ChatGPT answers, unedited

For 25 client websites, I’d structure this as one reseller hosting account + one billing/provisioning platform, with each client getting their own hosting account and invoice.

My recommendation: cPanel/WHM + WHMCS

whmcs.com is the safest choice if you want mature automation.

• cPanel/WHM gives you separate cPanel accounts for each client, rather than putting all 25 sites into one account. cPanel & WHM Documentation
• WHMCS handles separate customers, invoices, recurring subscriptions, payment collection, provisioning, suspension, renewals, and support.
• WHMCS has direct cPanel integration and can even track/bill reseller accounts based on the number of cPanel accounts they create. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Documentation
• This gives you a clean setup where Client A cannot see Client B's hosting account, while you retain centralized administration.

The other serious option: Blesta

blesta.com is worth considering if you want a leaner billing system and potentially lower licensing costs.

Plesk and Blesta both integrate with the major hosting control panels, but Plesk itself does not include a billing system; it relies on integrations such as WHMCS or Blesta. Plesk

What I'd actually build

Your company
→ WHMCS
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ 25 individual cPanel accounts
→ each client has their own login, resources, backups and billing

I'd also keep domains and hosting as separate line items/products in WHMCS. That makes it easy later to charge something like:

• Hosting: $X/month
• Maintenance: $Y/month
• Domain: $Z/year
• Backups: $X/month
• Additional storage: $X/month

If you're only hosting your existing 25 clients and don't intend to become a public hosting reseller, you don't necessarily need a complicated reseller-hosting business setup. A managed VPS with cPanel/WHM + WHMCS can give you considerably more control.

If you tell me (1) whether the sites are mostly WordPress, (2) roughly how much traffic/storage they use, and (3) whether clients need to log in and pay their own invoices, I can recommend the specific hosting architecture and 2–3 providers I'd shortlist for 25 sites.

For 25 client websites, I’d look at WHMCS and Blesta first. The key distinction is whether you want a full hosting-reseller operation or simply separate billing for each website/client.

My shortlist

Blesta would be my starting point for your situation.

Blesta gives you recurring invoices, automatic payments, client portals, provisioning, support tickets, domains, and hosting integrations in one self-hosted system. It also supports multi-company, so if you eventually operate multiple brands, each can have separate branding, gateways, currencies, taxes, and email templates from one installation. Blesta Blesta

Its current pricing is $17.95/month branded or $20.95/month unbranded, with unlimited clients and staff. Blesta

Where WHMCS makes more sense

If your plan is to turn this into a genuine reseller-hosting business, I'd seriously consider WHMCS. It has particularly strong cPanel/WHM integration and can automatically provision, suspend, synchronize, and bill hosting accounts. WHMCS can even track the number of cPanel accounts under a reseller and add usage charges to the reseller's renewal invoice. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Documentation

Current WHMCS pricing puts the Growth plan at $25/month for up to 100 active clients, while the higher tiers scale to 300, 1,000, 2,500, etc. WHMCS

What I'd build for 25 sites

If you're a web agency and the 25 sites belong to 25 separate customers, I'd structure it like:

Hosting server → cPanel/WHM → Blesta → Stripe/ACH

Each customer gets:

• Their own Blesta login
• Their own hosting service
• Their own recurring invoice
• Automatic payment
• Separate domain renewal billing
• Hosting/support tickets
• Automatic suspension for non-payment
• Ability to add services later (email, backups, maintenance, additional domains, etc.)

Blesta can provision accounts to cPanel and supports automatic recurring billing and payment processing. Blesta Blesta

If, instead, you mean you want one reseller account from a hosting provider and then want to resell 25 separate hosting accounts to your own clients, I'd lean toward WHMCS because its reseller-account and per-account billing functionality is particularly well suited to that model. WHMCS Documentation

Bottom line:

• 25 agency clients → Blesta
• Building a serious hosting/reseller business → WHMCS
• Complex enterprise hosting/billing → consider HostBill

If you tell me whether you're using cPanel, Plesk, or DirectAdmin and roughly what you want to charge each client/month, I can lay out the exact hosting + billing stack I'd use for the 25 sites.

Its current pricing is $17.95/month branded or $20.95/month unbranded, with unlimited clients and staff. Blesta

Where WHMCS makes more sense

If your plan is to turn this into a genuine reseller-hosting business, I'd seriously consider WHMCS. It has particularly strong cPanel/WHM integration and can automatically provision, suspend, synchronize, and bill hosting accounts. WHMCS can even track the number of cPanel accounts under a reseller and add usage charges to the reseller's renewal invoice.

Current WHMCS pricing puts the Growth plan at $25/month for up to 100 active clients, while the higher tiers scale to 300, 1,000, 2,500, etc.

What I'd build for 25 sites

If you're a web agency and the 25 sites belong to 25 separate customers, I'd structure it like:

Hosting server → cPanel/WHM → Blesta → Stripe/ACH

Each customer gets:

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have separate billing, login, hosting resources, and easy offboarding, I’d structure it as:

Recommended stack

cPanel & WHM + WHMCS

• cPanel & WHM = actually hosts and isolates the websites.
• WHMCS = client portal, invoices, recurring billing, provisioning, suspensions, support, etc.
• Give each client their own cPanel account rather than putting all 25 sites under one account. cPanel supports reseller-owned accounts with separate permissions and resource limits. cPanel & WHM Documentation cPanel & WHM Documentation
• WHMCS can automatically create, suspend, modify, and terminate hosting accounts and provides a client portal/SSO. WHMCS WHMCS Documentation
• If you charge based on number of sites/accounts, WHMCS can track sub-accounts and add usage charges to the client's recurring invoice. WHMCS Documentation

How I'd set up your 25 clients

Your agency
│
├── WHMCS
│   ├── Client A → invoice → cPanel account A
│   ├── Client B → invoice → cPanel account B
│   ├── Client C → invoice → cPanel account C
│   └── ...25 clients
│
└── cPanel/WHM server
    ├── account-a.com
    ├── account-b.com
    ├── account-c.com
    └── ...25 separate accounts

That gives you a clean separation between your agency, the hosting infrastructure, and each customer's billing/account.

What about Plesk?

Plesk + WHMCS is the main alternative I'd consider. Plesk supports reseller plans and WHMCS has an official integration, including provisioning and usage/metric billing. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Apps and Integrations

Plesk is particularly interesting if you need both Windows and Linux hosting or want its broader server/WordPress management environment. Plesk itself doesn't include a billing system, so you'd still pair it with WHMCS, Blesta, or another billing platform. Plesk Support

My practical choice

For a 25-site agency, I'd start with cPanel/WHM + WHMCS unless you have a specific reason to use Plesk. The important part is not buying a generic "reseller hosting" package; you want a setup where each client is a distinct hosting account and WHMCS owns the billing relationship.

If by "separate billing" you mean you want to resell hosting under your brand while the underlying host bills you one wholesale invoice, that's a slightly different architecture—and I can lay out the lowest-cost setup for 25 sites, including which reseller providers to consider.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick Blesta + cPanel/WHM unless you have a strong reason to standardize on WHMCS.

My recommendation

Blesta is probably the best fit for an agency managing ~25 sites where each client needs their own login, invoices, payment method, and hosting account.

Blesta gives you:

• Separate client accounts and client portals
• Recurring invoices and automatic payments
• Client-specific services/add-ons
• Automatic provisioning to cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, etc.
• Multiple payment gateways
• Suspension/dunning automation
• Domain billing if you want to resell domains
• Multi-company/branding capabilities if you eventually want separate brands
• Self-hosting, so the billing system remains under your control Blesta Blesta Blesta

The current Blesta license is $17.95/mo branded, $20.95/mo unbranded, or $23.95/mo Flex, with unlimited clients/staff. Blesta

Blesta vs. WHMCS

WHMCS is particularly strong if you're building a traditional hosting/reseller business. It can even bill a reseller based on the number of cPanel accounts they create, and supports usage/metric billing. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Documentation

Its current hosted pricing starts at $9.99/mo for up to 25 active clients, with Growth at $25/mo for up to 100 clients; however, the hosted Starter tier is right at your current 25-client limit. WHMCS WHMCS

How I'd structure your setup

For an agency with 25 sites, I'd do:

Your agency
→ Blesta
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ Client A / Client B / Client C / etc.

Each client gets:

• Their own Blesta login
• Their own hosting service
• Their own invoice
• Their own renewal date
• Their own payment method
• Their own cPanel account
• Optional domain/email/backup/maintenance add-ons

You can then sell packages such as:

• Website Hosting — $25/mo
• Hosting + Backups — $35/mo
• Hosting + Maintenance — $75/mo
• Hosting + Maintenance + Priority Support — $125/mo

Blesta can automate the recurring billing and provisioning, rather than you manually invoicing 25 clients every month. Blesta Blesta

Bottom line: I'd choose Blesta for your situation. If you tell me whether you're using cPanel, Plesk, or something else, and roughly what you want to charge each client per month, I can lay out the exact reseller hosting architecture and pricing model I'd use for the 25 sites.

Your agency
→ Blesta
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ Client A / Client B / Client C / etc.

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have their own hosting account, login, invoices, and billing, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM as the safest overall choice.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS + cPanel/WHM — best overall

WHMCS is purpose-built for exactly this model: client management, recurring invoices, payment collection, hosting provisioning, suspensions, upgrades, support tickets, and a client portal. It integrates directly with cPanel/WHM. WHMCS WHMCS

A typical setup would be:

• Your agency: WHMCS administrator
• Hosting server: cPanel/WHM
• 25 clients: separate cPanel accounts
• Each client: their own WHMCS login/portal
• Billing: each client gets their own recurring subscription/invoices
• You: one consolidated hosting bill from your upstream provider
• Automation: payment → account provisioning; failed payment → reminders/suspension
• Add-ons: domains, SSL, backups, email, maintenance, additional storage, etc.

WHMCS can automatically create, modify, suspend and terminate hosting accounts and supports recurring billing and payment collection. WHMCS

whmcs.com

2. Blesta — best alternative

Blesta is the one I'd seriously consider if you want something somewhat leaner and more flexible.

