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pnlcs

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🧾 Open-source WHMCS alternative — self-hosted hosting billing & client portal. Laravel 13 + MySQL. Invoicing, domains, SSL, tickets, reseller, multi-language (30 locales), 15 themes. Free & MIT-licensed.

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<h1 align="center">PNLCS</h1>

Open-source, self-hosted hosting billing platform — a free WHMCS alternative. 
 Client portal · invoicing · domain &amp; SSL management · support tickets · reseller hosting.

Built with Laravel 13 · PHP 8.3+ · MySQL 8 · Alpine.js · Tailwind CSS 4

👉 Try the live demo: <a href="https://hosting.panelica.com/">hosting.panelica.com</a>

<a href="https://hosting.panelica.com/">Live Demo</a> ·
 <a href="https://panelica.github.io/pnlcs/">Documentation</a> ·
 <a href="#quick-start-with-docker">Docker</a> ·
 <a href="#installation">Installation</a> ·
 <a href="#first-steps-after-installation">First Steps</a> ·
 <a href="#screenshots">Screenshots</a> ·
 <a href="#features">Features</a> ·
 <a href="#modules">Modules</a> ·
 <a href="#contributing">Contributing</a>

---

## About — Open-Source WHMCS Alternative

**PNLCS** is a free, open-source, self-hosted **hosting billing platform**
and **client portal** — an open alternative to WHMCS for web hosting
companies, reseller hosts, and infrastructure providers. It covers the full
customer lifecycle: product catalog, checkout, recurring invoicing, domain
registration, SSL certificate management, support tickets, knowledge base,
and affiliate tracking.

If you have used WHMCS, you will feel at home: the data model, workflows,
and module ecosystem (servers, gateways, registrars, SSL providers) are
deliberately familiar. The difference is that PNLCS is **MIT-licensed**,
**self-hosted**, and free to fork, study, and extend.

This project is built and maintained by the **Panelica Server Management
Panel** team in our spare time, alongside our main product. We wanted an
open, self-hosted billing system that integrates natively with Panelica and
plays nicely with other control panels too — so we built one.

**What works well today:**

- Client portal, admin panel, and core billing flows
- Invoicing, orders, services, domains, tickets, knowledge base
- The **Panelica server module** (fully tested against live servers)
- Stripe payment gateway (tested in production)
- Multi-language UI (30 locales, admin-editable translations)

**What needs your help:**

- **cPanel / Plesk / DirectAdmin / Proxmox server modules** — code is in
  place but we have not tested them end-to-end. If you run one of these,
  please try it out and open an issue (or even better, a pull request)
  telling us what you found.
- **PayPal / Authorize.Net / Bank Transfer gateways** — same story.
- **Enom domain registrar** — API integration exists, needs real-world
  verification.
- General bug reports, typos, translation improvements.

We read every issue, but because this is a side project our response time
isn't always same-day. If you can include reproduction steps or a patch,
it helps us enormously.

---

## Built for Panelica — The Modern Hosting Control Panel

PNLCS is developed and maintained by the team behind
**[Panelica](https://panelica.com)**, a modern server management panel for web
hosting — a fresh alternative to cPanel, Plesk, and CyberPanel.

**Why Panelica?**

- **No CloudLinux required.** Per-user isolation — CPU, RAM, I/O, and process
  limits — is built in natively via cgroups v2, Linux namespaces, per-user
  PHP-FPM pools, and SSH chroot. You get CageFS/LVE-style tenant isolation
  without paying for a separate CloudLinux license.
- **Universal migration.** Move whole accounts in from cPanel, Plesk,
  DirectAdmin, and CyberPanel — sites, databases, emails, DNS, and SSL — with
  file and database hashes preserved, so passwords and configs keep working.
- **Affordable.** A modern, fully isolated hosting stack at a fraction of the
  typical cPanel + CloudLinux bill.
- **All-in-one, isolated stack.** Nginx, Apache, multiple PHP versions,
  PostgreSQL, MySQL, Redis, BIND, mail (Postfix/Dovecot), FTP, ClamAV,
  fail2ban, and ModSecurity — each service isolated and managed from one panel.

