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Can you legally host client's sites on a shared hosting or must they each have a Cpanel?

by amarketing
13 replies
Hi, all.

From what I can see, hostgator charges only about $7 per month for unlimited domains, diskspace, and bandwidth with their personal hosting package. The reseller package starts at about $24 per month and has 50 GB disk space and 500 GB bandwidth.

Obviously, the benefit is that each client can have his own Cpanel, but I'm thinking that a lot of business owners probably wouldn't ever access it or know what to do with it if they did.

Since 7$ per month is a lot cheaper than $25 when you're just starting out and don't have any clients (or your first few want free hosting for a year), would it be possible to have a personal account and host the sites on that and then move them to a reseller when you have the hosting income to cover it? Could that present legal issues if the client can't access/modify his site when he wants?

Looking forward to hearing from anyone who's ever tried this. Thanks for the input.
#client #cpanel #host #hosting #legally #shared #sites
  • Profile picture of the author johniemail
    I started with a shared, then upgraded to reseller. The only issue you may run into in the beginning is what you already brought up, you may run into a client that wants cPanel access. Rare, but it might happen. HG says "unlimited" but its not really the case. You should really upgrade to a reseller once you get your first sale.

    There is also a level of security involved, if one client tries to get fancy and beings sending spam emails, all of you sites being hosted on that account could become suspended. Upgrade ASAP... its only $25/month.
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  • Profile picture of the author oliverj87
    Unless they specifically need access to the cpanel then its ok, your still able to set up an ftp user for them so that they can only access the part with their site in.

    Then just simply transfer it over once you've the new hosting, transfer all the sites over, then switch the dns, shouldn't notice any downtime on the clients sites.
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    • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
      Originally Posted by oliverj87 View Post

      Unless they specifically need access to the cpanel then its ok, your still able to set up an ftp user for them so that they can only access the part with their site in.
      Apparently it's not ok to do what you suggest on a basic plan on Hostgator.
      It seems to be against their TOS as per the post I made above.

      Sure with a basic hosting plan you "could" technically set up an FTP user for someone else and have them set up a site and access their files etc, however it does not appear that Hostgator allows that.
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      • Profile picture of the author oliverj87
        Originally Posted by stoltingmediagroup View Post

        Apparently it's not ok to do what you suggest on a basic plan on Hostgator.
        It seems to be against their TOS as per the post I made above.

        Sure with a basic hosting plan you "could" technically set up an FTP user for someone else and have them set up a site and access their files etc, however it does not appear that Hostgator allows that.
        Apparently not, but say you charge them for a website re-design with hosting included.

        Your not actually selling them hosting, so surely you not violating TOS either??
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  • Profile picture of the author stoltingmediagroup
    11.) Shared (non-reseller accounts) / Semidedicated Servers.

    Shared accounts may NOT resell web hosting to other people, if you wish to resell hosting you must use a reseller account.

    Terms of Service - HostGator
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  • Profile picture of the author PyraWeb
    I would recommend just paying the extra $18. If you're worried about the price maybe you should wait until you have more funds. I spent around $800 for my start-up costs, and even that seems on the low side.
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  • Profile picture of the author Jeannie Crabtree
    Shared accounts cannot do that. I would suggest you start with the Hostgator small reseller package and then move up to a bigger package as you need it.
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  • Profile picture of the author kpmedia
    No.
    It's against the ToS of every web host I've ever seen.
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  • Profile picture of the author bwh1
    At all shared low cost hosts I know you can only host your own domains.

    This is done for that YOUR account won't get packed wth domains from 3° party clients bursting the servers. This also protects YOU from others doing this.

    If you do this as a business then you need a Reseller hosting account, just as the name says, made for reselling hosting.

    Access to cPanel is just a great feature of reseller hosting, the main reason here is that the servers will not be overloaded.

    You maybe can go with the first two clients on your account, but use the money you make and change for getting reseller hosting immediately after you have some funds then switch those clients.

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    • Profile picture of the author kpmedia
      Originally Posted by bwh1 View Post

      Access to cPanel is just a great feature of reseller hosting, the main reason here is that the servers will not be overloaded..
      Not necessarily.

      Hostgator reseller accounts have been chronically overloaded for years, even before EIG.

      It's just a type of shared hosting. It's can still be overloaded.

      The worst one is "master reseller" hosting, a ponzi scheme in the hosting world. The resources totally get away from the server owners.
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      • Profile picture of the author amarketing
        Thanks for all the input, guys! It looks like it's a good idea to go with the reseller acct. from the get-go. Like others said, the price difference really isn't much and this way you have peace of mind. It's just extra work, anyway, to move sites over later.
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        • Profile picture of the author MainstreetMarketer
          A few times a year Hostgator will have a 50% off sale on all packages. You can pick up a reseller account and lock those savings in for at least 3 years. I would check for that on black friday.
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  • Profile picture of the author Kingfish85
    Why try to cut corners if you're selling something?

    Keep in mind, that every additional website added to a shared hosting plan is being put at risk for security issues - if one gets compromised, they all get compromised; all websites under a shared hosting account run as the same system user.

    OP - I know you understand this now - my post is geared towards the others who're trying to come up with ways to get around it.
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