Every client site needs hosting. Here's how to handle every scenario — from clients with existing hosting to selling white-label managed hosting as a recurring revenue stream.
| Situation | Recommended Approach | Your Cost | Charge Client |
|---|---|---|---|
| Client has no hosting yet | Host on your Hetzner server — white-label managed hosting | ~$0 marginal (your server is already running) | $35/mo managed hosting |
| Client has GoDaddy/Bluehost/cheap hosting | Migrate to your server OR work within their hosting — depends on their preferences | $0 if you migrate | $35/mo if you host it; $0 if they keep theirs |
| Client has SiteGround/WPEngine (good hosting) | Work within their hosting — it's already solid | $0 | $0 for hosting; charge for maintenance separately |
| Client wants their own cPanel account | Reseller hosting via SiteGround or A2 Hosting — give them their own login | $15-$30/mo for a reseller plan | $25-$40/mo (small margin built in) |
| Large client, high traffic | Recommend VPS or cloud (Hetzner Cloud or DigitalOcean Droplet) — set it up for them | $6-$20/mo | $50-$75/mo managed |
Your CPX31 server (5.78.182.164) runs HestiaCP and can comfortably host 20-40 WordPress sites. Each site costs you essentially nothing beyond the monthly server fee you're already paying.
fcprngoelsmithplumbing.com/home/fcprngoel/web/smithplumbing.com/public_html/| CPX31 Specs | Value |
|---|---|
| vCPUs | 4 |
| RAM | 8 GB |
| Storage | 160 GB NVMe SSD |
| Bandwidth | 20 TB/mo |
| Comfortable site limit | 20-40 small WordPress sites |
| Your monthly cost | ~$15-20/mo |
| Revenue at 10 clients @ $35/mo | $350/mo for ~$0 marginal cost |
Your website lives on a managed server that I maintain. That means: your site is backed up automatically every week, SSL security is handled and auto-renews, the server is monitored 24/7, and if anything goes wrong on the server side, I fix it. You never have to deal with a hosting company's support line. It's $35/month — separate from any WordPress maintenance.
| Their Host | Quality | Your Recommendation |
|---|---|---|
| GoDaddy shared hosting | Poor-Mediocre | "Your current hosting is pretty slow. I can migrate you to faster managed hosting for $35/mo — your site will load noticeably faster, which helps your Google rankings." |
| Bluehost / HostGator | Poor-Mediocre | Same as GoDaddy — suggest migration for speed/reliability improvement |
| SiteGround | Good | "SiteGround is solid — let's just work within your existing account. You'll keep paying them directly." (No hosting revenue for you, but less friction) |
| WP Engine / Kinsta / Flywheel | Excellent | "This is managed WordPress hosting — best-in-class. Keep it." (No hosting revenue) |
| Their IT person manages a server | Varies | Get SFTP credentials and work within their environment. Note: longer turnaround if you need IT help. |
| Wix / Squarespace | N/A (platform sites) | Cannot host WordPress there — explain you'll need to move them off the platform. Charge for the migration. |
Best margin, full control, you manage everything. Works for 95% of small trades business sites.
hetzner.comIf clients want their own cPanel account under your reseller umbrella. You white-label the hosting, they get their own login but it's your account's infrastructure.
siteground.com/resellerFast NVMe hosting, good reseller program, competitive pricing. Alternative to SiteGround.
a2hosting.com/resellerManaged cloud hosting on DigitalOcean/AWS/GCP. Excellent for higher-traffic clients. Agency plans allow hosting multiple clients.
cloudways.comCloudflare is free and gives every site a CDN, DDoS protection, and performance boost. Takes 5-10 minutes per client. Always do this.
alicia.ns.cloudflare.com)| Service | Your Cost | Charge Client | Monthly Margin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Managed Hosting (your Hetzner server) | ~$0.50/site (server divided by sites) | $35/mo | ~$34.50/mo |
| Reseller Hosting (SiteGround) | $1-$3/site under reseller plan | $30/mo | ~$27/mo |
| Domain registration (Namecheap) | $10-$15/yr | $20/yr or pass-through | $5-$10/yr |
| SSL Certificate | $0 (Let's Encrypt) | Included in hosting | Bundled |
| Cloudflare CDN | $0 (free tier) | Included in hosting | Bundled |
| UptimeRobot Monitoring | $0 (free up to 50 sites) | Included in hosting | Bundled |
Always register client domains at Namecheap — transparent pricing ($10-$15/yr), good UI, free WhoisGuard privacy. Never GoDaddy (aggressive upselling, higher prices, harder to transfer).
If a client already owns their domain: get registrar login from them, point nameservers to Cloudflare, done. Keep the domain in their name — you don't want to own client domains.