Blesta 6 currently supports recurring billing, 30+ payment gateways, automated provisioning, cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin, client portals, support, domains, and multi-company/multi-brand functionality. Blesta Blesta

blesta.com

What I'd choose for your situation

For 25 sites, I'd lean WHMCS unless you specifically prefer Blesta. WHMCS has a particularly mature hosting ecosystem and is designed around the exact reseller-hosting workflow you're describing. WHMCS

One important distinction: don't buy "reseller hosting" expecting it to provide the client billing system. You generally want:

Reseller hosting account → WHM/cPanel → WHMCS → your 25 clients

Then WHMCS becomes the customer-facing layer where clients pay you.

If you tell me (1) whether the sites are WordPress, (2) whether you want cPanel, and (3) roughly what you want to charge each client/month, I can recommend the specific reseller hosting provider + WHMCS/Blesta setup that makes the most financial sense for 25 sites.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM if your priority is mature hosting automation and clean, separate client billing.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS — best overall

• Each client gets their own account, invoices, services, payment history, and portal.
• Recurring billing, automatic payment collection, reminders, suspensions, upgrades/downgrades, etc.
• Strong cPanel integration: accounts can be provisioned, suspended, modified, and terminated automatically. WHMCS WHMCS
• Current self-hosted pricing starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients, so 25 sites fit comfortably within that tier. WHMCS
• It's particularly good if you expect the hosting side of the business to grow beyond your current 25 sites.

2. Blesta — my alternative if you want lower complexity

• Also handles recurring invoices, payments, provisioning, client portals, support, and automation. Blesta Blesta
• It supports cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin and other hosting platforms.
• A particularly interesting feature for an agency is multi-company/multi-brand, allowing separate branding, gateways, taxes, currencies, etc. from one installation. Blesta
• I'd choose Blesta if you want a more agency/MSP-oriented setup rather than building a traditional hosting company.

What I'd build for you

For 25 websites, I'd structure it like:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ Stripe/ACH
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ 25 separate hosting accounts
→ Each client has their own login + billing
→ Automatic monthly/annual invoices
→ Automatic payment collection
→ Automatic overdue suspension
→ You retain master WHM access

That means you can charge, for example:

• Client A — Hosting: $30/mo
• Client B — Hosting: $50/mo
• Client C — Hosting + maintenance: $125/mo
• Client D — Hosting + backups: $75/mo

…and WHMCS handles the recurring billing rather than you manually invoicing 25 clients.

One important distinction

If by "separate billing" you mean each of the 25 clients needs to receive their own invoice and pay you independently, WHMCS or Blesta is exactly what you want.

If instead you mean each client needs their own completely isolated hosting/reseller account and potentially their own billing system, I'd design the architecture differently.

My pick: WHMCS + cPanel reseller hosting for your situation. It's slightly more "hosting-company" oriented, but that is actually useful if you eventually go from 25 sites to 100+. WHMCS currently advertises integrations with leading control panels and automated provisioning throughout the customer lifecycle. WHMCS

If you tell me what you're paying now for hosting and roughly what you charge each client, I can also recommend the actual reseller host + WHMCS/Blesta setup that would give you the best margin.

For 25 client websites, where you want each client billed separately (hosting invoices, renewals, payment tracking, maybe white-label hosting), I would choose a hosting billing automation platform, not just a reseller hosting account.

My shortlist:

1. Blesta — my top pick for an agency your size

Best fit if you are a web agency managing client sites.

Why:

• Separate client accounts, invoices, services, and payment history
• Works well with cPanel/Plesk reseller hosting
• Good for recurring hosting + maintenance retainers
• Cleaner long-term economics if you grow beyond 25 clients
• Supports multiple companies/brands if you later create separate hosting brands Panellicense

Typical setup:

• Reseller hosting account → cPanel/WHM
• Blesta → billing portal
• Stripe/PayPal → payments
• Clients log in → see invoices, renewals, services

I would pick this if your main business is web design/development + hosting management. Panellicense KnownHost - Managed Hosting Specialists

2. WHMCS — best if you want the hosting industry standard

WHMCS is the most widely recognized hosting automation platform.

Strengths:

• Huge ecosystem of modules
• Excellent cPanel/Plesk/domain registrar integrations
• Lots of hosting providers and freelancers know it
• Very mature provisioning workflows HostBillingPro

Downside:

• Pricing scales with clients
• It can feel like a hosting company platform rather than an agency client portal FluxBilling

Choose WHMCS if you expect to become a real hosting reseller with hundreds of accounts.

3. Clientexec — good simple alternative

Good if you want something straightforward.

Pros:

• Unlimited clients on its licensing model
• Easier setup than some competitors
• Good for smaller hosting operations FluxBilling

Cons:

• Smaller ecosystem than WHMCS
• Less common in larger hosting operations FluxBilling

My recommendation for your exact situation

For 25 websites, I would build it like this:

Then create packages like:

• Managed WordPress Hosting — $49/mo
• Hosting + Updates — $99/mo
• Hosting + SEO/Maintenance — $199/mo

Each client gets their own account and recurring invoice.

I would not build 25 separate hosting accounts manually; it becomes painful for renewals, cancellations, failed payments, and reporting.

If you tell me:

1. whether your sites are WordPress, static, or apps,
2. whether you want clients to see a white-label portal, and
3. whether you already have cPanel reseller hosting,

I can suggest the exact stack (hosting provider + billing + backups + monitoring).

I would not build 25 separate hosting accounts manually; it becomes painful for renewals, cancellations, failed payments, and reporting.

If you tell me:

1. whether your sites are WordPress, static, or apps,
2. whether you want clients to see a white-label portal, and
3. whether you already have cPanel reseller hosting,

I can suggest the exact stack (hosting provider + billing + backups + monitoring).

For 25 client websites, where you want to sell/manage hosting under your own brand and give each client their own billing/account, I’d shortlist WHMCS and Blesta.

My pick: WHMCS

whmcs.com is probably the safest choice if you want a mature, conventional hosting-reseller setup.

Why:

• Separate client accounts and invoices — each website/client can have its own login, services, invoices, payment method, etc.
• Automatic hosting provisioning with cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin. WHMCS WHMCS
• Automatic renewals, payment collection, suspension, cancellation, and overdue reminders. WHMCS
• Strong domain-registration and hosting integrations.
• Client portal + support tickets.
• You can have one hosting infrastructure while keeping billing completely separated by client.
• At 25 clients, the current self-hosted Plus plan is listed at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients, so you have plenty of room to grow. WHMCS

For your size, you don't need anything elaborate.

The alternative I'd seriously consider: Blesta

blesta.com is particularly attractive if you want something simpler and cheaper.

It provides recurring billing, automated payments, client management, provisioning, support, and integrations with cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin. Blesta Blesta

Current pricing is $17.95/month branded or $20.95/month unbranded, with unlimited clients and staff. There are also one-time owned licenses starting at $350. Blesta

What I'd build for 25 websites

I'd structure it like this:

Your Agency
│
├── WHMCS / Blesta
│     ├── Client A
│     │    └── website-a.com
│     │    └── $X/month
│     │
│     ├── Client B
│     │    └── website-b.com
│     │    └── $X/month
│     │
│     └── Client C
│          └── website-c.com
│          └── $X/month
│
└── Hosting Server
      └── Individual cPanel accounts
          ├── website-a
          ├── website-b
          ├── website-c
          └── ...

That gives you one hosting bill on your side, while your 25 clients see 25 independent subscriptions/invoices.

One important distinction: if by "separate billing" you mean each client should receive their own invoice and pay you individually, WHMCS/Blesta are ideal. If you mean each client should have their own completely separate hosting reseller account, that's a somewhat different architecture.

My recommendation:
WHMCS + cPanel/WHM if you want the most established ecosystem and expect to grow beyond 25 sites.
Blesta + cPanel/WHM if you want lower ongoing software costs and a leaner agency setup.

If you tell me whether the 25 sites are WordPress, WooCommerce, or mixed, and roughly how much storage/traffic they use, I can recommend the actual server/reseller hosting setup + billing software + approximate monthly cost.

For 25 client websites, I would not build a traditional “hosting reseller company” stack unless you plan to sell hosting broadly. If you’re an agency managing client sites and want each client to have their own invoice, login, and hosting subscription, you want a client billing + provisioning platform.

My shortlist:

HostBillingPro Fluent-Themes## My recommendation for your situation

Option 1 — Best overall: WHMCS + reseller hosting account

Use:

• A reseller hosting provider (cPanel/WHM)
• WHMCS for billing
• Separate cPanel account per client
• Stripe/PayPal for payments
• Automated suspension, renewals, invoices, and provisioning

This gives you:

• Client A pays $50/mo and manages only their site
• Client B has a separate account and invoice
• You can migrate clients individually
• You can add domains, SSL, email, backups, maintenance plans, etc.

WHMCS is usually chosen because of its large ecosystem of integrations and hosting automation tools. KnownHost - Managed Hosting Specialists Fluent-Themes

Option 2 — Better if you are mainly a web agency: Blesta

If your real business is:

• website builds
• maintenance retainers
• SEO
• support plans

…and hosting is just another line item, I would seriously consider Blesta. It avoids some of the complexity of running a full hosting storefront and is often attractive for smaller providers because of its licensing model. FluxBilling

A practical stack I would deploy

For 25 sites:

• Server layer: reseller hosting with WHM/cPanel, or a managed VPS if performance matters
• Billing: WHMCS or Blesta
• Payments: Stripe
• DNS: Cloudflare
• Backups: separate backup provider (don’t rely only on host snapshots)
• Monitoring: uptime monitoring + security scanning
• Client portal: billing platform client area

What I would avoid

• ❌ One shared cPanel login for all 25 sites
• ❌ Manually sending invoices from QuickBooks/Xero
• ❌ Putting your billing system on the same server as client websites
• ❌ Selling “unlimited hosting” packages if you are responsible for client uptime

My pick:

• If you expect to grow beyond 25–50 clients: WHMCS
• If you expect to stay an agency with <100 hosted clients: Blesta
• If you want a white-label hosting storefront: WHMCS + reseller WHM

A couple of details would change the recommendation:

1. Are these your agency clients (you built their sites), or are you trying to become a public hosting reseller?
2. Are the sites mostly WordPress, ecommerce, or custom apps?
3. Do you want clients to see hosting as a standalone product with their own login?

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM.

