each and every little thing. I have more important things to do with my day than configure a billing client because they couldn't be bothered to
    A> put out documentation
    B> place things where they need to be so clients can find them.

    I do seem to recall reading a post on their forums where they said just the opposite, and replying to it, though someone's had some editing fun on that, it looks like.


    months to get registrar modules working (I don't even know if they actually are, even now), massive delays on quantum gateway modules, still no actual card processing (gotta do that one manually, even after all these years).
    Were you on the site when it was transitioning from 2.5 to 3.0? As its pretty clear after the changes were finished to the site. right on front page it has a green download now button. And to the right of that states "Free trial? Just download and select free trial during setup!"

  24. #24
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    127.0.0.1
    Posts
    5,732
    Quote Originally Posted by twhiting9275 View Post
    If that's the case, they don't make the location obvious either. I shouldn't have to dig around to find each and every little thing. I have more important things to do with my day than configure a billing client because they couldn't be bothered to
    A> put out documentation
    B> place things where they need to be so clients can find them.

    I do seem to recall reading a post on their forums where they said just the opposite, and replying to it, though someone's had some editing fun on that, it looks like.
    Yeah one person thought the trial was limited (Can't find their username or the thread anymore :l). To get the trial, you just download the zip from their website and then click the bullet point (30 day trial) on the installation.

    You can change the license key at any time. A: Documentation is in development but it's on docs.blesta.com. B: Not sure what you mean by that mate.


    Quote Originally Posted by twhiting9275 View Post
    months to get registrar modules working (I don't even know if they actually are, even now), massive delays on quantum gateway modules, still no actual card processing (gotta do that one manually, even after all these years).
    Ah I see, that would be a bit of a let down.

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    Toronto, Canada
    Posts
    501
    Hostbill between the two. Unethical company yes, but beautiful software unfortunately makes it very difficult to move to anything else as anything else is a very large downgrade. Especially for the customer end of things. SolyusVM module is a beauty, domain management is awesome, OnAPP is beautiful. It's hard to walk away from.

    I like blesta and own a license, but i don't think this comparison is very fair between the two TBH. One thing i have to say i LOVE about our hostbill install is IPAM (IP Management). It's just getting better and better. Unfortunately though at their indecisiveness these days I cannot honestly recommend HostBill and put you at risk. We're too heavily invested to walk away, but since you're not, I can try to help before making it too risky for you.

    I wake up every day, login to make sure our license still says
    License to:
    Expires: Never
    Version: 4.9.8:4525

    I'm just waiting for my "owned" license to suddenly become un-owned if that makes any sense.

    Quote Originally Posted by benj114 View Post
    Hard to give them money when they want a scanned copy of your photo id or company documents before they will even give you a quote. Reason behind it is so called large amount of fraud purchases (sure promotes the "HostBill Auto Fraud Protection" feature as a real good line of defence..)
    lmfao! Did Kris really ask you for this stuff? Please tell me you're kidding haha. I know he's lost his mind but that's too funny.

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. 1$ First Month | FREE Hostbill and Blesta Licenses & SSL Certificates | Limited Stock
    By Chris - Whitesystem in forum Reseller Hosting Offers
    Replies: 4
    Last Post: 07-18-2013, 10:37 PM
  2. OnApp Cloud | FREE Upgrade & Unlimited SSLs | FREE Unlimited Hostbill/Blesta | WHMCS
    By Chris - Whitesystem in forum Reseller Hosting Offers
    Replies: 5
    Last Post: 09-08-2011, 05:46 PM
  3. OnApp Clouds | FREE Upgrade & Unlimited SSLs | FREE Unlimited Hostbill/Blesta | WHMCS
    By Chris - Whitesystem in forum Reseller Hosting Offers
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 08-25-2011, 06:37 PM
  4. OnApp Cloud | FREE Upgrade & Unlimited SSLs | FREE Unlimited Hostbill/Blesta | WHMCSs
    By Chris - Whitesystem in forum Reseller Hosting Offers
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 08-25-2011, 06:24 PM
  5. OnApp Cloud | FREE Upgrade & Unlimited SSLs | FREE Unlimited Hostbill/Blesta | WHMCS
    By Chris - Whitesystem in forum Reseller Hosting Offers
    Replies: 1
    Last Post: 06-28-2011, 08:34 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •