Billing Clients

[linux-tech]

Just a quick poll, what do you use, what are your experiences as far as billing clients go? I'm in the market for something real (modernbill need not apply) that is written in php, have been for a few weeks, but just can't seem to get my hands on a decent client for some reason. Either the support for their client sucks, or the client doesn't function as it should, or it takes too much to integrate, or it requires <insertcontrolpanelhere> and refuses to work without it. There HAS to be something that doesn't require a degree in onlinebillingandclientspeek and doesn't require a control panel to function as a billing client out there somewhere. So far, I've tried:

-- Modernbill --
Stuck with it for a year or better, but their fraudulent billing and blatant disregard for customer's private information just pushed me over the edge, not to mention their support of the spamhaus register.com

-- Lpanel --
Absolutely terrible support, tickets waiting a week, no response. Not to mention the fact that they require that you have CPanel just to run a billing client. Client is allright, but it's too buggy, and the support is absolutely horrendous.

-- Clientexec --
Don't even know where to start with these guys. too many problems at once. Cancelled within 24 hours, they gave me grief when I wanted my funds refunded.

-- WhoisCart --
Requires too much work to actually submit a forum post in their "tech support" forums. You have to have at least a half hour to post one damn threa in there, then worry that their "spider" will take it away. Not to mention the fact that their client has no helpdesk (kind of a requirement for a billing client to have that) and doesn't handle one time charges well.

So, what am I missing? Is there something, ANYTHING out there that doesn't require the degree of learning that these do, and is user friendly? I've heard perlbill is good,b ut it's got two major flaws that I see right now
A> it's in perl and I hate perl.
B> It's too highly priced . If they're going to have a client priced that high, they should at least offer a leased version for those that don't want to pay it outright, so that we can see if it works as we need.

[gorilla]

How about
WHM auotpilot http://www.whmautopilot.com/
Have been using that for quiet a while now :)

Definatly gotta agree with lpanel, their support is total crap and the software is very buggy !

Was actually thinking of giving ModernBill a trial run as the new version 4.2 is looking ok ?

And clientexec was looking ok as well in demo , can u elaborate on your live experience ?

[linux-tech]

How about
WHM auotpilot http://www.whmautopilot.com/
Have been using that for quiet a while now :)


There HAS to be something that doesn't require a degree in onlinebillingandclientspeek and doesn't require a control panel to function as a billing client out there somewhere.

Next time, might want to read before posting ;)


Definatly gotta agree with lpanel, their support is total crap and the software is very buggy !

Was actually thinking of giving ModernBill a trial run as the new version 4.2 is looking ok ?

And clientexec was looking ok as well in demo , can u elaborate on your live experience ?

Clientexec -- too many problems, no recurring batch bill (not a good thing), poor support, all around a poor billing client from what I've seen

Modernbill - Great client, poor support, poor company practices, including releasing private information to known spamhauses and billing your cc whenever they feel like it for leased clients. Not in any way professional.

So far I've about tried 'em all I think. Managed to find Drams right after posting this, and it's been a lifesaver, everything that I was looking for without the unprofessionalism of modernbill.

[Alex]

Clientexec -- too many problems, no recurring batch bill (not a good thing), poor support, all around a poor billing client from what I've seen

I would have to disagree with you there twhiting9275; albeit their upgrades are way too slow and far apart, it is stable. Less features than that of ModernBill but does the job with a lot less clutter.

[linux-tech]

less clutter meaning you have to go through 5 million stages just to bill credit cards, the fact that there is no official automatic invoicing, and that there is no automatic credit card charges.

I wouldn't call that a stable billing client. Maybe a work in progress, but not a stable billing client. Why should individuals have to go through so much work just to get invoices billed?

[Website Rob]

Having purchased the following 3 scripts, this is what I found.

-- DRAMS+ --
Seems to be an excellent Billing script overall. My problem was that I wanted to customize the look and this required editing anywhere from 60 - 100+ pages. There was no built-in API for InternetSecure, the Merchant account that I use. Although I could have manually coded in the API, it was another layer of coding (work) for me.

High marks for the company though, as they were the only ones I could pick up the phone and actually talk to someone about the script.


-- WHM AutoPilot --
Although the script was correctly installed & setup, I just couldn't get it to eMail? This was the one I had hoped to use, but the Support was just not there.


-- WhoisCart --
For me, this comes across as a somewhat 'backyard' script. You have a main package then modules (or kits) that you have to put together. Different from other Billing script but once you get your head around it, not all that difficult to setup & use.


And the Winner is ..... WhoisCart

There are few reasons for us using this script.

It works as Advertised.

All Billing scripts seem to have crappy or just out 'n out incorrect HTML coding. Although this is true of WhoisCart, it has the least HTML coding problems of the 3 mentioned.

API was built-in for our Merchant account - InternetSecure

The big plus -- as we offer payment in both Canadian & US currencies, no matter which script was used it seemed like two Licenses would have to be purchased. Not so with WhoisCart.

Yes, I don't like the limitation of not be able to create one-time Invoices or Services other than Hosting/Domain names, but hopefully that will change in an upgrade. There are few other features I'm hoping for as well. Time will tell. This is not the script I would prefer to use, due to lack of some features I need and it does not yet provide, but it does the job fairly well and allows me to provide two currency payments with one License.

[linux-tech]

Actually, editing DRAMS templates is pretty standard. I put together something based off of their bare template and it seems to work just fine, just edited the index3.php (main page), and added my custom stuff into top,left,right and bottom. Nothing really major was required, though I didn't specifically enjoy the fact that I had to write the template for drams+ , it is very easy to do :)

As far as custom modules, yeah I agree, if it's not there, it's a bit too much work to code, might as well write your own.