The key distinction is that you want one hosting infrastructure, but separate customer billing/accounts. WHMCS is specifically designed for this model.

My recommendation

Why I'd choose WHMCS

With WHMCS, each of your 25 clients can have their own account, invoice history, payment method, hosting service, and login. You can automate recurring billing, overdue reminders, suspensions, provisioning, upgrades, etc. WHMCS WHMCS

It also integrates directly with cPanel/WHM so you can provision and manage hosting accounts automatically. WHMCS Documentation

Importantly, WHMCS supports usage-based billing, including billing a reseller based on the number of cPanel accounts they use. WHMCS Documentation

Current WHMCS pricing starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients for self-hosted Plus, so 25 clients doesn't put you anywhere near the limit. WHMCS

How I'd structure your setup

I'd do:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ 25 individual cPanel accounts
→ Each client gets their own billing portal

For example:

• Client A — $35/month hosting
• Client B — $50/month hosting
• Client C — $75/month hosting + $20 maintenance
• Client D — $40/month hosting
• etc.

Each client gets their own invoice and can pay independently. You can also bundle hosting + maintenance + domains + SSL + backups into the same client account.

If you don't need clients to log into a sophisticated hosting/billing portal, Blesta is the alternative I'd investigate. It supports recurring invoices, payments, provisioning, domains and cPanel/Plesk integrations. Blesta Blesta

Bottom line: WHMCS is my pick for your 25-site agency. It's particularly worthwhile if you expect to grow from 25 sites to 50–200+ and want billing/provisioning to become mostly automatic.

If you tell me whether you're currently on cPanel, Plesk, or something else, and roughly what you pay per month for hosting, I can recommend the exact reseller setup (provider + plan + WHMCS/Blesta configuration) I'd use.

Importantly, WHMCS supports usage-based billing, including billing a reseller based on the number of cPanel accounts they use. docs.whmcs.com

Current WHMCS pricing starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients for self-hosted Plus, so 25 clients doesn't put you anywhere near the limit.

How I'd structure your setup

I'd do:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ 25 individual cPanel accounts
→ Each client gets their own billing portal

For example:

For 25 client websites where you want each client billed separately, you probably do not need a full public hosting reseller operation. You need a platform that handles:

• Separate client accounts
• Recurring invoices/subscriptions
• Automatic payment collection
• Hosting provisioning (optional)
• Client portals
• Domain/SSL/service renewals
• Easy handoff if a client leaves

My shortlist would be:

My recommendation for your situation

For 25 client websites, I would choose:

Option 1 — Best overall: WHMCS + reseller hosting account

Use:

• A reseller account from a hosting provider
• WHMCS for billing/client management
• cPanel/WHM or Plesk provisioning

Good if you want:

• Clients to log in and see their hosting invoices
• Automatic suspension for unpaid accounts
• Automated welcome emails
• A professional hosting portal

Option 2 — Best for a web agency: Blesta + managed hosting

If you mainly build/manage websites and hosting is an add-on service, I would lean toward Blesta. It gives you billing separation without turning your business into a full hosting company. TekLan Hosting

A common agency setup:

• Client A → Website hosting → $40/mo
• Client B → Website hosting → $60/mo
• Client C → Maintenance + hosting → $150/mo
• Each gets their own invoice, portal login, and renewal cycle

Option 3 — Avoid overengineering

At only 25 sites, I would not build a custom billing system or deploy a complicated cloud stack. The operational risk is usually higher than the benefit.

Suggested stack

For a small agency managing 25 sites:

• Hosting: reseller cPanel account or managed VPS
• Billing: Blesta or WHMCS
• Payments: Stripe + ACH/card payments
• Domains: registrar API integration if you resell domains
• Monitoring: uptime monitoring + backups
• Accounting: export invoices into your accounting software

Decision rule

Pick WHMCS if:

• You plan to sell hosting publicly
• You want maximum compatibility
• You may grow to hundreds of hosting customers

Pick Blesta if:

• Hosting is a service attached to your web design/maintenance business
• You mainly need clean client billing
• You want less complexity

For your exact description (25 client websites + separate billing), I would start with Blesta unless you expect to become a hosting provider, in which case choose WHMCS. KnownHost - Managed Hosting Specialists TekLan Hosting

I can also suggest a complete stack (host + billing + payment processor + backup setup) if you tell me whether you currently use cPanel, WordPress, managed WordPress hosting, or a VPS.

For 25 client websites where each client should have their own hosting account and separate billing, I’d pick:

cPanel/WHM + WHMCS

This is the most straightforward, mature setup for an agency/reseller model.

• cPanel/WHM → creates an isolated hosting account for each client. Each account gets its own login, resources, backups, email, etc. cPanel specifically recommends separate accounts when you have websites belonging to different customers. docs.cpanel.netwww.whmcs.comdocs.whmcs.comdocs.cpanel.netwww.whmcs.com
• WHMCS → handles client billing, invoices, recurring payments, provisioning, suspensions, upgrades, support tickets, and the client portal. It integrates directly with cPanel/WHM. www.whmcs.comwww.whmcs.com
• WHMCS can also track per-account usage if you eventually want to charge differently based on the number of hosting accounts or resources used. docs.whmcs.com

A typical structure would be:

Your Agency
│
├── WHMCS
│   ├── Client A → $X/month
│   ├── Client B → $Y/month
│   ├── Client C → $X/month
│   └── ...
│
└── cPanel/WHM
    ├── Account: client-a.com
    ├── Account: client-b.com
    ├── Account: client-c.com
    └── ...25 separate accounts

What I'd choose for your size

Why not one cPanel account? You lose meaningful isolation: domains share resources and one client's problem can potentially affect the others. Separate cPanel accounts give each client their own credentials and resource allocation. docs.cpanel.netwww.whmcs.comdocs.whmcs.comdocs.cpanel.netwww.whmcs.com

One important distinction

If by "separate billing" you mean each client should receive their own invoice and pay you independently, WHMCS is the piece you need.

If instead you mean you want 25 completely separate hosting accounts but you will manually invoice clients, you don't necessarily need WHMCS—you could use the hosting provider's reseller WHM and your existing accounting system.

For 25 sites, though, I'd strongly lean toward WHMCS because automation starts paying for itself quickly: new account → welcome email → billing → provisioning → suspension for nonpayment → reactivation after payment, etc. www.whmcs.comwww.whmcs.com

If you tell me whether these are WordPress sites and roughly how much traffic/storage they use, I can recommend the actual reseller hosting provider + plan + WHMCS setup I'd use for 25 sites.

For 25 client websites with separate billing, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM.

My recommended setup

• Hosting control: cPanel/WHM reseller hosting
• Client/billing platform: WHMCS
• One WHMCS account per client: each client gets their own login, invoices, services, payment method, and support history.
• Your agency: one master admin account controlling all hosting accounts.
• Billing: recurring monthly/annual invoices, automatic payment collection, reminders, suspensions, upgrades, etc.
• Client portal: clients can log in to manage their hosting, invoices, domains, and support.
• White-label: brand the client portal as your agency rather than exposing the upstream host.

WHMCS specifically integrates with cPanel/WHM for automated account creation, suspension/reactivation, usage reporting, upgrades, and single sign-on. WHMCS WHMCS Apps

The important distinction

You'd essentially have:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ 25 separate cPanel accounts
→ 25 separate clients/billing relationships

So Client A doesn't need to see Client B's website or invoice. You can also sell hosting as a product alongside your existing website-management fees.

At 25 clients, WHMCS's current Plus tier is already more than sufficient: the 2026 pricing lists $34.95/month for up to 250 clients. cPanel Support

whmcs.com

What I would not do

I wouldn't use the hosting company's built-in reseller billing alone if your goal is to build a proper agency hosting operation. You want your own billing layer so you can change upstream hosting providers later without forcing your clients to change how they pay you.

Also, don't confuse WHM with WHMCS: WHM manages the hosting server/accounts; WHMCS handles the customer, billing, provisioning, and support side. cPanel explicitly describes them as separate products. cPanel Support

If you tell me whether you want to host all 25 sites on one reseller account or isolate each client more heavily, I can recommend the exact setup (cPanel plan + WHMCS + payment processor + backup strategy) and approximate monthly cost.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick whmcs.com + cPanel/WHM reseller hosting if your priority is separate billing and a scalable agency setup.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS + cPanel/WHM — best overall

This is the setup I’d choose if you want each client to have their own:

• Separate client account
• Separate invoices/payment history
• Hosting service/subscription
• Login/client portal
• Support tickets
• Domain management
• Automatic provisioning/suspension for nonpayment
• Ability to add more sites later

WHMCS specifically separates users from billable client accounts, so one person can even have access to multiple client accounts while keeping their billing/services separated. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Help

It also automates the hosting lifecycle—provisioning, suspension, upgrades, termination, usage reporting, etc.—and integrates tightly with cPanel/WHM. WHMCS

Current self-hosted WHMCS pricing starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients, so 25 clients gives you considerable room to grow. WHMCS

Architecture:

Your Agency
→ WHMCS
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ Client A — website + billing
→ Client B — website + billing
→ Client C — website + billing
→ ...25 clients

2. WPMU DEV — best if all 25 are WordPress

If these are 25 WordPress sites and you're primarily a WordPress agency, I'd seriously consider wpmudev.com instead.

Its reseller platform combines hosting, WordPress management, client portals, white-labeling and billing in one system. It supports recurring client billing and automatically creates hosted sites when clients purchase your reseller products. WPMU DEV WPMU DEV

That's substantially simpler than assembling cPanel + WHMCS + separate WordPress management tools.

What I'd choose

One important distinction: if by "separate billing" you mean each of the 25 clients should receive their own invoice and pay you independently, both approaches can do that. WHMCS is particularly strong here because billing is built around individual client accounts and services. WHMCS Documentation

If you tell me (1) whether the 25 sites are all WordPress, (2) whether you need email hosting, and (3) roughly what you want to charge each client/month, I can recommend the specific reseller hosting provider + WHMCS/WPMU DEV plan I'd use.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick whmcs.com + cPanel/WHM reseller hosting.

That combination is probably the cleanest setup if by “separate billing” you mean each client gets their own account, invoice, payment method, renewal cycle, and portal, while your agency manages all 25 sites centrally.

