Reseller hosting for web designers: hosting as an extra service
Offer hosting as an extension of your web design services and create a recurring revenue stream
- White-label DirectAdmin - your client sees your brand
- Up to €100 extra per client per year
- No technical knowledge required for daily management
- Free migration service for existing client websites
Why web designers choose Theory7 reseller hosting
White-label client panel
Your clients log in to a panel with your branding and company name. They never notice Theory7 delivers the hosting - you are the provider.
One dashboard for all your clients
Manage all client websites from a single central DirectAdmin overview. WordPress updates, SSL certificates, and email - all in one place.
1-click staging environments
Build and test websites in a staging environment before you go live. Ideal for redesigns and major updates without risk to the live site.
Automatic SSL per client domain
Every client domain automatically gets a free wildcard SSL certificate. No manual installation, no extra costs, no expired certificates.
Technical support for you as a reseller
Run into an issue? Our team helps you as a reseller with server configuration, DNS settings, and migrations. You help your client, we help you.
Daily backups per client account
Every client website is backed up separately. Restore an individual site in minutes without affecting other clients - crucial when you manage dozens of sites.
Start with your own domain name
Instantly check whether your desired domain name is still available
Offering hosting as a web designer: here's how
The step from pure web design to web design and hosting is smaller than you think. You don't need to become a systems administrator - Theory7 handles the infrastructure, you handle the client relationship. Here's a practical roadmap:
Phase 1: Start small (months 1-3)
Order the Starter plan and migrate your own website as a test. Get familiar with DirectAdmin, experiment with creating accounts and setting up email. Then offer hosting to your next two or three new clients.
Phase 2: Standardize (months 3-6)
Create a standard hosting offer with fixed prices. Write a short explanation for clients about what they get (storage, email, SSL, backups). Add hosting to your quotes as a fixed line item. Most clients say yes - they want everything from one provider.
Phase 3: Grow (months 6-12)
Upgrade to the Basic or Medium plan once you hit the limits of Starter. Consider also offering maintenance packages (WordPress updates, security checks, small content changes). Many web designers earn €50-100/client/month on top of hosting this way.
Common mistake: Pricing too low. Hosting for €5/month sounds attractive, but leaves little margin and devalues your service. Clients willing to pay for a professional website will also accept €10-15/month for reliable hosting with personal service.
Reseller plans for web designers
Start small, grow with your client base
- 10 client accounts
- 15GB SSD storage
- 50 domains
- Wildcard SSL
- DirectAdmin reseller panel
- 30 client accounts
- 50GB SSD storage
- 100 domains
- Wildcard SSL
- Free SiteSwitch migration
- 50 client accounts
- 100GB SSD storage
- 150 domains
- Wildcard SSL
- Unlimited bandwidth
Calculation example: extra income as a web designer
Let's compare three scenarios to show how reseller hosting affects your revenue:
| Scenario | Starter (10 clients) | Growth (25 clients) | Advanced (50 clients) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price per client/month | €10.00 | €12.50 | €12.50 |
| Monthly revenue | €100 | €312.50 | €625 |
| Theory7 plan | Starter €2.49 | Basic €5.99 | Medium €8.99 |
| Net profit/month | €97.51 | €306.51 | €616.01 |
| Annual profit | €1,170 | €3,678 | €7,392 |
The great thing about this model: the income is recurring. Every month the money comes in, regardless of whether you have new design projects. After a few years you'll manage a portfolio of hosting clients that's a serious income source on its own.
Frequently asked questions about reseller hosting for web designers
No. DirectAdmin is specifically designed for easy management. You create client accounts in a few clicks, and things like SSL, email, and DNS are configured automatically. Theory7 handles the server infrastructure - you focus on design.
You set your own prices and bill through your own bookkeeping or invoicing software such as Moneybird or e-Boekhouden. Many web designers charge €10-15/month per client, which amounts to a healthy margin on top of your reseller costs.
Yes, in two ways. You can do it yourself via DirectAdmin using the import function, or use our free SiteSwitch migration service (available from the Basic plan). We move the sites to your reseller environment with no downtime.
Not with the white-label option. Your clients log in to the DirectAdmin panel under your brand name. Emails, the login screen, and the interface show your company name. Only you know Theory7 provides the infrastructure.
Say you manage 20 client websites and charge €12.50/month per client. That's €250/month in hosting revenue. With a Medium plan at €8.99/month, your net profit is more than €240/month - €2,880 a year in extra income on top of your design work.
Each client account is isolated from other accounts, so a hack doesn't spread. There are also daily backups so you can restore quickly. Our servers also have Imunify360 malware protection that automatically blocks most attacks.
