Do you need an LLC to sell web sites/ charge for hosting?

How will you provide the hosting? As a reseller, on your own server?

I'd do more research - including using search on this forum to find more recent threads on this or similar topics.


In 2010 - it was a good plan....nine years later much has changed online. Not saying it's a bad idea - doing some current research would be wise. Very few small businesses in the US are without sites these days - and as an LLC is specific to the US, I would assume the US is your target market.


A plan in 2010 might need to be tweaked and re-evaluated going into 2020...

when considering this, the thing you have to consider is "Liability". As in, is there any on your part? The answer to that is YES there is liability on your part. An example a site goes down... and your client losses money due to the down time.

Many will argue that "HostGator" would be responsible, and the truth is Yes, but liability falls on you as well. If it were to come to a lawsuit or the like both YOU and HostGator would be named in the suite.

An LLC ( Limited Liability Company ) Protects YOU personally by separating your personal interest form the interest of the business. Setting up an LLC and having a limited amount of liability insurance goes a long way.

I found this interesting so I have done some research on different host's reseller agreements.

Here's part of Inmotion's:
Several others say similar things.

Technically you don't need an LLC but it makes sense to have one since it is relatively cheap to register one in most states and does take some liability off of you. Also as a sole proprietor you still have to register with your state, you can't just sell websites and hosting and say, "I'm a sole proprietor." You can do freelance work without registering with the state.

If you want to be able to process credit cards and have a bank account in the business name you are going to have to register.

in my country, we don't need it. But having LLC is a good choice even if it's not a requirement for the business.

Many self-run business owners don't form an LLC, but each generally decides what is best based on the level of risk involved with their type of business.

Forming an LLC has a number of advantages though. As others mentioned, it limits the owner's personal liability in the event of a lawsuit. You can also use the business' EIN to open a bank account for business funds. There's also a degree of formality when you do business with other vendors.

In the US, LLCs are generally easy to set up. You should be aware that there are costs involved, both to the government when you form the LLC, and annually. The fees in most states are reasonable. However, California has a minimum annual tax of $800 and Massachusetts is up there too, at $520 per year. If you don't want to list your personal information on state records, you may want to appoint a registered agent, which is required when you form your LLC. I use Harbor Compliance which is $99/year.

So, there's a cost but it's all relative to the advantages you think you'll receive. If you're still not sure whether or not to form an LLC, ask an attorney or accountant about your situation.

Yes, you don't need LLC while starting a new business. If you need LLC, you can get personal for protection of your business and employment business structure and LLC, also the advantage of the interest of two business, corporation and partnership business structures.

There's a few things to consider here, which I think other members have already addressed so hopefully this is still helpful to you a few weeks later.

You can certainly start off without registering an LLC. Though, there may be tax benefits and protections from liability (i.e., protection from someone going after your personal assets if you fail to do something such as pay a vendor or pay off a business loan).

You could also start off with a D.B.A. (Doing Business As).

I would always recommend having a Terms of Service with any online venture. There are many TOS generators online, but I would highly recommend termly.io

Now, as a person who has been in the Web Hosting industry for nearly 10 years as both employee and owner...

What you're looking to do is resell web hosting packages. As others have suggested, you'd want to consider using a Reseller hosting plan. A "Reseller" hosting plan is a glorified "Shared" hosting plan in most cases through providers such as HostGator (I'm only mentioning HostGator since I saw a response below to them).

If you value the future of your business take some time to research HostGator or more importantly, HostGator's parent company "EIG" (Endurance International Group). EIG has acquired many web hosts over the years, including HostGator, and has a reputation for...ruining many of the web hosts they acquire.

Since HostGator is one of EIG's "core" brands along side BlueHost and iPage, they haven't messed up HostGator as much as they have others they've acquired (i.e., Site5, Arvixe, A Small Orange, and many others).

Many hosting providers that offer "Reseller" hosting plans are provisioning your "Reseller" plan on a glorified shared server where other Reseller's may or may not be abusing server resources, which can directly affect the performance of your websites. If another Reseller on the same server as your Reseller account is provisioned on abuses those resources and causes downtime...guess what? Your websites also go down.

Don't get me wrong, Reseller plans can be a great starting point but once you grow or if you're serious about starting your own company I'd look into a VPS or Dedicated server.

As the service provider (Reselling hosting to clients) if any downtime occurs you are responsible for dealing with your clients. They can technically go after both you (and the company you're using should they find out you're a Reseller) should downtime or loss of data occurs.