My recommendation

WHMCS can automatically create, modify, suspend and terminate hosting accounts, handle recurring billing/payments, and provide a client portal. Its cPanel integration also supports account synchronization, provisioning and single sign-on. WHMCS WHMCS

The architecture I'd use

Your agency

→ WHMCS — billing, clients, invoices, support
→ WHM/cPanel reseller server — actual websites
→ 25 individual cPanel accounts — one per client/site

This gives you a very important separation: Client A doesn't need to share a hosting account with Client B, even though you administer both.

You can also configure reseller products with per-account/usage billing if you eventually want to charge clients based on the number of cPanel accounts or resources they use. WHMCS Documentation

WHMCS vs. Clientexec

The main alternative I'd consider is clientexec.com.

It's capable of automated hosting, invoicing, payments and client management, and can be considerably cheaper at certain license volumes. Clientexec Clientexec

But for an agency managing 25 sites and potentially growing, I'd favor WHMCS because the cPanel/WHM integration is particularly mature and gives you a much more complete hosting-business automation stack. WHMCS

One important distinction

You don't necessarily need to buy a “reseller hosting software platform.” You need two pieces:

1. Reseller hosting/server: cPanel/WHM (or another hosting control panel)
2. Billing/automation: WHMCS

If you're primarily a web design/WordPress agency, rather than trying to become a traditional public hosting company, I would actually evaluate a managed VPS + WHMCS setup rather than a cheap shared reseller package. It gives you substantially more control as those 25 sites grow.

If you tell me roughly how much storage/traffic the 25 sites use and what you currently charge each client for hosting, I can recommend the specific reseller/VPS provider + WHMCS plan that makes the most financial sense.

The architecture I'd use

Your agency

→ WHMCS — billing, clients, invoices, support
→ WHM/cPanel reseller server — actual websites
→ 25 individual cPanel accounts — one per client/site

This gives you a very important separation: Client A doesn't need to share a hosting account with Client B, even though you administer both.

You can also configure reseller products with per-account/usage billing if you eventually want to charge clients based on the number of cPanel accounts or resources they use.

WHMCS vs. Clientexec

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have their own login, hosting service, invoices, and payment relationship, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM reseller hosting.

My recommendation

1. whmcs.com — best overall

This is the most mature choice for an agency managing client hosting.

• Each client gets a separate account/client portal.
• Automated recurring invoices and payments.
• Automatically provision, suspend, upgrade, and terminate hosting.
• Integrates directly with cPanel/WHM.
• Supports domains, SSL, support tickets, quotes, invoices, etc.
• You can charge clients independently even though all 25 sites live under your reseller account.
• WHMCS specifically supports per-account/usage billing for reseller accounts, so you can structure pricing around the number of cPanel accounts if desired. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Documentation
• Current self-hosted pricing starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients, so your 25 clients fit comfortably. WHMCS

Typical setup:

Your Agency → Reseller Hosting Account → WHM/cPanel → 25 separate client accounts

Then:

Client A → $49/mo invoice → Client A's website
Client B → $59/mo invoice → Client B's website
Client C → $39/mo invoice → Client C's website

…and so on.

2. blesta.com — best alternative

I'd seriously consider Blesta if you want something less expensive and more lightweight.

Blesta 6 currently includes recurring billing, automated payments, provisioning, client portals, support, and integrations with cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin and others. Blesta Blesta

Its current unbranded license is $20.95/month, with unlimited clients and staff. Blesta

It also has multi-company/multi-brand functionality, which could be useful if you eventually operate multiple hosting brands. Blesta

What I'd choose for your agency

I'd go with WHMCS if hosting is becoming a real recurring-revenue service for your agency. At only 25 sites, you don't need an elaborate infrastructure—you want something that automates billing and provisioning reliably and won't force you to migrate later.

One important distinction: don't buy a single reseller hosting account and manually invoice clients through QuickBooks/Stripe. Set up each website as its own hosting account/service in WHM/cPanel and let WHMCS manage the individual client subscriptions. That gives you clean separation and makes cancellations, upgrades, password resets, suspensions, and migrations much easier.

If you tell me whether the 25 sites are WordPress, what you're paying for hosting now, and roughly what you charge each client per month, I can recommend the exact reseller host + WHMCS/Blesta + cPanel setup and estimate your monthly margin.

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have their own account, invoices, recurring billing, and hosting access, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS — best overall for your situation

whmcs.com is purpose-built for hosting companies and agencies. It can:

• Give each client a separate client account and billing history.
• Automatically generate recurring invoices and collect payments.
• Provision/suspend hosting accounts automatically.
• Integrate with cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin.
• Handle domains, SSL, support tickets, and a client portal.
• Track usage/overages.
• Let you sell hosting as a recurring service rather than manually invoicing 25 clients. WHMCS WHMCS Documentation

For your scale, WHMCS's current self-hosted Plus plan supports up to 250 active clients at $34.95/month, so you're comfortably below the limit. WHMCS

The setup I'd use

Your Agency
│
├── WHMCS
│    ├── Client A → Hosting → $X/month
│    ├── Client B → Hosting → $X/month
│    ├── Client C → Hosting → $X/month
│    └── ... 25 clients
│
└── cPanel/WHM
     ├── Account A
     ├── Account B
     ├── Account C
     └── ... 25 accounts

Each client gets their own cPanel account, while WHMCS sits above it and handles the commercial side.

If you're actually selling reseller accounts to your clients rather than simply hosting their websites, WHMCS is particularly well suited: it can track the number of cPanel accounts a reseller creates and bill based on those accounts/usage. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Documentation

What about Blesta?

blesta.com would be my #2 choice, and it's a very good one.

Blesta 6 currently supports recurring billing, 30+ payment gateways, automated provisioning, cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin, client portals, and even multi-company/multi-brand billing from one installation. Blesta Blesta

I'd choose Blesta if you value lower complexity, self-hosting, and flexibility more than having the largest hosting-automation ecosystem.

Bottom line

I'd go with WHMCS + a cPanel reseller/VPS setup, rather than trying to manage 25 sites directly inside a generic reseller-hosting control panel.

One important distinction: if by "separate billing" you mean each of the 25 clients should receive their own invoice and pay you individually, WHMCS is exactly what you want. If you mean each client needs their own completely separate hosting reseller account with their own WHM, the architecture is slightly different.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick Blesta unless you have a strong reason to use WHMCS.

My recommendation: Blesta + cPanel/WHM

blesta.com is a particularly good fit for an agency managing hosting for clients because it gives you:

• Separate client accounts and invoices — each client can have their own login, services, invoices, payment method, etc.
• Recurring billing and automatic payments — including reminders, dunning, late fees, and suspension workflows. Blesta Blesta
• cPanel/WHM provisioning — you can automatically create, suspend, unsuspend, and terminate hosting accounts. Blesta
• Client portal — clients can see their hosting, invoices, payments, and support tickets without seeing other clients. Blesta
• Multi-company/branding capability if you eventually want separate brands or hosting businesses from one installation. Blesta
• Self-hosting, so you're not locked into a hosted billing platform. Blesta

For your size, I'd structure it roughly like:

Your agency
→ Blesta
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ Client A hosting account
→ Client B hosting account
→ Client C hosting account
→ ...
→ Client 25 hosting account

Then Blesta handles the commercial side:

Client → monthly invoice → payment → hosting stays active

Blesta vs. WHMCS

whmcs.com is the other obvious choice. It's extremely mature and has a huge hosting-industry integration ecosystem. It supports automated billing, provisioning, client management, domains, support, and cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin integrations. WHMCS

One particularly useful WHMCS capability is per-account/usage billing for reseller accounts, so if you eventually resell hosting to other businesses that create their own cPanel accounts, WHMCS can track those subaccounts and bill accordingly. WHMCS Documentation

The important distinction

If by "separate billing" you mean:

We own/manage 25 websites, and each website owner should receive their own monthly hosting invoice.

Blesta is exactly the kind of platform I'd use.

If instead you mean:

We want to sell reseller hosting to our clients, where each client can create/manage multiple hosting accounts under their own reseller account.

Then I'd lean WHMCS + cPanel/WHM, because the reseller/sub-account billing functionality is especially relevant. WHMCS Documentation

For 25 sites, I would not overengineer this with a complicated MSP/ERP platform. Blesta + cPanel/WHM gives you a clean setup that can comfortably grow beyond 25 clients.

If you tell me (1) whether you're currently using cPanel, Plesk, or something else, (2) roughly what you charge each client/month, and (3) whether clients need their own hosting login, I can recommend the exact hosting + billing stack and approximate monthly cost.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick Blesta + cPanel/WHM reseller hosting unless you have a strong reason to use WHMCS.

My recommendation: Blesta

Blesta is particularly well suited to an agency managing a few dozen client sites because it gives you:

• Separate client accounts — each client gets their own login, invoices, services, and billing history.
• Automatic recurring billing — monthly/annual hosting invoices and payment collection.
• Automatic provisioning — Blesta can provision accounts on cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin and other platforms. Blesta Blesta
• Client portal — clients can see/pay invoices, manage services, and open support tickets themselves. Blesta
• Multiple payment gateways including Stripe and PayPal. Blesta
• Good agency fit — you can bill hosting separately from your web-development/maintenance services.
• Multi-company/branding support if you eventually operate multiple brands. Blesta

blesta.com

Blesta vs. WHMCS

WHMCS is the other obvious choice. It's more established in the traditional hosting industry and has extensive integrations for hosting, domains, billing, provisioning, and support. WHMCS

whmcs.com

The setup I'd use

For your 25 sites, I'd structure it like this:

Your agency → reseller hosting account → cPanel/WHM → 25 individual cPanel accounts → Blesta

Then each client has:

Client A
Hosting: $25/mo
SSL: included
Backups: included
Maintenance: $75/mo
Domain: $18/year

Blesta handles the client-facing billing, while WHM/cPanel handles the actual hosting accounts.

One important distinction: don't put all 25 websites under one cPanel account. Give each client/site its own cPanel account. That gives you much cleaner isolation, backups, migrations, resource management, and eventual client handoff.

One caveat

If by "separate billing" you mean each client's hosting needs to be billed directly by the hosting company to the client, rather than you billing your clients, then I'd approach it differently.

