HF PanelDocsv1.0.0

Sell hosting with packages and online payments

Make your hosting packages, connect Stripe or PayPal, open the order page, set up invoices and reminders, and follow your revenue.

This tutorial turns your server into a hosting shop. Customers choose a package on your order page, pay by card or PayPal, and get their account, welcome email and Control Panel automatically. Allow about an hour, most of it in your Stripe or PayPal account.

You need: an administrator login, and a Stripe account, a PayPal business account, or both.

1. Make your packages

  1. Open Server Admin › Accounts › Packages. A new server has Starter, Business and Pro to start from.

  2. Click Edit on one, or fill in New package:

    Field Example
    Name Starter
    Disk (GB), Domains, Mailboxes, Databases 10, 1, 10, 2
    CPU (cores), Memory (MB) 1, 1024
    £ / month the monthly price; 0 = free
    Free trial (days) days free before the first payment, or 0
    Feature list Everything (default), or a list that hides tools

  3. Click Save.

To give cheaper plans fewer tools, make a list under Feature lists first. To hold accounts to their CPU and memory, click Enforce limits under CPU & memory limits.

2. Connect Stripe (card payments)

  1. In the Stripe Dashboard, add a webhook endpoint with the address shown in the Set up (once) card on Server Admin › Billing › Billing, and choose the events the card lists.
  2. In Stripe — card payments, paste the Secret key and the Webhook signing secret (whsec_…). Click Save.
  3. Click Check Stripe & sync packages. Every paid package is made ready to sell in Stripe.

Important: without the webhook signing secret, card orders don't become accounts.

3. Connect PayPal (optional)

  1. At developer.paypal.com, create an app and copy its client ID and secret.
  2. In PayPal, paste the Client ID and Secret, choose the Mode (Sandbox — test payments first), and tick Offer PayPal on the order page, the licence shop and invoices. Click Save.
  3. Click Connect PayPal. The webhook is set up for you.

Test with Sandbox, then switch to Live — real payments with the live app's keys and click Connect PayPal again.

4. Set up your invoices

  1. In Invoice details, enter your Company name, Address, VAT number if you have one, the Number prefix and How to pay.
  2. Tick Email each invoice to the customer as a PDF.
  3. Click Save invoice details.

To charge VAT by country or sell in several currencies, see Tax & currencies.

5. Open the order page

  1. In Selling, choose the Currency.
  2. Tick Open the order page and take payments.
  3. Click Save.
  4. Click Order page at the top to see it, and put a link to it on your website.

The order page is at https://panel.yourdomain.com:8443/order.

6. Make a test order

Order the cheapest package yourself with a Stripe test key or PayPal Sandbox. Check that:

  • the order shows Account made under Orders
  • the account appears under Server Admin › Accounts › Accounts
  • the welcome email and the invoice arrive

Then switch Stripe and PayPal to their live keys.

7. Win customers (optional)

  • New discount code: make a code such as SPRING20 and share its Link.
  • Referral programme: tick Switch on and set the Credit per referral. Customers get a link under Refer a friend in their Control Panel.

8. Chase unpaid invoices

For invoices you make by hand (bank transfer), tick Send reminders for overdue invoices under Unpaid invoices, set after how many days the account is suspended, and click Save. Card payments are followed up by Stripe.

9. Follow the business

Open Server Admin › Billing › Business for monthly revenue, new accounts, cancellations and churn.

Tip: already use a separate billing system? HF Panel has modules for it instead of the built-in shop: see WHMCS module and Blesta module.