Products

Configuring products and services in WHMCS allows you to determine the specifics for each of your offerings.

You can access this feature at Configuration () > System Settings > Products/Services.

Products

To create a new product, click Create a New Product at Configuration () > System Settings > Products/Services and configure the settings below.

  • For steps to create a product, see Create a Product.
  • When a client orders a product from you, the system adds their copy of that product (a service) to their account. You can manage services in the Products/Services tab in the client’s profile.

After creating a product, you can edit it by clicking the edit icon for the product in the product list.

Details

The Details tab for a product

The Details tab contains general information about a product, including its name and product group:

SettingDescription
Product TypeSelect a product type:
  • Shared Hosting products provision shared hosting accounts using the control panel module you select.
  • Reseller Hosting — Provision reseller hosting accounts using the control panel module you select.
  • Server/VPS — Provision a VPS, dedicated, or other type of server. The client need to select a hostname, root password, and nameserver prefixes when ordering.
  • Other — Provision any non-hosting product (for example, software licensing or design services).
Product GroupSelect a product group.
Before you create products, you must create at least one product group to assign them to.
Product NameEnter a product name.
Product TaglineIn WHMCS 8.5 and later, enter a product tagline. This displays when this product displays as a recommendation.
URLIn WHMCS 8.3 and later, enter the desired product URL in the URL text box or use the default generated product URL.
For more information, see Friendly URLs.
Product Short DescriptionIn WHMCS 8.5 and later, enter brief information that relates to this product on the order form. This displays when this product displays as a recommendation.
Product DescriptionEnter detailed information that relates to this product on the order form. If you use the key: value format, the system will apply the Feature Highlights styling.
When using HTML, we recommend avoiding new lines unless you want them to appear in the end result. The system maintains line breaks when you format a description.
Product ColorIn WHMCS 8.5 and later, select the product’s main color when it displays as a product recommendation.
  • You can click to select a color, use the color slider, or enter RGB values to choose a color.
  • The system will generate a secondary color when it displays the recommendation in the Client Area.
Welcome EmailSelect the email template to send when activating the product.
You can also create custom email templates to use on different products.
Require DomainCheck to display domain registration option when ordering the product. Always enable this for hosting products and disable it for other products that don’t require a domain name.
Stock ControlCheck to enable a stock control limit and then enter the available quantity of the item (for example, servers or a limited special-offer product). WHMCS will stop orders when the available quantity is 0.
Apply TaxCheck to apply tax rules to this product.
For more information, see Tax Configuration and Enable Taxes for a Product.
FeaturedCheck to display a product more prominently. This option is only available on some supported order forms.
HiddenCheck to show the product on the order form. Customers will still be able to order this using the direct order links.
For more information, see Hide or Retire Products.
RetiredCheck to hide the product from Admin Area menus, like the product menu in the client’s profile.
For more information, see Hide or Retire Products.

Pricing

The Pricing tab for a product

The Pricing tab lets you specify the prices and active duration of the product:

SettingDescription
Payment TypesSelect Free, One Time, or Recurring.
  • If you select Free, the product can be perpetual or a one-time service. The product will not have associated Expiry Date or Next Due Date values, the system will not generate invoices, and no renewals will occur. Additionally, clients cannot submit cancellation requests in the Client Area.
  • If you select One Time or Recurring, the pricing grid will appear.
    • For One Time products, enable One Time/Monthly and enter your prices in that column.
    • For Recurring products, check Enable to enable the desired billing cycles and enter your prices in those columns.
    • For Setup Fee in each column, enter any setup fees for a given billing cycle. For example, you may charge setup fees on monthly cycles and offer free setup for yearly cycles.
When you set Payment Type to Free:
  • The product can be perpetual or a one-time service.
  • There will be no Expiry Date or Next Due Date values.
  • The system will not generate invoices.
  • No renewals will occur.
  • Clients cannot submit a cancellation request via the Client Area.
Allow Multiple QuantitiesSelect whether clients can order multiple instances of this product on the checkout page. If you enable this, the product cannot require additional configuration (like custom fields or configurable options).
  • Select No to disable the ability to specify a quantity for this product.
  • Select Yes - Multiple Services to cause each unit to represent its own individual service instance. For example, specifying a quantity of 10 will create 10 service records upon ordering, each with its own price. The service Recurring Amount value is equal to the product price.
  • Select Yes - Scaling Service to allow customers to specify a quantity with each service instance. For example, specifying a quantity of 10 will create one service with the product price multiplied by 10. The system stores this multiplied value as the Recurring Amount value.
Recurring Cycles LimitFor Recurring payment types, the default value (0) will invoice indefinitely until cancellation. However, by entering a value here, you can limit the number of times that the system will invoice clients for the service.
  • For example, entering 5 on a monthly product prevents the system from generating an invoice in the sixth month after ordering.
  • After the system has invoiced for the product the specified number of times, it will automatically change the service’s status to Cancelled.
Auto Terminate/Fixed TermEnter the number of days to wait after the registration date before automatically terminating the service.
If you enter a number here, you must also select an email to send when termination occurs for Termination Email below.
  • Set this to 0 to disable this feature.
  • Entering a number here terminates services for the product when the cron job runs that many days after the registration date.
  • Use this to offer free trial products for a certain period of time or time-limited products that should only recur for a certain number of cycles before stopping.
For more information, see Promotions.
Termination EmailIf you entered a value for Auto Terminate/Fixed Term, select an email to send to the client at termination.
For more information, see Assign Custom Emails to Products.
Prorata Billing
Changes to this setting only apply to new orders.
This allows you to enable prorata billing, which bills products on a specific day of the month and charges a prorata amount at the initial time of order. If you check this, the system will charge all clients on one specific day each month. Otherwise, the product will use the default anniversary billing system (for example, Jun 15–Jul 15).
Prorata billing is not compatible with free domains or having domain renewal invoices that the system generates further in advance than other products.
Prorata DateThe specific billing date for all sales of the product. If you set this to 1, the system will charge all clients on the 1st of each month.
Charge Next MonthAfter this day of the month, the system will also charge a client for the next month in their initial payment when signing up on a monthly billing cycle.
  • If you don’t enable this, you set the prorata date to 1, and a client signs up on the 30th of the month, they would only pay a small amount.
  • If you enable this, they would pay the prorated amount plus the next month in advance.
  • To prorate a product but not enable this feature, set Prorata Date to a normal value and set Charge Next Month to 32.
On-Demand RenewalsConfigure product-specific settings for on-demand renewals.
We moved these settings to the Pricing tab in WHMCS 8.9. For more information, see On-Demand Renewals.
  • To use the global configuration in the Ordering tab at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings, select Use System Default.
  • To override the global configuration and always offer on-demand renewals for the product, select Use Product-Specific Configuration and check Check to allow clients to place renewal orders early.
    • Optionally, enter the maximum length of the on-demand renewal period for each billing cycle.
    • Enter 0 to disable on-demand renewals for that billing cycle.
  • To override the global configuration and never offer on-demand renewals for the product, select Use Product-Specific Configuration but do not check Check to allow clients to place renewal orders early..