If you mean "we want one reseller account, but each of our 25 customers gets their own invoice/payment/account", then Blesta is my first choice.

If you tell me your approximate monthly hosting budget and whether the sites are WordPress, I can also recommend the actual reseller host + cPanel/CloudLinux + Blesta stack I'd use for 25 sites.

For 25 client websites, if you want each client to have their own login, invoices, recurring billing, payment method, hosting service, and potentially domains, I’d pick WHMCS.

My recommendation: WHMCS + cPanel/WHM

WHMCS is purpose-built for exactly this model. It can automate client billing, recurring invoices, payment collection, provisioning/suspension, support tickets, and cPanel integration. WHMCS WHMCS

A typical setup would be:

• Reseller hosting account → cPanel/WHM
• WHMCS → your billing/client-management layer
• 25 clients → each gets a separate WHMCS client account
• Each client → their own hosting package/service
• Stripe/PayPal → client pays you directly
• WHMCS → automatically invoices, charges, provisions/suspends hosting
• You → manage all 25 from one admin dashboard

WHMCS currently lists a self-hosted plan for up to 250 active clients at $34.95/month, so 25 clients leaves you plenty of room to grow. WHMCS

whmcs.com

The main alternative: Blesta

Blesta is the one I'd seriously consider instead of WHMCS if you prefer a simpler/self-hosted system. It supports recurring billing, 30+ payment gateways, cPanel/Plesk/VirtFusion provisioning, client portals, support, and automated suspension/provisioning. Blesta Blesta

It also has multi-company/multi-brand capabilities, which could be useful if you eventually operate multiple brands. Blesta

blesta.com

What I'd choose for your situation

I'd go with WHMCS unless you specifically want Blesta's simpler/self-hosted approach.

One important distinction: WHM/cPanel handles the actual hosting accounts; WHMCS handles the business relationship and billing. You generally want both rather than trying to make the reseller hosting panel itself handle your client invoicing.

If you tell me whether you want to charge clients monthly for hosting + maintenance, and whether you're currently on cPanel/WHM, Plesk, or something else, I can lay out the exact setup I'd use for your 25 sites—including hosting provider, WHMCS/Blesta, Stripe, pricing, backups, and how to keep each client's account isolated.

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have their own account, invoices, recurring billing, and hosting management, I’d pick WHMCS + a reseller hosting account.

My recommendation: WHMCS

whmcs.com is probably the safest choice if you want to build a small managed-hosting/reseller operation.

It gives you:

• Separate client accounts — each customer gets their own login and portal.
• Separate recurring billing — automatically generates invoices and collects payments.
• Automatic provisioning — connect it to cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin and have hosting accounts created, suspended, upgraded, etc. automatically. WHMCS WHMCS
• Domains + SSL + hosting can all be billed from the same system.
• Client support/tickets are built in.
• You can sell hosting as a monthly/annual product while adding website maintenance, backups, domains, email, etc.
• At 25 clients, WHMCS's current Starter cloud plan is $9.99/month for up to 25 active clients; the self-hosted Plus plan is $34.95/month for up to 250 clients. WHMCS

The important distinction is that WHMCS isn't your hosting server. Think of the setup as:

Your agency → WHMCS → reseller hosting → individual cPanel accounts → individual clients

So, for example:

WHMCS handles the client-facing billing while the reseller hosting provider supplies the actual server resources.

The main alternative: Blesta

blesta.com is the one I'd seriously compare against WHMCS.

Blesta does essentially the same core job: recurring invoices, payment collection, client management, provisioning, support, domains, etc. It currently supports 40+ provisioning modules and 30+ payment gateways. Blesta Blesta

One particularly interesting feature for an agency is multi-company/multi-brand support: Blesta can run multiple brands with separate branding, gateways, taxes and email templates from one installation. Blesta

What I'd choose for your situation

If you want the most established/easiest-to-integrate hosting stack:

WHMCS + cPanel reseller hosting

If you're more technically inclined and want a potentially cleaner/more flexible billing platform:

Blesta + cPanel reseller hosting

For only 25 websites, I would not over-engineer this. Start with WHMCS and a good reseller account, with each website in its own cPanel account.

One thing I'd be careful about: don't put all 25 sites under one shared cPanel account. You want separate accounts so you can isolate clients, set resource limits, move a client independently, suspend one client's service, and eventually hand a client their hosting account without disrupting everyone else.

If you tell me roughly how much storage/traffic the 25 sites use and whether they're WordPress, I can also recommend the actual reseller hosting provider + plan I'd use for this setup.

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have their own login, invoices, payments, and hosting account, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM unless you have a strong reason to optimize for lower cost.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS — best overall

WHMCS is purpose-built for exactly this model: client management, recurring billing, provisioning, suspensions, support tickets, and hosting-account automation. It integrates directly with cPanel and can automatically create/suspend/modify hosting accounts. WHMCS WHMCS

For your 25 sites, the important workflow would be:

• Client A gets their own WHMCS account
• They see only their hosting service/invoices
• They pay monthly by card/ACH
• WHMCS automatically generates the invoice
• Payment succeeds → hosting remains active
• Payment fails/gets overdue → reminders and eventually suspension
• You manage all 25 clients from one admin panel
• Each website can have its own cPanel account

WHMCS currently has a self-hosted plan starting at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients, so you're nowhere near the client limit. WHMCS

whmcs.com

2. Blesta — best value alternative

I'd seriously consider Blesta if you want to keep your software costs down. It supports recurring invoices, payment collection, provisioning, cPanel/Plesk integrations, client portals, support, and automation. Blesta Blesta

One particularly interesting feature for an agency is multi-company/branding: a single Blesta installation can operate multiple companies with separate branding, currencies, gateways, taxes, and email templates. Blesta

blesta.com

What I'd build for your agency

Important: Don't put all 25 websites into one cPanel account if you're trying to sell hosting independently. Give each client their own account. That makes billing, resource limits, backups, migrations, password access, and eventual client offboarding much cleaner.

WHMCS vs. Blesta for you

I'd choose WHMCS if you're primarily a web-design/development agency that wants hosting to become a standardized recurring-revenue product. Its hosting ecosystem and automation are very mature. WHMCS

I'd choose Blesta if hosting margins are important and you want a leaner platform with strong billing/client-management functionality and potentially more flexibility around multi-brand setups. Blesta

For only 25 clients, I wouldn't over-engineer this. WHMCS + cPanel/WHM is the safest, most conventional setup, and it gives you a clean path from 25 clients to 100+ without changing your architecture.

If you tell me what you're currently hosting on (VPS, cPanel reseller account, Cloudways, etc.) and roughly what you want to charge each client/month, I can recommend the specific hosting stack and show you the monthly cost per client and expected margin.

For 25 client websites, I’d usually avoid over-engineering. You need three things:

1. Separate client billing/invoices
2. Hosting account provisioning/management
3. A client portal where each customer only sees their own services

The best fit depends on whether you’re acting more like an agency managing sites or a true hosting reseller.

My top picks

1. Blesta — best overall for your size

Recommended choice for most agencies with 25–200 sites.

Why it fits:

• Unlimited clients on typical licensing models
• Handles recurring invoices, payments, tickets, services
• Integrates with cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, domain registrars, payment gateways
• Good if you may grow beyond 25 clients without your costs scaling aggressively
• Cleaner architecture and customization options than many older platforms Panellicense KnownHost - Managed Hosting Specialists

Typical stack:

• Reseller hosting/VPS provider
• cPanel/WHM or Plesk
• Blesta for billing
• Stripe/PayPal for payments
• Client portal for each website owner

Pick this if: you want a professional client-facing hosting business.

2. WHMCS — best ecosystem

WHMCS is the hosting industry standard and has the widest range of modules/integrations. Panellicense

Pros:

• Huge community
• Almost every hosting provider supports it
• Easy to find developers familiar with it
• Excellent automation

Cons:

• Can become expensive as you grow
• More "hosting company" oriented than "agency managing client sites" oriented HostBillingPro

Pick this if: you plan to become a larger hosting reseller or want maximum compatibility.

3. ClientExec — simplest

Good for a smaller operation.

Pros:

• Easier setup
• Flat pricing approach
• Covers basic hosting billing workflows FluxBilling

Cons:

• Smaller ecosystem
• Less flexible if you build a complex hosting operation

Pick this if: you want something simple and don’t expect much customization.

What I would build for your situation

For 25 client websites, I would likely do:

Hosting layer

• Reseller cPanel account or managed VPS
• Separate cPanel account per client site

Billing layer

• Blesta

Payments

• Stripe subscriptions
• Automatic invoices/failed payment reminders

Client management

• Each client gets: - Hosting plan
• Domain management (if you provide it)
• Backups
• Maintenance plan (optional)
• Support tickets

This lets you charge something like:

• Hosting: $20–50/mo
• Maintenance: $50–200/mo
• Security/backups: add-ons

without mixing client accounts together.

One question changes the recommendation: are these 25 websites all your own managed clients (agency model), or are you trying to sell hosting packages to the public like a mini hosting company?

If you manage 25 client websites and want each client to have separate billing, invoices, payments, and ideally a client portal, I’d pick Blesta for a new setup.

My recommendation: Blesta

blesta.com is particularly well suited to a small web agency/hosting reseller because it combines:

• Separate client accounts — each customer gets their own login, services, invoices, payment methods, and billing history.
• Recurring billing — automatically invoice clients monthly/yearly and handle failed payments, suspension, late fees, etc. Blesta
• Hosting provisioning — integrates with cPanel/WHM, Plesk and other hosting platforms, so you can automate account creation, suspension and cancellation. Blesta
• Domains + hosting + add-ons — you can put everything for a client on one invoice.
• Client portal and support tickets — clients can manage their own services rather than emailing you for every change.
• Unlimited clients on the standard licenses, so your 25 sites aren't an issue. Current pricing starts at $17.95/month for the branded license or $20.95/month for unbranded. Blesta
• Multi-company support if you eventually want to operate separate brands/businesses from the same installation. Blesta

Blesta vs. WHMCS

The other obvious choice is whmcs.com.