So far, I've stuck with DRAMS+, haven't had any issues at all, installation was a breeze, no "you must have this control panel" crap in there, looks good.

[greggy]

So which one is the best. I know of a company that uses mordernbill but it is crap. It is not even easy for users to pay their bills. I need one but this thread has leaft me stranded

[linux-tech]

Speaking from personal experience, I found DRAMS to be the best out of all of these. I'll end up writing my own to work with my website eventually I'm sure, but Drams has by far shown the best attitude from developers, and been the best supported client that I've seen. Rarely (if ever) is a support ticket needed, and if it is, it's closed and fixed within 24h . I've actually seen them implement features directly from their customer forums into versions, and that is a BIG plus (most don't bother to do that).

DRams isn't control panel specific, in fact it doesn't care if you have one or not, though if you do it can auto insert at least for cpanel (haven't tested this, mind you).

Drams + offers you the ability to sell stuff like software easily, providing clients with a 'download' area, which, again, is a HUGE bonus.

Not to sound like a sales agent for 'em, because I'm not, but I've found almost nothing that has been "broken" inside of drams, or not working.

[alrock]

I have to agree that Drams is probably one of the better billing and ordering scripts out there.

Once they add a few more popular API's they blow Modernbill away.

I have demo'd pretty much all of the popular scripts, and so far Drams definitely comes out on top. I also took a second look at ClientExec now that there is a new beta and it's now beginning to climb up on the charts as well.

[ThinkSupport]

I will go for modernbill or perlbill as far as WHMAP is concerned I guess its only comaptable with WHM/cpanel .

[ChipMonk]

For almost a month, i am trying to get my head straight on ANY possible solution.

I tried tried trial versions of ModernBill, Agile and used PHPCoin. checked demo for AWBS - last one sounds best, but their support and help SUCKS big time!

No doubt that MB is very cool, but it doesnt support plesk 7.5 (and you guys already know the pathetic support from them - that sounds, oh? okay? so what? kinda aproach)

AWBS - Great software, great things, and jack of all trades thingie. But is there someone who replies the queries? - i tried to purchase the software, and it simply rejects my order. I tried to contact the support, so far no reply in 72 hours. That is scaring me, what will happen to the poor user who will come to my site and try to buy a domain from that? he/she will simply Google again, and go somewhere else.

I personally need and like to see something that support plesk 7.5.

As far as my vote is concerned, I give 8/10 to AWBS., 5/10 to MB. Rest... hmmm, i will rather watch movie. :shy:

[RiderMayBail]

I ordered AWBS 2 days ago and the order was completed and I had my license within 2 hours. A few hours later I decided that I wanted to change the licensed SSL URL, so submitted the change on the website, and had my new license when I woke up the next day.

I had a concern about how they tag the licensed URL, since I put in www.domain.com and the license came back saying domain.com. Which normally won't make a difference, but those familiar with SSL know that it is a difference. I opened a support ticket for clarification, and had a response within a few hours.

So far I haven't experienced any problems with thie support, and I did see a message in their forums saying that they were handling them as fast as they could, since releasing the AWBS version 2, they have supposedly been swamped with emails and help desk tickets.

My vote is for AWBS if you're still looking for billing system. I think the best part about it is that it will integrate a CP, but will work without one, thus eliminating any reliance of your company on any specific control panel. I like that ability, since my Windows CP (Helm) has no Linux version, so I have to have separate CP's, and just in case I ever decide to use a new CP, I won't have to start over from scratch with billing too.

[linux-tech]

AWBS support is the best you'll find in the industry, bar none. If you've had problems with them, keep on 'em. I'm not sure what the problems could be, but make sure that you're submitting a trouble ticket if it's a critical thing.

Since AWBS was released (just a week or so ago), they have, indeed been swamped. Why? The AWBS licensing scheme is completely different than DRAMS was, and new downloads (and licenses) have to be issued for each owner. Admittedly, not the best way to go, but it's how they chose to go, and they're catching up as quickly as possible.

Any time I've ever submitted a trouble ticket to the AWBS/DRAMS team, it's always been answered within 24 hours, and only on rare occasions has it ever needed a second response. That goes for weekends, evenings, whatever, 24 hours. That's a pretty damn good policy and you can't expect much more than that realistically.

AWBS is great, in fact I had hesitations about updating, because they said it was a "major update", but I had no problems at all upgrading, simply followed the very easy to use instructions and ran the script, took about 20 minutes, no sweat there. The benefits from upgrading are, well, they're tremendous.

You won't find a better product out there, and you REALLY won't find better support from the "billing" area out there. Stick with AWBS/DRAMS and they'll get 'em done. I know they're aware of the signup thing, maybe they're trying to catch up to current customers before taking any new ones (which they should be doing anyways ;))

[HostingXPjordan]

I thought I would drop in here real quick and leave my short opinion.

We use Lpanel and love it. They have hired some more support, so your tickets usually get answered within the day. Second of all, their latest release, there isn't really any bugs, if any. Of course people will counter me here, but just my thoughts on it.

-Jordan

[shost]

Hi,
I use webhostingbilling.com's program and have for years. It dose a pretty good job, but there are bugs that linger.

I am looking at new solutions because I am growing too much to have billing issues on a monthly basis.

I heard about this AWBS , looked at their site, sent in a couple of questions about it yesterday, and haven't heard back.

You would think their pre-sales questions would be responded to pretty fast.

How many hosts actually use this? How long, and how many clients are you up to with it?
It looks real good, but it would be nice if they had a direct email address on their site to ask questions. They only use a form, and evedentaly aren't in since yesterday.

Thank you,
Tim L

[interactive]

Not quiet web-based, but I'm migrating to Platypus. Very impressed with it, and there are "PHP Pages" for the customer side of things.