Module Settings

The Module Settings tab for a product

The Module Settings tab lets you specify which server type the product will use and how WHMCS will behave when someone orders this product.

Module

For Module Name, select the type of server you’re using or another provisioning module that you wish to use. The options that you see below this depend on the module that you choose.

If a product has no specific module to link to, you can set it to Auto Release to simulate activation and send a welcome email.

Metric Billing

The Metric Billing section displays when you select a module that supports this feature:

The Metric Billing tab for a product

If you enable a metric, it will appear in the product details in the Client Area. An admin will always see all metrics, enabled or disabled, within the Admin Area when viewing a service for a product which reports metrics.

To enable a metric:

  1. Set that toggle to On.
  2. Click Configure Pricing for that metric. The module predefines the following attributes for each metric:
    • Metric Type — Defines how to measure the metric. This can be Snapshot, Daily, or Monthly.
    • Metric Unit — Defines the unit of measurement (for example, the number of domains or accounts).
  3. Select the type of pricing. This will define how the system calculates pricing for the metric. You can select one of the following pricing schemes:
    • Per Unit — Charge the same amount for each unit.
    • Total Volume — Charge a per-unit price based on the total volume that the client consumes.
    • Graduated — Charge a per-unit price based on the consumption range. The total charge is the sum of the range calculations.
      For Total Volume and Graduated pricing, you must enter pricing in the text boxes.
  4. For Quantity Included, enter the number of units to include in the product’s base price. The system will not start charging the client until the usage exceeds the quantity that you enter here.
  5. Click Save.
For more information, see Usage Billing.

Automation Settings

At the bottom of the page, the automation settings determine when the system activates the product:

  • Automatically setup the product as soon as an order is placed — Set the product up instantly. Generally, use this for free products.
  • Automatically setup the product as soon as the first payment is received — Set the product up when the customer pays for the order.
  • Automatically setup the product when you manually accept a pending order — Set the product up after an admin has manually reviewed and accepted the order.
  • Do not automatically setup this product — Never set the product up automatically. Admins can still initiate setup manually from the product details page under a client’s profile.

Custom Fields

The Custom Fields tab lets you create custom fields for this product. This allows you to collect additional order form information that you need to supply the product.

To add a custom field, enter the desired field information and choose a field type. Then, click Save Changes.

For more information and steps to configure custom fields, see Custom Fields.

Configurable Options

The Configurable Options tab lets you select the configurable options to associate with the product. You can display them on the order form or in the Client Area. Configurable options alter the price of the product.

Upgrades

The Upgrades tab lets you specify whether the client can upgrade or downgrade from this product to another.

For more information, see Upgrades and Downgrades.

WHMCS can fully automate upgrades and downgrades for many of the modules.

  • Select the products that the product can be upgrade or downgrade to.
  • Use Ctrl+Click to select multiple products.
  • Check Configurable Options to enable upgrading configurable options, if there are any on the product.
  • Select an Upgrade Email template to use when a client upgrades to this product. You will first need to create a new product email template under Configuration () > System Settings > Email Templates.
    For more information, see Assign Custom Emails to Products.