WHMCS is more established and has a huge hosting-industry ecosystem. Its current self-hosted Plus plan is $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients. WHMCS It also has particularly sophisticated usage billing—for example, you can charge based on the number of cPanel accounts a reseller creates. WHMCS Documentation

What I'd actually build for your 25 sites

I'd keep the architecture simple:

Your agency
→ Blesta
→ Reseller hosting account / WHM
→ 25 individual hosting accounts
→ Each client gets their own Blesta login + invoice + payment method

For example:

Client A → $75/mo hosting → automatic invoice → their card
Client B → $125/mo hosting → automatic invoice → their card
Client C → $50/mo hosting + $20 maintenance → automatic invoice → their card

You don't need to manually split the reseller hosting bill across clients. Blesta handles your customer-side billing, while your hosting provider bills you for the reseller/server account.

One important distinction

If by "separate billing" you mean 25 clients should each be completely isolated from one another, don't create 25 reseller accounts.

Instead, I'd generally use one reseller hosting account with 25 separate hosting/cPanel accounts, and use Blesta to bill the 25 customers individually.

If you tell me which hosting provider you're considering (e.g. HostGator, KnownHost, Liquid Web, Namecheap, a VPS, etc.) and roughly how much you want to charge each client per month, I can recommend the exact hosting + control panel + billing stack I'd use for your 25 sites.

For 25 client websites where you want each client billed separately, I would not overcomplicate it with a full hosting-company stack unless you plan to sell hosting publicly. You’re closer to a web agency/MSP with managed hosting.

My shortlist:

My recommendation for your situation

I would pick:

Option 1 — WHMCS + reseller hosting account (most likely winner)

Use:

• One reseller hosting account (cPanel/WHM or similar)
• WHMCS for: - separate client accounts
• recurring billing
• automatic invoices
• payment collection
• service suspension/reactivation
• client portal
• hosting account provisioning

This gives you room to grow from 25 sites to hundreds. WHMCS has the broadest ecosystem for hosting panels, registrars, and payment gateways. WHMCS

Option 2 — Blesta if you are mainly an agency

Choose Blesta if:

• you manually manage most sites
• clients are paying for “website care plans” rather than buying hosting
• you want a simpler billing system
• you do not need every hosting module available

It is often a better fit for agencies because you can treat hosting, maintenance, backups, SSL, and support as recurring services. Blesta

I would avoid:

• Giving every client access to the same reseller panel — it gets messy for billing, security, and offboarding.
• Using only Stripe subscriptions + spreadsheets — works at 5 clients, becomes painful at 25+.
• Running separate hosting accounts for every client unless isolation is more important than cost.

A practical setup for 25 sites

A clean architecture:

Your Agency
│
├── WHMCS / Blesta
│     ├── Client A invoice
│     ├── Client B invoice
│     └── Client C invoice
│
└── Reseller Hosting Account
      ├── cPanel account: Client A
      ├── cPanel account: Client B
      └── cPanel account: Client C

I would also add:

• automated backups
• uptime monitoring
• a staging environment
• a domain registrar integration
• a support ticket system

For 25 managed websites, my default choice would be WHMCS if you want a hosting business, or Blesta if you are primarily a web agency selling maintenance plans. fluentthemes.com Blesta

A couple of details would change the answer:

1. Are these WordPress sites?
2. Are clients paying for hosting only or a monthly website care plan?
3. Do you want clients to log in and manage their own hosting, or should everything stay behind your agency?

For 25 client websites, you’re probably not looking for a traditional “hosting reseller” panel alone — you need a stack that gives each client:

• separate billing/invoices
• their own client portal
• automatic renewals
• hosting account provisioning
• domain/email/service tracking
• room to grow to 100+ sites

My shortlist would be:

My recommendation for your situation

For 25 managed client websites, I would pick:

Option A — Agency-friendly setup (my first choice)

• Blesta
• A managed VPS or reseller hosting account
• cPanel/WHM or Plesk for account separation
• Stripe/PayPal for payments
• Automated monthly invoices

Why:

• Each client gets their own billing record.
• You can charge $X/month per website.
• You can bundle hosting, maintenance, backups, SSL, updates, etc.
• You are not locked into a hosting-company workflow.

Blesta specifically supports billing, automation, provisioning, support, and client management features designed for hosting providers and agencies. Blesta

Option B — If you want to become a hosting company

Use:

• WHMCS
• cPanel/WHM reseller or VPS
• domain reseller account
• automated provisioning

WHMCS is still the common choice when you need the widest compatibility with hosting-related services. KnownHost - Managed Hosting Specialists

Architecture I’d use

Your Agency
│
├── Billing system (Blesta or WHMCS)
│
├── Hosting server
│   ├── Client A website account
│   ├── Client B website account
│   ├── Client C website account
│   └── ...
│
├── Backups
├── Monitoring
└── Support portal

Avoid putting all 25 sites into one shared WordPress hosting account. Separate accounts make:

• migrations easier
• security better
• billing cleaner
• client handoff possible

A few questions would change the recommendation:

1. Are these WordPress sites?
2. Do clients pay you a monthly maintenance fee, or are you only reselling hosting?
3. Do you want clients to see a white-label portal and manage their own services?
4. Are you currently on cPanel, Plesk, Cloudways, AWS, or something else?

For a web agency with 25 sites, the answer is usually Blesta + managed VPS/reseller hosting, unless you specifically want to operate like a hosting provider.

1. Are these WordPress sites?
2. Do clients pay you a monthly maintenance fee, or are you only reselling hosting?
3. Do you want clients to see a white-label portal and manage their own services?
4. Are you currently on cPanel, Plesk, Cloudways, AWS, or something else?

For a web agency with 25 sites, the answer is usually Blesta + managed VPS/reseller hosting, unless you specifically want to operate like a hosting provider.

For 25 client websites where each client needs their own billing/invoice/account, I’d pick WHMCS + a cPanel/WHM reseller or VPS platform.

whmcs.com is particularly well suited because it separates client accounts, services, invoices, payments, and support, rather than treating all 25 sites as one hosting account. WHMCS Documentation WHMCS Documentation

My recommended setup

Hosting: cPanel/WHM
Management/billing: WHMCS
Your structure: one WHMCS client account per customer

This gives you:

• Separate recurring invoices for each client
• Automatic provisioning/suspension when bills are unpaid
• Individual cPanel accounts for each website
• Client self-service portal
• Automatic upgrades/downgrades
• Centralized support tickets
• Ability to charge clients for hosting, domains, SSL, backups, maintenance, etc.
• Room to grow well beyond 25 sites

WHMCS has direct cPanel integration for account creation, suspension/reactivation, usage reporting, package synchronization, and single sign-on. WHMCS WHMCS

One important distinction

If you are the agency and these are your 25 web-design/maintenance clients, I would not create 25 separate reseller accounts.

Instead:

Your business → 1 hosting account/server → 25 separate cPanel accounts → 25 separate WHMCS client accounts

That keeps administration simple while maintaining billing and account isolation.

WHMCS also supports usage-based reseller billing if you eventually want to resell hosting to your clients' clients, including billing by number of cPanel accounts. WHMCS Documentation

What I'd choose at your size

At 25 clients, WHMCS's current Starter tier is exactly 25 active clients at $9.99/month, while Plus supports up to 250 for $34.95/month. WHMCS I'd probably go with Plus if you expect to add clients, because you won't immediately run into the limit.

If you tell me whether the 25 sites are mostly WordPress and whether you want to manage the server yourself or have it fully managed, I can recommend the actual hosting provider/server configuration to pair with WHMCS.

For 25 client websites, where you want each client to have separate billing, invoices, payments, and ideally their own hosting login, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM.

My recommendation

Why WHMCS: it can automatically create/manage cPanel accounts, suspend overdue accounts, synchronize accounts, track resource usage, and provide clients with a billing/support portal. www.whmcs.com

It also supports separate client accounts and recurring invoices, so you can have:

Client A → Website A → Hosting → $X/month
Client B → Website B → Hosting → $Y/month
Client C → Website C → Hosting → $Z/month

without manually creating invoices every month. www.whmcs.com

One important distinction

If by "reseller hosting" you mean you buy one large reseller account and put all 25 websites underneath it, I'd structure it as:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ reseller hosting account / WHM
→ 25 individual cPanel accounts
→ one client per cPanel account

WHMCS can even handle reseller products with per-account/sub-account billing, tiered pricing, and usage-based charges. docs.whmcs.com

WHMCS vs. Blesta

I'd choose WHMCS if you want the most mature ecosystem and expect the hosting operation to grow. Its current self-hosted Plus plan supports up to 250 active clients at $34.95/month, so 25 clients is comfortably within that tier. www.whmcs.com

Blesta is the alternative I'd seriously consider. Its current version supports cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin and 40+ provisioning modules, recurring billing, 30+ payment gateways, support, APIs, and multi-company functionality. www.blesta.com

What I'd do in your situation

cPanel/WHM + WHMCS if your primary goal is:

• 25 separate clients
• automatic recurring billing
• separate invoices/payment methods
• automated provisioning
• automatic suspension for nonpayment
• client portal
• support tickets
• ability to add domains/SSL/maintenance as separate billable services
• room to grow to 100+ sites

One caveat: WHMCS is billing/automation software, not the actual hosting server. You'll still need the underlying reseller hosting or VPS/server.

If you tell me roughly what you currently pay for hosting per month and what you charge each client, I can also lay out the cheapest architecture for 25 sites (reseller account vs VPS + cPanel vs managed WordPress hosting) and estimate your margin.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS if your goal is a professional reseller setup where each client gets their own login, invoices, payment method, hosting service, and billing history.

My recommendation

Why WHMCS: it integrates tightly with cPanel/WHM and can automate the entire customer lifecycle—creating accounts, suspending overdue accounts, provisioning services, handling invoices, and providing a client portal. It also supports usage-based billing for individual accounts under a reseller, which could become useful if you eventually charge clients differently based on resources. docs.whmcs.com

The current self-hosted WHMCS Plus plan supports up to 250 active clients for $34.95/month, so 25 clients is comfortably within the entry tier. www.whmcs.com

When I'd choose Blesta instead

If you're essentially an agency that happens to resell hosting, rather than trying to become a hosting company, I'd seriously consider Blesta. It has recurring billing, automatic provisioning, client portals, support tickets, cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin integrations, and unlimited clients/staff. Its branded monthly license is currently $17.95/month, or you can buy an owned license. www.blesta.com

So for your situation:

Agency + 25 sites + want polished client billing → WHMCS.