PNLCS integrates natively with Panelica through the built-in **Panelica server
module**: sell hosting plans and accounts are provisioned on your Panelica
servers automatically.

**Not only Panelica.** PNLCS is control-panel agnostic — you can connect and
provision on **cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, HestiaCP, Proxmox, and Vultr** too,
right alongside your Panelica servers. Mix and match panels in a single install;
Panelica is simply where PNLCS feels most at home.

👉 **Learn more at [panelica.com](https://panelica.com)**

---

## Screenshots — Admin Panel & Client Portal

### Admin Panel

![Admin Dashboard](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/admin-dashboard.png)
*Admin dashboard with revenue, orders, and ticket overview*

![Language Manager](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/admin-languages.png)
*Built-in translation editor — 30 locales, 2,232 translation keys, AI-assisted bulk translate*

![Appearance & Themes](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/admin-appearance.png)
*WordPress-style theme system with 15 built-in themes, logo/favicon upload, dark mode toggle, and homepage builder*

![Servers Configuration](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/admin-servers.png)
*Server module management — connect Panelica, cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, Proxmox, or custom servers*

![Support Tickets](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/admin-tickets.png)
*Ticket system with departments, priority routing, internal notes, and escalation rules*

### Client-Facing Site

![Homepage (default theme)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/homepage-default.png)
*Customer-facing landing page with domain search, hosting plans, VPS servers, and FAQ — fully configurable*

![Homepage (Coral theme)](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Panelica/pnlcs/main/docs/screenshots/homepage-coral-theme.png)
*Same site with a different built-in theme applied — one click to switch*

---

## Hosting Billing Features

### 💼 Client Portal

- **Shop & checkout** — browse plans, configure service, apply coupons, pay
- **Service management** — upgrade, downgrade, cancel, auto-renew toggle
- **Domain management** — register, transfer, renew, EPP code, WHOIS
- **Invoicing** — view, pay online, download PDF, add-funds, credit balance
- **Quotes** — review, accept (auto-converts to invoice) or decline pre-sales quotes
- **Payment methods** — save bank-transfer references, set a default
- **Bank-transfer notifications** — report an offline payment with receipt upload
- **Email history** — read every email the system has sent you
- **Network status** — live view of active incidents and scheduled maintenance
- **Support tickets** — attachments, priority, department routing
- **Knowledge base & announcements** — searchable, categorized
- **SSL certificates** — CSR generation, approver emails, auto-install
- **Affiliate program** — referral tracking, commission payouts
- **Account security** — 2FA (TOTP), login alerts, session history

### 🛡️ Admin Panel

- **Dashboard** — revenue, new signups, pending orders, open tickets at a glance
- **Client management** — profiles, impersonation, notes, billing summary
- **Orders & invoices** — manual create, bulk actions, mass mail, PDF export
- **Products & bundles** — configurable options, addons, pricing matrices
- **Ticket system** — internal notes, escalation rules, spam filter
- **Reports** — revenue, conversion funnel, MRR, churn, affiliate stats
- **Bulk operations** — mass email, bulk invoice, bulk service status update
- **Calendar** — events, reminders, scheduled tasks
- **Quotes & projects** — WHMCS-style pre-sales flow

### 🌐 Internationalization

- **30 locales**, English active by default
- **2,232 translation keys** for the core UI
- **In-browser editor** — edit strings without touching files
- **AI-assisted bulk translate** for missing keys
- **Export / import** JSON per locale

### 🎨 Theme System

- **15 built-in themes** (Arctic, Aurora, Coral, Ember, Forest, Midnight,
  Mint, Neon, Ocean, Panelica, Royal, Slate, Starter, Sunset, and more)
- **WordPress-style** install / activate / delete workflow
- **Homepage builder** with reorderable sections
- **Per-site white-label** options (logo, favicon, footer copyright)
- **Dark mode** toggle per theme

