Free Clientexec licence with RackNerd plans

If you resell hosting or host sites for clients, sooner or later you need a way to send invoices, take payments, handle support tickets and set up accounts automatically. Billing software does that, and Clientexec is one of the established choices. RackNerd has offered its customers a free Clientexec licence for several years.

This guide explains what Clientexec does, what RackNerd has said about the free licence, how to request it, where to install it and how to set it up safely. Offers change, so treat the licence details here as a starting point and confirm the current terms with RackNerd before you build a business on them.

What is in this guide

• A few words you will see
• What Clientexec does
• Do you need billing software?
• What RackNerd has said about the free licence
• Questions to ask before relying on it
• 1. Request the licence
• 2. Choose where to install it
• 3. Install it
• 4. Set it up
• 5. Test everything before real clients
• Keeping it secure
• Alternatives
• Troubleshooting
• Limits
• When to step up

A few words you will see

Term	What it means
Billing software	Software that handles invoices, payments, client accounts and often support tickets for a hosting business.
Clientexec	An established billing and client management system for hosting and service businesses.
Licence	Permission to use the software, usually tied to a domain or installation.
Payment gateway	A service that takes card or other payments for you, such as PayPal or Stripe.
Provisioning	Creating a client's hosting account automatically when they order and pay.
WHM	The panel reseller hosting uses to create cPanel accounts. Billing software can connect to it.
Cron job	A scheduled task. Billing software uses one to send invoices and reminders on time.

What Clientexec does

• Client accounts. Each client gets a login to see their services, invoices and tickets.
• Invoices and payments. Recurring invoices, reminders and late notices, with payments through gateways such as PayPal and Stripe.
• Support tickets. A help desk where clients raise questions and you answer them.
• Orders and automation. A shop where clients order, and connections to hosting panels so accounts can be created, suspended and removed automatically.
• Products and pricing. Your own hosting packages, add-ons and billing cycles.

Feature lists change between versions, so check Clientexec's own documentation for the current details.

Do you need billing software?

Your situation	Billing software?
Hosting only your own sites	No
A handful of clients, billed yearly	Probably not. A simple invoicing tool or spreadsheet may be enough
Ten or more clients, monthly billing, or a public shop	Yes, it saves real time
You want clients to order and get accounts automatically	Yes, that is what it is for

Billing software is one more web app to install, secure and update. Only take it on when it saves you more time than it costs. Reseller hosting for freelancers and small agencies covers the rest of running a small hosting business.

What RackNerd has said about the free licence

RackNerd announced free Clientexec licences in 2021, saying customers of its services could request one at no extra charge by opening a support ticket. A later RackNerd post, from 2025, repeated the offer with a focus on resellers. Neither post sets out detailed terms such as renewal or transfer.

That means the offer has run for years, but its exact conditions are not spelled out publicly. Ask before you depend on it.

Questions to ask before relying on it

When you open the ticket, ask:

• Which plans qualify today?
• Does the licence stay valid only while you keep a RackNerd service active?
• Which edition or features does it include?
• Is it tied to one domain or installation, and can that be changed?
• How are updates and support for Clientexec itself handled?

Keep the reply. If the answers matter to your business, such as a licence that ends when you cancel a service, plan for that now rather than later.

1. Request the licence

1. Order a RackNerd service, or use one you already have.
2. Open a support ticket from your RackNerd client area asking for a Clientexec licence.
3. Include the domain or subdomain where you plan to install it, such as billing.example.com, and ask the questions above.
4. Store the licence key in your password manager when it arrives.

2. Choose where to install it

Where	Good for	Notes
Your reseller or shared hosting account	Most small resellers	Often the simplest, through the control panel's app installer if it offers Clientexec
A VPS	People comfortable running their own PHP and database server	More control, and all the security work is yours

Use its own subdomain, such as billing.example.com, rather than a folder inside your main website. Check Clientexec's current requirements for PHP and database versions before installing, as they change between releases.

3. Install it

On reseller or shared hosting. Many cPanel accounts include an app installer, such as Softaculous, that lists Clientexec:

1. Create the subdomain in cPanel and make sure it has an SSL certificate.
2. Open the app installer and search for Clientexec.
3. Choose the subdomain, set a strong admin password, and use an admin username that is not "admin".
4. Enter your licence key when asked, or in the settings after installing.

If your installer does not list it, follow the manual install steps in Clientexec's own documentation: upload the files, create a database, and run the installer in your browser.