Free Domain

The Free Domain tab lets you configure the offer of a free domain with a product. WHMCS lets you offer free domains with your packages when customers purchase them with certain payment terms. For example, you might want to offer a free domain when someone purchases a package annually.

  • For Free Domain, choose whether and how to offer a free domain.
  • Select one or more Free Domain Payment Terms to set the billing cycles to require in order for a product to receive a free domain.
  • Select one or more Free Domain TLDs to set which TLDs clients can use for a free domain.
For more information, see Promotions.

Cross-sells

The Cross-sells tab lets you choose the recommended products that display in the Client Area shopping cart to clients who are purchasing this product.

To add products to the list:

  1. Use the Start typing to search for products. menu or enter search terms to find the desired products.
    • A maximum of 30 items will appear in the product selection menu.
    • Using the search feature will allow the system to display products that it did not initially list.
  2. Select the desired product by clicking on it.
    • When you select a product, it will appear in the Product Cross-sells list.
    • Click and drag the product to the desired position to reorder the list.
  3. Click Save Changes.

To remove a product from the list, click the trash icon and then click Save Changes.

For more information, see Enable Cross-selling and Configure Recommendations.

Other

The Other tab in Products/Services

The Other tab lets you set miscellaneous settings like product affiliate rates, product downloads, and overage billing:

SettingDescription
Custom Affiliate PayoutSelect whether to provide a percentage of the price, provide a fixed amount per sale, or disable commissions.
Selecting No Commission disables commissions for the product. This setting overrides the default commission. However, if you configure either the affiliate or product commission to one-time, that selection will override this setting.
Affiliate Pay AmountThe percentage or amount paid for a purchase of this product, depending on your choice for Custom Affiliate Payout.
One Time PayoutWhether to prevent subsequent commission payments when the product renews.
  • If you do not check this, the affiliate will receive a commission every time that the product renews.
  • If you did not select Fixed Amount, set Affiliate Pay Amount to 0.00.
Subdomain OptionsEnter a domain in the format .example.com to offer a free subdomain for the domain at signup. You can offer more than one by entering a comma-separated list (for example, .example.com,.example.net).
Associated DownloadsThe files to automatically release to the customer when the product status changes to Active. Click Add Category to create a new category of downloads or click Quick Upload to upload a new file.
For more information, see Product Downloads Distribution.
Overages BillingEnable billing for the product based on disk and bandwidth usage for the month.
For more information, see Overage Billing.
Soft LimitsEnter the soft limits for Disk Usage and Bandwidth.
Overage CostsEnter the overage costs for Disk Usage and Bandwidth.
On-Demand RenewalsConfigure product-specific settings for on-demand renewals.
We added this feature in WHMCS 8.8 and moved these settings to the Pricing tab in WHMCS 8.9. For more information, see On-Demand Renewals.
  • To use the global configuration in the Ordering tab at Configuration () > System Settings > General Settings, select Use System Default.
  • To override the global configuration and always offer on-demand renewals for the product, select Use Product-Specific Configuration and check Check to allow clients to place renewal orders early..
    • Optionally, enter the maximum length of the on-demand renewal period for each billing cycle.
    • Enter 0 to disable on-demand renewals for that billing cycle.
  • To override the global configuration and never offer on-demand renewals for the product, select Use Product-Specific Configuration but do not check Check to allow clients to place renewal orders early..

The Links tab in Products/Services

The Links tab lets you view the URLs that direct visitors to a product.

You can copy the following direct links for the product and its associated group:

URLDescription
Direct Shopping Cart LinkAdd the product to the shopping cart and direct the visitor to the configuration page.
Direct Shopping Cart Link Specifying TemplateAdd the product to the shopping cart and direct the visitor to the configuration page using the specified order form template.
Direct Shopping Cart Link Including DomainAdd the product to the shopping cart and direct the visitor to the domain selection page.
Product Group Cart LinkDirect the visitor to the product group page.
Product URLsDirect the visitor to the Direct Shopping Cart Link URL and track the number of visits for that URL. Each time that a visitor clicks on one of these URLs, the Visits count will increase.
To delete a Product URL, click the corresponding red delete icon.
  • You cannot delete the active URL.
  • After you delete a product URL, the link will become nonfunctional.
For more information, see Friendly URLs and Link to a Product.

Product List

The product list includes every product group and product that you have configured in WHMCS. Individual products appear under their product group, and you can use sorting to reorganize how products will display on the order form.

The product list in Products/Services

This list includes the following information for each product:

  • Product Name — The product’s name.
  • Type — The product’s type.
  • Pay Type — The Payment Types value that you selected in the Pricing tab.
  • Stock — The available quantity for the product, if you enabled Stock Control in the Details tab.
  • Auto Setup — Whether you selected an automatic setup option for Automation Settings in the Module Settings tab.
  • Features — In WHMCS 8.10 and later, specific available features for this product.
    • Currently, this column lists whether the product includes Sitejet Builder.
    • To refresh the statuses in this column, click Refresh Feature Status at the top of the page.

You can sort products in the list using the crosshair icon to the right of the appropriate row.

You cannot move products between groups using this method.

Last modified: June 25, 2024