Agency + 25 sites + want to minimize software cost → Blesta.

One important distinction: WHMCS/Blesta are the billing/management layer, not the actual hosting server. I'd pair one with a VPS/dedicated server running cPanel/WHM, then give each client their own cPanel account. WHMCS can provision and manage those accounts automatically. docs.whmcs.com

If you tell me what you're paying today for hosting and roughly what you want to charge each of the 25 clients, I can recommend the exact stack (server + cPanel + WHMCS/Blesta) and estimate your monthly margin.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS + a reseller/VPS hosting provider that supports cPanel/WHM or DirectAdmin.

WHMCS is particularly well suited if by “separate billing” you mean each client gets their own account, invoices, payment method, hosting service, and client portal.

My recommendation

WHMCS can automatically provision, modify, suspend and terminate hosting accounts, while handling recurring invoices, payment collection, reminders and client self-service. www.whmcs.com

Importantly, WHMCS supports per-account/usage billing for reseller accounts, so you can structure things like a base hosting fee plus charges for additional cPanel accounts if your business model needs that. docs.whmcs.com

What I'd build for your 25 sites

Hosting provider → WHM/cPanel reseller → WHMCS → your 25 clients

Each client gets:

• Their own WHMCS login
• Their own hosting service
• Their own recurring invoice
• Their own credit card/PayPal payment method
• Automatic renewal/payment collection
• Automatic suspension for non-payment
• Their own hosting credentials
• Optional domain registration/renewal
• Support tickets
• A branded client portal

You can then charge, for example:

Client A: $75/mo website management + $20/mo hosting
Client B: $125/mo website management + $20/mo hosting
Client C: $200/mo website management + $30/mo hosting

…and WHMCS handles the recurring billing separately for each customer.

One important distinction

If these 25 sites are your agency's managed websites and you don't actually want clients logging into a hosting panel, I would not necessarily buy a traditional reseller-hosting package.

Instead, I'd consider:

Managed VPS + cPanel/WHM + WHMCS

That gives you much more control and lets you put multiple client accounts on one server while keeping them isolated.

If you're trying to keep costs down, Blesta is the strongest alternative. Its current branded license is $17.95/month with unlimited clients/staff, and it supports cPanel, Plesk and DirectAdmin provisioning. www.blesta.com

Bottom line: I'd choose WHMCS for your situation unless minimizing software cost is the priority. At only 25 clients, you have plenty of room to grow before WHMCS's client limits become relevant; its current self-hosted Plus plan supports up to 250 active clients at $34.95/month. www.whmcs.com

If you tell me what you're currently paying for hosting and roughly what you charge each of the 25 clients, I can recommend the actual hosting stack (provider + VPS/reseller tier + cPanel/DirectAdmin + WHMCS) and estimate your monthly profit.

For 25 client websites, you probably don’t need a full “hosting company” stack, but you do want:

• each client to have their own account
• separate invoices/subscriptions
• automated renewals
• the ability to suspend/reactivate for non-payment
• optional white-label hosting if you resell under your brand
• room to grow to 100–500 sites

My shortlist would be:

teklanhosting.co.uk

My recommendation for your situation

Pick: Blesta + reseller hosting with WHM/cPanel (or Plesk).

Why:

• 25 clients is small enough that you don't need WHMCS's massive ecosystem.
• You can give every client their own hosting package and invoice separately.
• It is cost-effective if you expect to stay an agency rather than become a large hosting provider. Blesta offers unlimited clients on its plans, while WHMCS pricing scales by active client tiers. blesta.com

A typical setup:

Your Agency
   |
   |-- Blesta (billing + client portal)
   |
   |-- Reseller Hosting Account
          |
          |-- Client A website
          |-- Client B website
          |-- Client C website
          ...
          |-- Client Y website

When I would choose WHMCS instead

Choose WHMCS if you plan to:

• sell hosting publicly to strangers
• offer many hosting tiers
• automate domain registrations
• integrate many payment gateways
• grow into hundreds/thousands of customers

It remains the most widely recognized hosting automation platform because of its integrations and marketplace ecosystem. hostbillingpro.com

Hosting provider setup I’d pair with it

For 25 WordPress/business sites, I’d avoid cheap shared reseller plans. Look for:

• NVMe storage
• daily backups
• LiteSpeed or NGINX caching
• staging sites
• free SSL
• white-label nameservers
• cPanel/WHM or Plesk
• ability to create isolated accounts

One thing I would avoid

Do not put all 25 sites under one shared cPanel login. If one site is compromised, everything can be affected. Use separate hosting accounts.

If you tell me:

1. WordPress or mixed platforms?
2. Do clients pay you monthly for hosting/maintenance?
3. Do you want clients to log in themselves?
4. Current host (GoDaddy, SiteGround, Cloudways, etc.)?

…I can suggest a more specific stack.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS unless you have a strong reason to minimize software costs.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS — best overall for your use case

WHMCS is purpose-built for hosting companies and agencies. It can:

• Give each client their own account/login
• Generate separate recurring invoices per client
• Automatically collect payments via Stripe/PayPal and other gateways
• Provision/suspend hosting automatically
• Handle upgrades, add-ons, domains, taxes, coupons, etc.
• Give clients their own billing/support portal
• Integrate tightly with cPanel, Plesk, and other hosting platforms www.whmcs.com

For an agency managing 25 sites, this means you can essentially have:

Client A → $X/month → their hosting account → their invoice
Client B → $Y/month → their hosting account → their invoice
Client C → $Z/month → their hosting account → their invoice

without manually managing 25 subscriptions.

WHMCS also supports reseller-specific billing and can track the number of cPanel accounts a reseller creates if you eventually expand into actual hosting reselling. docs.whmcs.com

2. Blesta — best value alternative

Blesta is the one I'd seriously consider if you don't want WHMCS.

It has recurring invoicing, automatic payments, client portals, provisioning, support tickets, cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin modules, and even multi-company support. www.blesta.com

For a small web agency, Blesta can be particularly attractive because it's less "hosting-industry heavyweight" while still providing the important automation.

What I'd do in your situation

One important distinction: if by "reseller hosting" you mean you want to buy one reseller hosting package and put all 25 client sites under it, you don't necessarily need to become a hosting company or give clients access to WHMCS. You can use WHMCS/Blesta as your billing layer while the actual hosting comes from a reseller provider.

If you tell me (1) whether the 25 sites are WordPress, (2) whether you want each client to pay you directly, and (3) roughly what you want to spend per month on hosting, I can narrow this down to the best reseller host + billing platform combination for 25 sites.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick Blesta unless you specifically need the larger WHMCS ecosystem.

My recommendation: Blesta

Blesta is a particularly good fit for a web agency/reseller setup because you can:

• Give each client their own account and billing
• Automatically generate recurring invoices and collect payments
• Provision/suspend hosting automatically
• Connect to cPanel, Plesk, or DirectAdmin
• Handle domains, SSL, support tickets, quotes, etc.
• Keep your hosting operation separate from your clients' individual billing
• Start at $17.95/month with unlimited clients on its branded plan, according to current pricing. www.blesta.com

For only 25 sites, that's attractive because you're not paying substantially more as your client count grows.

Blesta vs. WHMCS

WHMCS is the more established hosting-specific choice and has a huge integration ecosystem. It also supports sophisticated usage billing—for example, billing a reseller based on the number of cPanel accounts they create. docs.whmcs.com

WHMCS pricing currently starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients on its self-hosted Plus plan. www.whmcs.com

What I'd do in your situation

If your model is:

You → reseller hosting account/server → 25 individual client websites → each client gets their own invoice

I'd build it like:

Your hosting provider
→ cPanel/WHM or DirectAdmin
→ Blesta
→ Client A
→ Client B
→ Client C
→ ...
→ Client 25

Each client gets their own login, invoice history, payment method, renewal date, hosting service, and support relationship.

One important distinction: if by "separate billing" you mean each client should receive their own independent hosting invoice, both Blesta and WHMCS do that. If you mean 25 completely separate companies/brands with separate accounting and billing identities, Blesta has a particularly interesting advantage: its paid multi-company support can isolate settings and branding within one installation. www.blesta.com

Bottom line: I'd choose Blesta for 25 agency clients. I'd move to WHMCS if you expect to become a substantial hosting reseller, need a specific WHMCS-only integration, or want the broadest possible hosting-industry ecosystem.

If you tell me which reseller host you're considering (e.g. cPanel/WHM, HostGator, Liquid Web, Namecheap, etc.) and whether clients need to log into their own hosting panels, I can recommend the exact setup—including hosting provider + control panel + billing software + domain/SSL automation.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS + a reseller-capable hosting panel, unless you have a strong reason to avoid WHMCS.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS — best overall

• Built specifically for hosting billing, provisioning, domains, support, and recurring invoices.
• Supports separate client accounts, so each website/client can have its own login, services, invoices, payment method, etc. docs.whmcs.com
• If you're using cPanel/WHM, WHMCS can automatically provision accounts and even do usage/overage billing. docs.whmcs.com
• Current self-hosted pricing starts at $34.95/month for up to 250 active clients, so 25 websites won't be a problem. www.whmcs.com

WHMCS

2. Blesta — best value alternative

• Particularly attractive if you want something lighter and cheaper.
• Current branded monthly license is $17.95/month with unlimited clients and staff. www.blesta.com
• Supports recurring billing, automatic provisioning, cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin, multiple payment gateways, domains, support tickets, and multi-company setups. www.blesta.com

Blesta

3. HostBill — consider if you need more complex automation

• Strong hosting automation and reseller/WHM functionality, but I'd consider it overkill for only 25 sites unless you're building a larger hosting business. hostbillapp.com

HostBill

What I'd build

For your situation:

WHMCS → cPanel/WHM → separate hosting account per client → Stripe/ACH → automatic monthly billing

That gives you:

Client A → website/account → invoice → payment
Client B → website/account → invoice → payment
Client C → website/account → invoice → payment

while you manage everything centrally.

One important distinction: if by "separate billing" you mean each of your 25 clients needs their own independent billing portal/invoices, WHMCS and Blesta both handle that. If you mean 25 completely separate companies/brands with isolated billing, Blesta's multi-company functionality becomes particularly interesting. www.blesta.com

My pick: WHMCS if you want the safest, most established hosting stack; Blesta if minimizing monthly software cost is important.