### 🔐 Security & Access Control

- **RBAC** with over 45 fine-grained permissions
- **2FA (TOTP)** for both admin and client portals
- **Rate-limited** login, 2FA verify, password reset, email resend
- **IP whitelisting** for admin area (optional)
- **Session timeout** and **force logout** support
- **Activity log** — every admin action recorded
- **Banned IPs & emails** at the application level

### 💳 Billing & Automation

- **Recurring billing** — monthly, quarterly, semi-annually, annually, biennially
- **Auto-suspend** unpaid services after configurable grace period
- **Late fees**, promotions, coupons, tax rules (inclusive/exclusive)
- **Overage billing** — disk / bandwidth metering, opt-in per product
- **Credit balances** & add-funds flow
- **Automated reminders** — invoice, payment, CC expiry, domain renewal
- **Auto-renew** services and domains with billing integration
- **Unified payment engine** — one path for gateways, manual and credit, with partial-payment and overpayment-to-credit handling
- **Reliable provisioning** — a service only activates after the server module succeeds; failures are queued and retried automatically with admin alerts
- **Refunds** — reverse a payment via the gateway API (or offline), full or partial
- **Exchange-rate auto-update**, **automated database backups**, and **log retention** on a schedule

### ⚙️ Developer Features

- **REST API** with API-key auth for external integrations
- **Webhooks** — inbound (gateway callbacks) and outbound (events)
- **Queue workers** for email and background jobs
- **Scheduled commands** — invoice generation, reminders, polling
- **Hook system** — WHMCS-compatible `add_hook()` / `run_hook()` with 20+ hook points; a failing hook can never break billing or provisioning
- **Email piping** — inbound IMAP/POP3 mailboxes turn emails into tickets and replies
- **Modular architecture** — add server / gateway / registrar modules
  without touching core
- **Eloquent everywhere** — no raw SQL, no string concatenation

---

## Requirements

| Component | Minimum |
|-----------|---------|
| PHP       | 8.3 or 8.4 |
| MySQL     | 8.0 (or MariaDB 10.6) |
| Node.js   | 18+ |
| Composer  | 2.x |
| Web server | Nginx or Apache with PHP-FPM |
| PHP extensions | `bcmath`, `curl`, `dom`, `fileinfo`, `gd`, `mbstring`, `mysqli`, `openssl`, `pdo_mysql`, `tokenizer`, `xml`, `zip`, `imap` |

**Optional but recommended:** Redis (session/cache), SMTP server or relay
(email delivery), supervisor (queue worker).

---

## Quick Start with Docker

The fastest way to try PNLCS is the official Docker image
[**`panelica/pnlcs-runtime`**](https://hub.docker.com/r/panelica/pnlcs-runtime).
It bundles PHP-FPM 8.4 + nginx + Node.js 20 + supervisor and clones the latest
code from this repository on first start. No manual `composer install` or
`npm run build` — the entrypoint handles everything.

```bash
docker network create pnlcs-net

docker run -d --name pnlcs-db --network pnlcs-net \
  -e MYSQL_ROOT_PASSWORD=changeme \
  -e MYSQL_DATABASE=pnlcs -e MYSQL_USER=pnlcs -e MYSQL_PASSWORD=changeme \
  mariadb:11

docker run -d --name pnlcs --network pnlcs-net -p 8090:80 \
  -e DB_HOST=pnlcs-db -e DB_DATABASE=pnlcs \
  -e DB_USERNAME=pnlcs -e DB_PASSWORD=changeme \
  -e APP_URL=http://localhost:8090 \
  panelica/pnlcs-runtime:1.3
```

Wait 3–5 minutes for the first start (composer install + npm build), then
visit **http://localhost:8090/install** to run the in-app install wizard.
The wizard guides you through requirements check, admin account creation
(you choose username + password), and application settings — then locks
itself permanently.