Absolutely. Upgrading is seamless with no downtime. Start with the Starter plan for your first clients and switch to Basic or Medium as you grow. You only pay the difference, and all client data stays intact.
Offering hosting as a web designer: here's how
As a web designer you build websites for clients - but what happens after delivery? In many cases you send the client to an external hosting provider, and lose the relationship. With reseller hosting. According to HostAdvice, the reseller hosting market grows 15% annually. you approach it differently. You offer hosting as part of your service and build a recurring revenue stream.
Why web designers choose reseller hosting
The model is simple: you buy hosting capacity from Theory7 at reseller rates and resell it to your clients at your own price. Your clients get a professional hosting plan with your branding, and you keep the relationship and the income. No middleman, no lost clients.
DirectAdmin makes managing multiple client websites easy to oversee. WHMCS is the most widely used platform for hosting automation. You have one central dashboard where you create accounts, set storage limits, configure email addresses, and manage SSL certificates. For web designers used to complex CMS platforms, this is child's play.
Calculation example: extra income as a web designer
Let's work through a concrete example. Say you have 15 clients whose websites you've built. You offer them hosting for €10/month including daily backups, SSL, and email:
- Monthly income: 15 clients × €10 = €150/month
- Your costs (Basic plan): €5.99/month
- Net profit: approximately €144/month = around €1,728 per year
Grow to 40 clients at an average rate of €12.50/month, and you're looking at around €5,700 net per year - a serious addition to your design income. Also check out our website builder page for more options you can offer clients.
Practical: here's how you start as a reseller
Step 1 is ordering a reseller plan. For most starting web designers, the Starter plan at €2.49/month is enough - that gives you room for 10 client accounts. Step 2 is creating client accounts via DirectAdmin. Each client gets their own isolated environment with their own storage, email, and databases.
Step 3 is the most important: determine your pricing model. Most web designers choose a monthly hosting subscription of €8 to €15 per client, depending on storage and the level of maintenance they offer. Combine hosting with a monthly maintenance package (updates, backup checks, small changes) and you have a solid recurring income stream.
Hosting as part of your WordPress workflow
Most web designers work with WordPress, and our reseller hosting is a perfect fit. LiteSpeed servers ensure fast load times, the built-in LSCache plugin speeds up WordPress sites even further, and with the staging feature you can test updates before they go live. That way you deliver your clients not just a great website, but also a fast and reliable hosting experience.
Discover all the benefits of reseller hosting for web designers at Theory7.
Reseller hosting for web designers is the perfect complement to your web design services. With reseller hosting for web designers at Theory7 you can offer your clients hosting directly under your own brand name. This increases your revenue per client and builds a recurring income stream alongside your design work.
How do you get started as a reseller?
Reseller hosting at Theory7 is the ideal way to start your own hosting business. You get a white-label DirectAdmin control panel that you can customize with your own branding. Your clients only see your brand - Theory7 stays invisible in the background. You manage the plans, limits, and prices yourself.
What makes good reseller hosting?
There are three core points when choosing reseller hosting. First, stability: your reputation depends on uptime. Second, scalability: you need to be able to expand easily as your client base grows. Third, support: when your clients have a problem you can't solve yourself, you need to be able to rely on fast technical support.
Starting your own hosting business
With reseller hosting you offer hosting under your own brand name. Your clients see your logo, your name, and your branding - not Theory7's. You set your own prices and plans, we provide the technical infrastructure and support in the background.
This model is ideal for web design agencies and freelancers who want to offer hosting as an additional service. You earn an extra income stream without having to invest in servers or technical staff. DirectAdmin makes it easy to create and manage client accounts.
Hosting as part of your service package
For web designers and agencies, offering hosting is a logical extension of the service package. After delivering their website, your clients need hosting anyway, and by arranging this yourself you keep control over the technical environment. This prevents situations where a client picks cheap hosting that undermines the quality of your work with slow load times or limited PHP versions.
With reseller hosting at Theory7 you can create a separate hosting account per client with tailored specifications. A simple portfolio site gets a basic plan, while a WooCommerce store gets a more powerful account. You manage everything from one reseller panel and have direct insight into the resource usage of all your clients. The monthly income from hosting also forms a stable, recurring revenue source alongside your project-based design income.
Sources and references
- W3Techs - w3techs.com
- LiteSpeed Technologies - litespeedtech.com
- DirectAdmin - directadmin.com
"As a web designer I work daily with various suppliers and systems, which is why I value good support enormously. At Theory7 you're always helped quickly. They respond promptly to messages and when a problem arises it's picked up and solved almost immediately. The communication is pleasant, professional and you can tell they really think along with you. At Kranendonk Webdesign we are therefore very satisfied with the collaboration and can wholeheartedly recommend Theory7!"
