Blesta is an open-source billing and automation platform that distinguishes itself through its modular architecture and developer-friendly approach. For hosting companies looking for a flexible alternative to WHMCS, Blesta offers an attractive combination of powerful functionality, transparent pricing, and complete control over the source code.

The history of Blesta

Blesta was originally launched in 2010 by Phillips Data, Inc., an American software company. The platform was developed in response to the growing demand for a more open and customizable billing system in the hosting industry. The founders, who had experience running hosting companies themselves, understood the frustrations of proprietary software with limited customizability.

In 2014, Blesta made the transition to a fully open-source model, giving users access to the complete source code. This decision made Blesta unique in the market and attracted an active community of developers. Today, Blesta is used by an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 hosting companies worldwide, ranging from small startups to medium-sized providers.

What is Blesta and what is it used for

Blesta is a PHP-based billing platform that provides all the core features a hosting company needs: customer management, invoicing, automatic provisioning, support tickets, and domain registration. The platform distinguishes itself through its modular construction, where virtually every function is implemented as a separate module that can be replaced or extended.

The software runs on your own server, meaning you have complete control over your data and system performance. There are no restrictions on the number of customers or products, and you pay a one-time license fee instead of monthly subscriptions based on customer numbers.

Top 5 features of Blesta

  1. Open-source with full source code - Complete access to all code, ideal for customization and audits
  2. Unlimited customers and products - No limits or tiered pricing based on growth
  3. Multi-company support - Manage multiple businesses from one installation
  4. Modular architecture - Replace or extend any component as needed
  5. One-time license fee - No monthly subscription costs, only optional annual support

The main features of Blesta

Invoicing and payments

Blesta offers comprehensive invoicing capabilities with support for multiple currencies, tax zones, and billing cycles. The system automatically generates invoices, sends reminders, and can handle payment arrears according to your own rules. Pro-rata billing is fully supported, as are credit notes and refunds.

Integration with payment gateways is extensive, with support for PayPal, Stripe, Authorize.net, 2Checkout, and many others. Community modules are available for various regional payment methods. The system also supports automatic direct debit and recurring payments.

Automatic provisioning

Blesta integrates with all popular control panels for automatic account creation. Supported panels include cPanel/WHM, Plesk, DirectAdmin, Virtualmin, CentOS Web Panel, and many others. When a customer pays, the hosting account is automatically created with the correct specifications.

In addition to shared hosting, Blesta also supports provisioning for VPS platforms such as SolusVM, Virtualizor, Proxmox, and cloud platforms like DigitalOcean, Vultr, and Linode. SSL certificates can be automated via integrations with cPanel, Plesk, or direct API connections with certificate authorities.

Support tickets and communication

The built-in ticket system provides all essential features for customer support: departments, priorities, automatic assignment, and canned responses. Tickets can be linked to specific services or invoices for better context. Customers can submit tickets via the customer portal or by email.

Email piping is fully supported, allowing customers to respond to tickets by simply replying to the notification email. The system maintains a complete conversation history and supports internal notes for staff.

Domain management

Blesta offers extensive capabilities for domain sales and management. Integrations are available for registrars such as Enom, ResellerClub, Namecheap, OpenSRS, and many others. The system handles registrations, transfers, renewals, and DNS management automatically.

The domain search function shows availability across multiple TLDs and can provide suggestions for alternative domain names. Prices can be set per TLD with different rates for registration, transfer, and renewal.

Multi-company and white-label

A unique feature of Blesta is the ability to manage multiple companies from one installation. Each company can have its own branding, pricing, payment gateways, and settings. This is ideal for entrepreneurs who want to run multiple hosting brands or offer white-label services.

The customer portal is fully customizable with your own logo, colors, and templates. You can also fully personalize email communication to match your brand identity.

Where Blesta really excels

Developer-friendly

Blesta is built with developers in mind. The modular architecture, clear documentation, and consistent API make it relatively easy to build extensions. The open-source nature means you can study and modify the source code to your specific needs.

Transparent pricing

Unlike WHMCS, Blesta uses a simple pricing model without tiers based on customer numbers. You pay a one-time license fee of $144 to $500 (depending on the package) and optionally an annual support fee. This makes costs predictable regardless of how fast your business grows.

Active community

The Blesta community is active and helpful. On the official forums and Discord server, you can ask questions, make suggestions, and share modules. Many users share their self-made extensions free with the community.

Performance and stability

Blesta is known for its good performance and stability. The platform is efficiently programmed and can process large amounts of data and transactions without noticeable slowdown. Updates are carefully tested and rarely cause problems.

The downsides of Blesta

Smaller marketplace

Compared to WHMCS, the range of third-party modules and themes is more limited. While there are active developers creating extensions, you may need to develop some specific integrations yourself or hire a developer.

Less name recognition

Blesta is less well-known than WHMCS, meaning you may find fewer ready-made solutions for specific integrations. Hosting resellers familiar with WHMCS may experience a learning curve when switching.

Limited documentation

While the documentation is adequate, it's not as extensive as WHMCS's. For more complex customizations, you're often dependent on the community or need to study the source code yourself.

Less frequent updates

Blesta is developed by a smaller team, resulting in less frequent updates than larger competitors. New features appear more slowly, although stability and security do get priority.

The 5 most common problems with Blesta

1. Cron configuration

Many problems in Blesta can be traced back to incorrect cron configuration. The cron is responsible for automatic invoicing, reminders, suspensions, and other scheduled tasks. Check if the cron runs every 5 minutes and check the System Status page for any warnings.

2. Email deliverability

Blesta sends emails by default via PHP's mail() function, which often results in poor deliverability. Configure an external SMTP server (for example via the SMTP module) for reliable email delivery. Don't forget to set up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records.

3. Module connection errors

Provisioning issues often occur due to network or authentication problems. Check firewall settings, API credentials, and SSL certificates. Module debug mode can help identify specific problems.

4. Payment gateway issues

For payment problems, first check if the callback URL is correctly configured with your payment provider. Also check if your server allows outgoing connections to the gateway's API. The transaction logs in Blesta often provide useful information about what's going wrong.

5. Performance with large installations

With larger installations, Blesta can become slower, especially with many active customers or extensive reports. Optimize your MySQL configuration, implement caching, and consider archiving old data to improve performance.

When to choose Blesta

Blesta is the ideal choice for hosting companies that value openness, flexibility, and predictable costs. If you have technical knowledge or a developer on your team, you can maximize the platform's customizability. It's also an excellent choice for companies that want to run multiple brands from one system.

For companies that depend on specific third-party integrations or prefer a more extensive ecosystem, WHMCS or HostBill may be a better choice. But for those looking for a solid, open-source alternative with fair pricing, Blesta is definitely worth considering.

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