Key takeaways
- A per account licence makes your costs rise in step with your customers, so growth shrinks your margin.
- A flat price per server is easier to forecast, because adding accounts to a server costs nothing extra in licence.
- Compare options on the account count you expect in two years, using each vendor's own price page.
- RespireCloud charges flat per server for each edition, with a free plan for one server and no yearly price rise.
A hosting panel licence is a cost of goods for a hosting business: every customer you add runs on it. How the vendor counts decides whether that cost is a steady line or one that grows with you.
Two ways to count
Some panels price by account: the more customers on the server, the higher the tier. Others price by server: one price, however many accounts it holds. Others are free open source, where the licence costs nothing and the work falls on you. None of these is wrong, but they behave differently as you grow.
What per account does to a growing business
Imagine a server with a few accounts. A per account price can look small. As you win customers, the tier moves up, and the licence takes a larger share of each plan you sell. If your plans are cheap, the licence can eat much of the margin. Panels have changed their plans and prices over the years, which is a reason to read each vendor's own current page instead of trusting a number from a blog post, ours included.
What flat per server does
A flat price per server means the tenth account and the thousandth cost the same in licence. You can forecast: servers times the price. You can price your own plans without a licence cliff. The trade is that for very few accounts you may pay more than a per account plan would charge.
How to work out your own number
Do this on paper before you pick:
- Count accounts per server today and in two years.
- Count servers, including the ones you add for growth.
- Price each option from its own page, for both counts.
- Add the hours your team spends on a free panel's gaps.
Compare panels you are considering on our comparison pages, such as DirectAdmin and Plesk, and read the best cPanel alternatives for the wider picture.
What RespireCloud does
RespireSoft prices RespireCloud flat per server for the edition you pick. There is a free plan for one server, we add no fee above a number of accounts, and the price you start at is the price you renew at. Editions do count hosting accounts, resellers, servers and CDN edges, and the pricing page has the exact limits and prices. We say the same on the cPanel alternative page. The product is in early access, so the free plan is also the safest way to test it.
Beyond the licence
The licence is only part of the cost. Moving accounts has a price, so look at the migrations feature, and the cost of a server depends on its size, see how to host many websites on one server. Hosting companies can read more at for hosting companies.
Questions
Why do control panel prices go up?
Vendors change plans and tiers over time, and several widely used panels price by the number of accounts. That means the bill grows with your customer list even when the server stays the same.
Is flat pricing always cheaper?
No. For a few accounts, a per account or a free panel can cost less. Flat pricing wins when you host many accounts on each server, and it is easier to predict.
Does RespireCloud charge extra above a number of accounts?
No. The price is flat per server for the edition you pick, with no fee above a number of accounts. Editions do have limits on accounts, resellers and servers, which the pricing page lists.