To pull the latest code from this repo into a running container:

```bash
docker exec pnlcs /usr/local/bin/update.sh
```

📦 **Full image documentation, environment variables, screenshots, and
production deployment notes:**
👉 https://hub.docker.com/r/panelica/pnlcs-runtime

---

## Self-Hosted Installation

### 1. Clone the repository

```bash
git clone https://github.com/Panelica/pnlcs.git
cd pnlcs
```

### 2. Install PHP dependencies

```bash
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
```

### 3. Create the database

```sql
CREATE DATABASE pnlcs CHARACTER SET utf8mb4 COLLATE utf8mb4_unicode_ci;
CREATE USER 'pnlcs'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED BY 'choose-a-strong-password';
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON pnlcs.* TO 'pnlcs'@'localhost';
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;
```

### 4. Configure environment

```bash
cp .env.example .env
```

Open `.env` in your editor and set at least these values:

```ini
APP_NAME="Your Company"
APP_URL=https://billing.your-domain.com
APP_ENV=production
APP_DEBUG=false

DB_DATABASE=pnlcs
DB_USERNAME=pnlcs
DB_PASSWORD=choose-a-strong-password

MAIL_FROM_ADDRESS="noreply@your-domain.com"
MAIL_FROM_NAME="Your Company"
```

**Note:** `DB_CONNECTION` defaults to `mysql` — do not change it to `sqlite`
unless you know what you're doing (some migrations use MySQL-specific SQL).

### 5. Generate the application key

```bash
php artisan key:generate
```

### 6. Run migrations and seed default data

```bash
php artisan migrate --force
php artisan db:seed --force
```

The seeder creates:

- A default admin account: **`admin` / `admin123`** (change this immediately
  after your first login)
- Four starter currencies (USD, EUR, GBP, TRY)
- Ticket departments, statuses, email templates
- 30 language entries (English active by default)
- 2,232 English translation keys
- Default homepage sections and domain pricing rows

### 7. Build frontend assets

```bash
npm install
npm run build
```

### 8. Create the public storage symlink

```bash
php artisan storage:link
```

### 9. Cache configuration for production

```bash
php artisan optimize
```

### 10. Set directory permissions

```bash
chmod -R 775 storage bootstrap/cache
chown -R www-data:www-data storage bootstrap/cache
```

*(adjust the user to match your server — `nginx`, `apache`, or your panel user)*

### 11. Point your web server to `public/`

Whatever you use — a control panel, raw Nginx, Apache, Caddy — make sure
**the document root is the `public/` directory**, not the project root.

### 12. Schedule the cron runner

Add a single line to the web user's crontab (`crontab -e`):

```
* * * * * cd /path/to/pnlcs && php artisan schedule:run >> /dev/null 2>&1
```

This drives invoice generation, payment reminders, automatic suspensions,
SSL polling, and other background tasks.

### 13. Run a queue worker (optional but recommended)

Email delivery and background jobs run through the queue. A simple
`supervisor` entry:

```ini
[program:pnlcs-worker]
command=php /path/to/pnlcs/artisan queue:work database --sleep=3 --tries=3 --max-time=3600
autostart=true
autorestart=true
user=www-data
```

---

## First Steps After Installation

> 📖 **New to hosting billing?** The full
> **[user guide](https://panelica.github.io/pnlcs/)** walks you through every
> concept and task in plain language — start with
> **[Your First Sale](https://panelica.github.io/pnlcs/getting-started/your-first-sale/)**
> for an end-to-end walkthrough. The steps below are the quick version.

Once the site loads and you can reach `/admin/login`, do these in order:

### 1. Sign in and change the admin password

- URL: `https://billing.your-domain.com/admin/login`
- Username: **`admin`**
- Password: **`admin123`**
- Immediately open **My Account → Change Password** and set a strong password.
- (Recommended) Enable **Two-Factor Authentication** from the same screen.

