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Recommendations for billing system
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Recommendations for billing system

sleddogsleddog Member
edited October 2013 in Help

Looking for recommendation for a billing system. Free or paid. I've looked at Blesta and I'm considering WHMCS.

I don't need integration/automation... I want something that works without integration. Basically something that lets me do recurring billing and sends reminder notices to customers by email.

Suggestions appreciated.

[Edit] An integrated helpdesk/ticket system is a bonus but not absolutely required.

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Comments

  • @sleddog said:
    Looking for recommendation for a billing system. Free or paid. I've looked at Blesta and I'm considering WHMCS.

    I don't need integration/automation... I want something that works without integration. Basically something that lets me do recurring billing and sends reminder notices to customers by email.

    Suggestions appreciated.

    [Edit] An integrated helpdesk/ticket system is a bonus but not absolutely required.

    Something simple? TheHostingTool (free). You can also use intuit/Quickpay.

  • Awmusic12635Awmusic12635 Member, Host Rep

    Whmcs should work just fine for that

  • How about BoxBilling? They have a free version

  • jarjar Patron Provider, Top Host, Veteran

    What ever happened to billr? Wasn't it by our own @jhadley?

  • WHMCS is probably the best way to go simply because it's the industry standard but I've been playing around with the free version of BoxBilling and have been pleasantly surprised.

    ClientExec is another solid non-free alternative to WHMCS that's fairly popular.

  • 8QE8QE Member

    hostbill

  • StarryStarry Member, Host Rep
    edited October 2013

    hostbill

    whmcs

    boxbill

    blesta

    tht

    hostvise

    ClientExec

  • prometeusprometeus Member, Host Rep

    @sleddog did you already evaluate blesta, i.e. installing and doing some tests? I'm interested in some feedback if you already did. :-)
    We used invoice.zoho.com in the past but for the kind of stuff we need to do a one time license fee is more cost effective....

  • @8QE said:
    hostbill

    overpriced shit with nice templates.

  • @sleddog I've used this before, it could work for you and is self-hosted with a one time fee. http://www.phpjabbers.com/invoice-manager/

  • netomxnetomx Moderator, Veteran

    isn't that difficult to make your own?

  • c0yc0y Member

    @Master said:
    Whmcs at the best price-quality ratio.

    $15.95 / 0 = ∞

    Pretty bad ratio ;-)

  • There is also spbas but if you use the free version you can only download it once and it won't include updates which is very bad when a exploit is around

  • sleddogsleddog Member
    edited October 2013

    @prometeus said:
    sleddog did you already evaluate blesta, i.e. installing and doing some tests? I'm interested in some feedback if you already did. :-)

    Yes I did. The problem I found was that creating products is tied to automation modules (e.g., 'cpanel'). And none of those modules apply for me. There's a generic blesta module (I forget its name now), but after fiddling with it for a couple hours I couldn't get it to do anything useful :) Probably I'm not understanding it.

    Essentially what I want to do is:

    • Create Product A, Product B, Product C, etc. with prices.
    • Add clients (manually).
    • Assign a product to a client.
    • Have recurring invoices automatically sent to clients by email on due dates.
    • Have overdue emails automatically sent to clients.
    • Be able to also create and send one-time invoices to clients.

    Optionally:

    • Provide a login interface for clients to see their current invoices and past payments.
    • Provide a helpdesk at that login (with email piping).

    What I don't need:

    • A public 'shopping cart' page display products.
    • Any form of automated deployment/cancellation/suspension integration.

    Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I'm working through them.... :)

  • @Ash_Hawkridge said:
    sleddog I've used this before, it could work for you and is self-hosted with a one time fee. http://www.phpjabbers.com/invoice-manager/

    Doesn't seem to have any provision for sending periodic overdue notices.... that's a must :)

  • prometeusprometeus Member, Host Rep

    For what you're looking I think https://invoice.zoho.com/ is good, we use it since 3-4 years to bill the legacy services to our corporate customers, they changed prices lately so you need to see if it fit your budget. There is a free layer that you can use to test the service.

  • jhjh Member
    edited October 2013

    @jarland said: What ever happened to billr? Wasn't it by our own @jhadley?

    http://www.loadingdeck.com/billing

    It's still almost done ;P. We're aiming for Thursday-Friday now and have a few people ready to order as soon as it goes live. We've had to cut back on some of the more ambitious features to actually get it out - so it's quite basic, but once it's out it'll be much easier to gauge where time should be spent.

    @sleddog if you can wait until the end of the week, shoot me a PM and I'll cut you a deal.

  • @sleddog I see. I have a list somewhere as i spent about three month trying loads of them out. Curdbee could work if you don't mind a hosted service, its the most cost effective of the hosted solutions and IMHO i would consider it the best.

    They have a free version if you don't mind branding on the invoices.

  • @prometeus said:
    sleddog did you already evaluate blesta, i.e. installing and doing some tests? I'm interested in some feedback if you already did. :-)
    We used invoice.zoho.com in the past but for the kind of stuff we need to do a one time license fee is more cost effective....

    I haven't found a way to accomodate EU/NL VAT laws properly with Blesta. That's why I still have WHMCS.

  • prometeusprometeus Member, Host Rep
    edited October 2013

    @mpkossen said:
    I haven't found a way to accomodate EU/NL VAT laws properly with Blesta. That's why I still have WHMCS.

    the most complete I used so far for EU invoicing is hostbill. :-)

  • @jhadley said:
    sleddog if you can wait until the end of the week, shoot me a PM and I'll cut you a deal.

    I would be interested in your system as well, could you shoot me a PM when it is available? I would love to try it.

  • Give box billing a go it's fairly straight forward to use, I have no automation just invoicing.

    The free version shows box billings copyright text I think that's the only difference between it and pro..

  • @Frost said:
    $15.95 / 0 = ∞
    Pretty bad ratio ;-)

  • @ATHK said:
    Give box billing a go it's fairly straight forward to use, I have no automation just invoicing.

    Boxbilling has no provision for sending invoice-overdue emails (correct me if I'm wrong). That is a basic requirement for me....

  • So far I'm thinking the best option is Curdbee, with the Expansion Pack & Recurring Profiles addons, totaling $100/yr....

  • i recommend whmcs, seem they are still the best billing system for now

  • I have tried boxbilling, Hostbill and WHMCS. I tried WHMCS first and I ended up going back to it. Its worth the the money and has loads of better modules then the other 2.

  • smansman Member
    edited October 2013

    Ignore all the FUD. When the rubber needs to meet the road and people actually want to do stuff, WHMCS is what they turn to.

  • Whoever starts offering hosted WHMCS will be a millionaire.

  • sleddogsleddog Member
    edited October 2013

    @sman said:
    Ignore all the FUD. When the rubber needs to meet the road and people actually want to do stuff, WHMCS is what they turn to.

    WHMCS offers a slew of features I don't need.

    The more features an online app has, the more code, and the greater chance of security vulnerabilities. I'd prefer to spend my time doing billable work rather than worrying about billing-app vulnerabilities.

    At first I thought I'd find something appropriate and host it myself, but now it seems that a hosted solution may be less trouble and less time-consuming.

    But the jury is still out :)

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