If you tell me whether you're using cPanel, Plesk, or DirectAdmin, I can recommend the exact reseller-hosting setup and pricing structure I'd use for 25 sites.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick Blesta + cPanel/WHM unless you specifically need the enormous WHMCS ecosystem.

My recommendation: Blesta

Blesta is particularly well suited to an agency managing client hosting because it gives you:

• Separate client accounts — each client can have their own login, invoices, services, and payment method.
• Recurring billing — automatically invoice and collect hosting fees.
• Automatic provisioning/suspension — integrates with cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin and other platforms. www.blesta.com
• Client portal + support tickets built in.
• Unlimited clients on its listed licenses, so 25 sites doesn't put you near a pricing ceiling. Current monthly plans start at $17.95/mo. blesta.com
• Multi-company support if you eventually want to operate multiple brands from one installation. www.blesta.com

Blesta vs. WHMCS

WHMCS currently starts at $34.95/mo for up to 250 active clients on its self-hosted plans, while its cloud plans start at $9.99/mo for up to 25 clients. www.whmcs.com

One particularly useful WHMCS feature is usage billing, where you can automatically charge a reseller based on the number of cPanel accounts they create or other tracked metrics. docs.whmcs.com

What I'd actually build

For your situation:

Your agency → reseller hosting account → cPanel/WHM → Blesta → 25 individual client accounts

Each client gets:

1. Their own hosting account
2. Their own Blesta login
3. Their own monthly invoice
4. Automatic credit-card/ACH billing
5. Their own hosting renewal date
6. Ability to open support tickets
7. Ability to upgrade/downgrade their hosting

You can then charge, for example, $25–$50/month per website, while your reseller hosting cost is one underlying infrastructure bill.

Bottom line: I'd choose Blesta for 25 agency-managed sites. I'd choose WHMCS instead if you're planning to turn this into a serious hosting-reseller business with lots of third-party integrations, domains, automation, and potentially hundreds/thousands of customers.

If you tell me whether the 25 clients are WordPress sites and what you currently pay for hosting, I can also recommend the actual reseller hosting provider + server/control-panel setup I'd use.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS + cPanel/WHM if your priority is a mature, largely hands-off reseller operation.

My recommendation

Why WHMCS: it can automatically create hosting accounts, handle recurring invoices/payments, upgrades, suspensions, support, and client portals. Its cPanel integration specifically supports shared/reseller hosting and automated provisioning, billing, upgrades, and terminations. docs.whmcs.com

For your situation, I'd structure it like:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ cPanel/WHM reseller account
→ Client A's website
→ Client B's website
→ ...
→ Client Y's website

Each client gets their own WHMCS account/service and invoice, while you maintain the underlying reseller infrastructure. You can also charge differently per client—e.g. $30/mo hosting, $50/mo maintenance, $20/mo backups, etc.

But I'd seriously consider Blesta

If you're an agency managing 25 websites rather than a traditional hosting company, Blesta may actually be the better fit.

Blesta supports recurring billing, automatic payments, provisioning, suspension/unsuspension, client portals, support tickets, cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin integrations, and multiple companies/brands. www.blesta.com

Its pricing is particularly attractive: Blesta's current plans support unlimited clients, whereas WHMCS uses client-count tiers. blesta.com

What I'd choose for you

If you expect to stay around 25–100 sites:
→ Blesta + cPanel/WHM

If you want to build a serious hosting/reseller business and may have hundreds/thousands of customers:
→ WHMCS + cPanel/WHM

If "separate billing" means each of your 25 clients needs their own invoice/payment portal, both can do this. You don't need 25 separate hosting accounts or 25 billing installations.

One important distinction: reseller hosting provider vs. billing software. WHMCS/Blesta handles your customer billing and automation; cPanel/WHM (or Plesk/DirectAdmin) handles the actual hosting accounts.

If you tell me (1) whether you're currently on cPanel, (2) roughly how much disk/bandwidth the 25 sites use, and (3) whether you want clients to pay you monthly by credit card/ACH, I can recommend the exact reseller hosting + billing stack and estimate your monthly cost.

For 25 client websites, I’d pick WHMCS if your priority is a mature, low-maintenance reseller-hosting operation with each client getting their own billing/account portal.

WHMCS is specifically built around hosting automation: recurring invoices, payment collection, client portals, provisioning, suspension for nonpayment, and integrations with cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin. www.whmcs.com

My recommendation

WHMCS's current hosted Starter plan is $9.99/month for up to 25 active clients, while its self-hosted Plus plan starts at $34.95/month for up to 250. www.whmcs.com

Blesta is the alternative I'd seriously consider. Blesta starts at $17.95/month with unlimited clients and has automatic recurring billing, provisioning, suspension/unsuspension, and cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin integrations. www.blesta.comwww.blesta.com

One important distinction

If by "separate billing" you mean:

25 websites → 25 separate customers → each gets their own invoice, credit card, renewal, and hosting login

Either WHMCS or Blesta handles this well.

If you mean:

We want to resell hosting to our clients, but keep their hosting completely separated from our agency account

I'd structure it as:

Your agency
→ WHMCS/Blesta
→ reseller hosting account/server
→ Client A → website/account + billing
→ Client B → website/account + billing
→ Client C → website/account + billing
→ etc.

If you're using cPanel/WHM, WHMCS has particularly strong reseller functionality, including tracking the number of cPanel accounts a reseller creates and billing based on those accounts if you want usage-based pricing. docs.whmcs.com

What I'd choose for your 25 sites

WHMCS + cPanel/WHM reseller hosting is my default recommendation.

Use Blesta instead if keeping software costs low and having a simpler, more open/developer-friendly platform matters more than having the biggest hosting ecosystem. Blesta's current pricing is considerably more attractive as you grow beyond 25 clients. www.blesta.comwww.blesta.com

If you tell me whether the 25 clients are all separate companies and whether you're currently on cPanel, Plesk, or WordPress-only hosting, I can recommend the exact hosting provider + WHMCS/Blesta setup + pricing structure I'd use.

For 25 client websites, where each client should have their own account, invoice, payment method, and hosting resources, I’d pick WHMCS + a reseller hosting account.

My recommendation: WHMCS

WHMCS is probably the safest choice if you want this to grow into a proper hosting operation.

It gives you:

• Separate client accounts — each client gets their own login, services, invoices and payment history.
• Automated recurring billing and payment collection.
• Automatic hosting provisioning/suspension when invoices are paid/overdue.
• Integration with cPanel/WHM, Plesk and DirectAdmin.
• Domains, SSL, support tickets and other services can all live in the same client portal.
• It can even track reseller sub-accounts and bill based on usage. docs.whmcs.com
• At your size, the current self-hosted Plus plan supports up to 250 active clients for $34.95/month. www.whmcs.com

The architecture I'd use is:

Your agency
→ WHMCS
→ Reseller hosting account
→ 25 separate cPanel accounts
→ 25 clients with individual billing

That gives you a clean separation: Client A cannot see Client B's hosting or invoices.

One strong alternative: Blesta

Blesta is worth considering if you want something less expensive and more flexible.

Blesta supports client management, automated billing, provisioning, domains and hosting-panel integrations. Its current branded license is $17.95/month with unlimited clients, and it also offers owned licenses. www.blesta.com

I'd choose Blesta over WHMCS if:

• keeping monthly software costs low matters;
• you want an agency/MSP-oriented billing system rather than the most established hosting ecosystem;
• you don't need a huge ecosystem of WHMCS-specific addons.

What I'd actually do for your 25 sites

Important: Don't put all 25 sites into one shared cPanel account. Give every client their own cPanel account so you can suspend, migrate, back up, change limits, and transfer ownership independently.

If by "separate billing" you mean each client should receive their own branded billing portal/invoice, while you pay one wholesale hosting bill, then this setup is exactly what I'd recommend.

If you tell me whether you're currently using cPanel, Plesk, or something else, I can recommend the specific reseller hosting provider + WHMCS/Blesta setup I'd use for 25 sites, including approximate monthly cost.

For 25 client websites with separate client billing, I’d pick WHMCS + a cPanel/WHM reseller account.

My recommendation

1. WHMCS — best overall

• Each client gets their own login, services, invoices, payment history, and support area.
• Automatically creates/suspends hosting accounts based on payment status.
• Handles recurring invoices, Stripe/PayPal, reminders, prorating, taxes, etc. www.whmcs.comwww.whmcs.com
• Integrates tightly with cPanel/WHM and can provision individual accounts automatically. www.whmcs.com
• You can even bill based on the number of cPanel accounts a reseller creates if you eventually resell hosting to your own clients. docs.whmcs.com

At only 25 clients, WHMCS Cloud Starter is currently $9.99/month for up to 25 clients; Growth is $25/month for up to 100. www.whmcs.com

WHMCS

The alternative I'd consider

2. Blesta — best if you want a simpler/leaner system

Blesta does essentially the same core job: client management, recurring billing, payment processing, automated provisioning, suspensions, support tickets, and cPanel/Plesk/DirectAdmin integrations. It also supports multiple companies from one installation with an add-on. www.blesta.com

Blesta

What I'd build for your setup

Your business
     │
     ├── WHMCS
     │     ├── Client A → $X/month
     │     ├── Client B → $X/month
     │     ├── Client C → $X/month
     │     └── ...25 clients
     │
     └── cPanel/WHM Reseller Account
             ├── Website A
             ├── Website B
             ├── Website C
             └── ...25 websites

Your clients don't need to know or interact with the reseller hosting provider. They pay you; WHMCS handles the billing and the hosting account underneath.

One important distinction: if by "separate billing" you mean each client should receive their own invoice and pay you individually, WHMCS is an excellent fit. If you mean each website needs its own completely isolated hosting account, I'd also make sure the reseller provider gives you individual cPanel accounts rather than putting all 25 sites into one account.

For your size, I'd choose WHMCS Cloud + a reputable cPanel reseller host unless you specifically want maximum control/self-hosting. If you tell me your monthly hosting budget and whether you need email hosting, WordPress, or just website hosting, I can narrow it down to the best 2–3 reseller providers for your 25 sites.