### 2. Configure General Settings

**Settings → General**

- Company name, support email, logo, favicon
- Default language, currency, timezone
- Date format, invoice pay terms, tax behavior

### 3. Configure Email Delivery

**Settings → Email** (or edit `.env` directly)

- Set `MAIL_MAILER` to `smtp` (default is `log` for testing)
- Fill in `MAIL_HOST`, `MAIL_PORT`, `MAIL_USERNAME`, `MAIL_PASSWORD`
- Send a **test email** from the settings page to verify

Until this is done, emails are written to `storage/logs/laravel.log` only.

### 4. Customize Appearance

**Settings → Appearance**

- Pick a theme from the 15 built-in options
- Upload your logo and favicon
- Configure homepage sections (hero, features, pricing, testimonials)
- Set up white-label footer text

### 5. Add Payment Gateways

**Configuration → Gateways**

- **Stripe** — paste your API keys, enable
- **PayPal** — client ID + secret (sandbox or live)
- **Bank Transfer** — set instructions shown to clients
- Test each gateway with a small order before going live

### 6. Add Server Modules (if you sell hosting)

**Configuration → Servers**

- Add your Panelica / cPanel / Plesk / DirectAdmin server
- Test the API connection from the server edit page
- Assign servers to **server groups** if you have multiple

### 7. Create Your First Product

**Products** (main admin menu)

- Create a **product group** (e.g. "Shared Hosting")
- Create a product, link it to a server and a module
- Set pricing for monthly / quarterly / annually
- Enable **auto-setup** if you want provisioning on payment

### 8. Configure Domain Pricing (if you sell domains)

**Configuration → Domain Pricing**

- Add TLDs you sell (`.com`, `.net`, ...)
- Set registration, transfer, and renewal prices
- Link to a registrar module (or use Manual)

### 9. Set Up Tax Rules

**Configuration → Tax**

- Add country-level or state-level tax rules
- Choose inclusive or exclusive tax display
- Assign taxable flag to products individually

### 10. (Optional) Invite Staff and Define Roles

**Configuration → Admin Roles / Admins**

- Create custom roles (e.g. "Billing Manager", "Support Agent")
- Pick permissions per role from the 45+ available
- Add staff members and assign roles

### 11. Enable Email Verification for Signups (recommended)

**Settings → General → Security**

- Toggle **Require email verification** on
- New signups will receive a verification link before they can order

### 12. Test the Full Flow End-to-End

- Open an **incognito browser**
- Visit `/client/register` and create a test client
- Place a test order for one of your products
- Pay with the test mode of your gateway
- Verify the invoice, service, and email flow all work

---

## Upgrading

```bash
git pull
composer install --no-dev --optimize-autoloader
php artisan migrate --force
npm install
npm run build
php artisan optimize:clear
php artisan optimize
```

Always back up your database before pulling new migrations.

---

## Modules — Servers, Payment Gateways & Domain Registrars

PNLCS ships with modular **server**, **gateway**, **registrar**, and **SSL
provider** integrations under the `modules/` directory. Add control-panel
servers (cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, Proxmox, HestiaCP, Vultr, Panelica),
configure payment gateways (Stripe, PayPal, Authorize.Net, Razorpay, Mollie,
bank transfer), and connect domain registrars (Enom, Namecheap, ResellerClub)
without touching core code.

> 💡 **Choosing a panel to sell on?** The **[Panelica](https://panelica.com)**
> server module is tested end-to-end and provisions instantly. Panelica is a
> modern **cPanel / Plesk alternative** with built-in per-user isolation (no
> CloudLinux) and universal migration from cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin, and
> CyberPanel.