On a VPS. Set up a PHP web server and database first. Installing WordPress on a VPS shows a similar setup with Apache, PHP-FPM and MariaDB, running the site as its own user. Then follow Clientexec's install documentation.

4. Set it up

1. Company details. Your business name, address, logo, currency and tax settings. Check your local tax rules for invoices, or ask an accountant.
2. Email. Set it to send through authenticated SMTP, using your email provider's details, so invoices and reminders do not land in spam.
3. The scheduled task. Clientexec needs a cron job to send invoices and reminders on time. Its documentation gives the exact command. In cPanel, add it under Cron Jobs.
4. Payment gateways. Connect PayPal, Stripe or your chosen gateway using their official instructions. Let the gateway handle card details, so your server never stores them.
5. Your hosting server. Connect Clientexec to WHM, if you want automatic account creation, using an API token from WHM with only the permissions needed.
6. Products. Create your hosting packages, matching the packages you set up in WHM.
7. Terms. Add your terms of service and acceptable use rules for clients. They should match RackNerd's acceptable use policy, because your clients' sites run on your RackNerd plan.

5. Test everything before real clients

Run through the whole client journey yourself:

• Place a test order using your payment gateway's test mode, never a real card.
• Check the account is created in WHM, if you set up provisioning.
• Check the client receives the welcome email and invoice, and that they arrive in the inbox, not spam.
• Open a support ticket as the client and answer it as yourself.
• Suspend and remove the test account, and check WHM matches.
• Wait a day and check the scheduled task ran, for example by looking for a reminder email.

Keeping it secure

Billing software holds client names, addresses, invoices and connections to your hosting server and payment accounts. It is worth protecting well.

• Always use HTTPS for the billing subdomain.
• Strong admin passwords and two-factor login for every staff account, if available.
• Keep it updated. Install new releases promptly, after reading the release notes and taking a backup.
• Limit API tokens. Give the WHM token only the permissions it needs, and keep gateway keys in the gateway's restricted modes where offered.
• Back up the database and files regularly, off the server, and test a restore. See using a storage VPS for backups.
• Never store card details yourself. Use the gateway's hosted checkout.
• Privacy laws may apply to the client data you hold. Check what applies where you and your clients are.

Alternatives

Option	What it is	Worth a look if
Clientexec	Established billing software, with a free licence available from RackNerd	You use RackNerd and want a full system at no licence cost
WHMCS	Widely used commercial billing software for hosting businesses	You want the most common option, and accept a paid licence
Blesta	Commercial billing software with a different licensing model	You prefer its approach or features
FOSSBilling	Open source billing software	You want free, open source software and can manage it yourself
A general invoicing tool	Simple invoices and payments, no hosting automation	You have few clients and bill yearly

Check each one's current pricing, features and licence terms on its own site before choosing.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Likely cause	Fix
"Invalid licence" message	Key entered wrongly, or installed on a different domain than the licence expects	Check the key and domain, then ask RackNerd support to confirm the licence details
Invoices or reminders not sent	The scheduled task is missing or failing	Check the cron job matches Clientexec's documentation, and read its output
Client emails land in spam	Mail sent without authentication or the right DNS records	Use authenticated SMTP and add the SPF and DKIM records from your email provider
Accounts not created in WHM	Wrong server details, or the API token lacks permissions	Test the server connection in Clientexec and check the token in WHM
Payments not marked as paid	Gateway notifications not reaching Clientexec	Check the gateway's notification settings point at your billing subdomain, using its instructions
Installer fails	PHP or database version not supported	Check Clientexec's current requirements and your account's PHP version

Limits

• Licence terms are RackNerd's and Clientexec's to set. This guide reports what RackNerd has published, which may change. Confirm current terms in a ticket.
• Billing software does not run your business. You still handle support, pricing, tax and keeping clients' sites healthy.
• Free software still costs time. Installing, securing and updating it is your job.
• Tax and legal rules vary. Get advice on invoicing, tax and consumer rules where you trade.
• Your clients follow your plan's rules. RackNerd's acceptable use policy applies to every site on your reseller plan.

When to step up

As your client list grows, the reseller plan's account limits or total resources may run short. The usual next step is a larger reseller plan. If clients' sites need more resources or custom software than reseller hosting allows, a VPS gives more power, but you then run the whole server yourself. Shared or reseller hosting? and choosing the right kind of RackNerd hosting compare the options.

To compare what is available now, start with the cheapest RackNerd VPS guide and check the sales page.