Nuvabill vs WHMCS
Both help hosting companies sell plans, send invoices and set up accounts. They are very different in price, openness and age. Here is a fair look at both, so you can choose.
The short answer
WHMCS is the long-time market leader. It is mature, has a very large library of modules for registrars, control panels and payment gateways, and most hosting staff already know it. It is commercial software, and its core code is encoded.
Nuvabill is new. It is free, fully open source and built on a modern stack (PHP 8.3+ and Laravel). It covers the core hosting business today: store, invoices, payments, domains, cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk and VPS automation, renewals and support tickets, and it can import your WHMCS data. Some things WHMCS has are still on the roadmap.
Side by side
| Nuvabill | WHMCS | |
|---|---|---|
| License | Open source (AGPL-3.0) | Commercial license |
| Price | Free, no limit on clients. An optional White-label License that removes the "Powered by Nuvabill" credit is $49 a year per site. | Paid license: check the vendor site |
| Source code | All code is readable on GitHub | Core code is encoded with ionCube |
| ionCube Loader needed | No | Yes |
| Store, invoices with PDF, renewals, reminders, suspensions | Yes | Yes |
| Taxes, quotes, client wallet (credit) | Yes | Yes |
| Affiliates | Yes | Yes |
| Coupons and product add-ons | Yes | Yes |
| Payment gateways | Stripe, PayPal, FIB, FastPay, Wayl and bank transfer. Refunds from the invoice page for Stripe and PayPal. | Many built in, more as add-ons |
| Charge saved cards automatically | Yes: cards (Stripe) and PayPal accounts, wallet first, with retries and notices | Yes |
| cPanel / WHM, DirectAdmin, Plesk | Yes, with one-click login for clients | Yes |
| Virtualizor and Proxmox VE | Yes, managed inside the client area, with a full server panel and a console in the browser | Yes, through modules |
| CyberPanel, HestiaCP, VirtFusion, SolusVM, Hetzner | Yes, free modules on the Marketplace | Yes, through modules |
| Sell extra CPU, RAM, disk and IPs | Yes: resource sliders with a price per step, and clients pay only for the days left | Yes, configurable options |
| Your own dedicated servers | Yes, free: a Hardware page with stock, a setup step and power history. Power control, switch ports and automatic OS installs on the Marketplace. | Through modules |
| Domain registration | ResellerClub, Namecheap, Enom, OpenSRS | Yes, many registrars |
| Import from WHMCS | Yes, with a dry run first. Clients keep their passwords, from WHMCS 4.2 to today. | Not needed |
| Client upgrades with prorated prices | Yes: clients switch plans and pay only the difference for the days left | Yes |
| Your own automation rules | Yes, without code: “when this happens, do that”, with 9 templates, a Try it and a log | Built-in automation settings; your own rules through PHP hooks or add-ons |
| Admin app on your phone | Yes, installed from the browser on iPhone and Android, with push alerts for orders, payments and tickets | Check the vendor site |
| Invoices and tickets on Telegram and WhatsApp | Yes, built in: clients link by QR code, get invoices and ticket replies there, and can open tickets from the chat | Check the vendor site |
| AI help for tickets | Yes, with your own Claude key: reply drafts, translation both ways, summaries. Staff always send. | Check the vendor site |
| Support tickets | Yes | Yes |
| Knowledge base, announcements, status page | Yes: articles in every language, suggested while clients write a ticket; server checks every 5 minutes | Yes |
| Credit notes and CSV exports | Yes | Check the vendor site |
| Privacy tools (GDPR) | Yes: download or erase a client's data; invoices stay, as tax law requires | Check the vendor site |
| Sign-in security | Two-factor sign-in and passkeys for staff and clients, CAPTCHA, fraud checks, sign in with Google, GitHub or Facebook for clients | Two-factor sign-in built in, more through add-ons |
| Languages | 12 for the client and admin area, including Thai and Mongolian, with right-to-left Arabic and Kurdish. Emails and PDF invoices in each client's language. | Many languages |
| REST API | Yes, /api/v1 | Yes |
| Mobile client area, dark mode | Yes, designed for phones first | Responsive templates |
| Updates | Signed releases, backup and automatic rollback | Built-in updater |
| One-page order form | Yes, Swift in the marketplace | Through third-party order forms |
| Themes and add-on marketplace | New: one-click installs, every package reviewed and signed | Very large |
| Track record | New (first release September 2026) | Used by hosting companies for many years |
When Nuvabill isn't the right fit yet
- You need a registrar, control panel or gateway module that Nuvabill does not have yet.
- You have thousands of clients and need a product with a long track record.
- Your team already knows WHMCS and you are happy with the cost.
When Nuvabill is a good fit
- You run a small or growing hosting company with cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk, VPS or dedicated servers.
- You want to stop paying a license fee that grows with your client count.
- You want to read, audit and change the code, or run it without ionCube.
- You want a simple, modern interface that works well on phones.
- You need local payment methods: Iraqi payments with FIB, FastPay and Wayl are included.
- You are starting a new hosting brand and want a clean setup.
Moving from WHMCS
Nuvabill imports your WHMCS data for you. In Settings → Import, enter your WHMCS database details, press Save and check to see what will be copied, then Start import. It copies staff, clients, products and prices, servers, services, domains, invoices, payments and support tickets. WHMCS is only read, so nothing changes there.
Install Nuvabill on a subdomain, import, and check everything while WHMCS keeps running. Just before you switch, run the import again: it adds what is new and updates what changed, without making copies. Server passwords are encrypted by WHMCS, so you enter them again once. The step-by-step migration guide lists exactly what is and is not imported.
Try it yourself: the live demo has sample clients, invoices and tickets. It resets every hour.
Also comparing others? See Nuvabill vs Blesta and Nuvabill vs FOSSBilling.
WHMCS is a trademark of its owner. Nuvabill is an independent project by RapidNet Ltd and is not affiliated with WHMCS. Details about WHMCS are general and may change; check the WHMCS website for current features and prices. Last checked 28 September 2026.
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