This is every module in `modules/`, and whether the test suite exercises its
own code. "Covered" means there are tests that drive the module and assert on
what it sends and stores, with the provider's HTTP responses faked. It is not
a statement that the integration has been run against a live provider account.

| Module        | Type      | Automated tests |
|---------------|-----------|-----------------|
| Panelica      | Server    | Covered         |
| cPanel        | Server    | Covered         |
| Plesk         | Server    | Covered         |
| DirectAdmin   | Server    | Covered         |
| Proxmox       | Server    | Covered         |
| HestiaCP      | Server    | Covered         |
| Vultr         | Server    | Covered         |
| Custom        | Server    | None yet        |
| Stripe        | Gateway   | Covered         |
| PayPal        | Gateway   | Covered         |
| Authorize.Net | Gateway   | Covered         |
| Razorpay      | Gateway   | Covered         |
| Mollie        | Gateway   | Covered         |
| BankTransfer  | Gateway   | Covered         |
| Enom          | Registrar | Covered         |
| Namecheap     | Registrar | Covered         |
| ResellerClub  | Registrar | Covered         |
| Manual        | Registrar | None yet        |
| GoGetSSL      | SSL       | Covered         |

If you run one of these against a real provider, please open an issue with
what worked and what didn't — especially anything the faked responses could
not have caught. A short note is enough; we can iterate from there.

Adding a new module? Look at the existing ones as a reference; each module
is a self-contained directory with a handler class and optional config view.

---

## Internationalization

All UI strings live in the database (`dynamic_translations` table) and
flat PHP files under `lang/<locale>/`. Translations are editable from the
admin panel under **Configuration → Languages & Translations**. Exporting
to JSON, importing, and AI-assisted batch translation are supported out
of the box.

If your language isn't covered yet, you can either submit a PR against
the seeder or use the admin UI's export/import flow.

---

## Security

- All admin routes require authentication via the `admin.auth` middleware
- Over 250 admin endpoints are gated by fine-grained permissions
- CSRF protection on every form
- Rate limiting on login, 2FA, password reset, and verification email resends
- Webhook routes are CSRF-exempt but validated by HMAC signatures
- Eloquent ORM everywhere (no raw SQL concatenation)

Please report security issues privately to **security@panelica.com** rather
than opening a public GitHub issue.

---

## Contributing

Issues and pull requests are welcome.

Ways to help:

1. **Test a module** from the "Needs testing" list above and file an issue
   with what you found.
2. **Report a bug** with reproduction steps — screenshots help a lot.
3. **Improve a translation** via the admin UI's export, edit a JSON file,
   and send us a PR.
4. **Write documentation** — installation on specific hosting panels, how
   to add a custom module, etc.

Please keep in mind:

- This is a side project for the Panelica team. We'll get to issues as
  quickly as we can but same-day responses are rare.
- PRs that include tests are prioritized.
- Please match the existing coding style (Laravel Pint + conventional
  commits).

---

## Support & Community

Need help, want to report a bug, or have a feature request?

- 🐛 **Bug reports & feature requests** — [GitHub Issues](https://github.com/Panelica/pnlcs/issues)
- 💬 **Community forum** — [forum.panelica.com](https://forum.panelica.com)
- 📧 **Email** — [info@panelica.com](mailto:info@panelica.com)
- 🌐 **Main site** — [panelica.com](https://panelica.com)
- 🔒 **Security disclosures** — [security@panelica.com](mailto:security@panelica.com) *(please do not open public issues for security)*

We're happy to help from the forum or by email, but since this is a side
project your patience is appreciated. For urgent matters, the forum tends
to get the fastest community response.

---

## Credits

- **[Panelica](https://panelica.com)** — the modern hosting control panel and
  a **cPanel / Plesk alternative that needs no CloudLinux**; its team builds
  and maintains PNLCS
- **Laravel** by Taylor Otwell and the Laravel community
- **WHMCS** — for inspiring much of the data model and workflow
- Every contributor who opens an issue or a pull request

---

## License

Released under the **MIT License**. See [`LICENSE`](LICENSE) for details.

---

Keywords: WHMCS alternative · open-source hosting billing · self-hosted
 billing platform · Laravel billing · PHP client portal · hosting management
 software · free WHMCS · invoicing system · reseller hosting software ·
 domain management · SSL management · support ticket system · hosting CRM ·
 cPanel alternative · Plesk alternative · CyberPanel alternative ·
 CloudLinux alternative · Panelica hosting control panel

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