Hosting & Domains Manager is a free module for Perfex CRM that turns your hosting and domain reselling into a system that runs itself — automatic invoices, renewal reminders, an encrypted credentials vault, WHOIS/SSL/DNS/uptime monitoring, a client-portal tab and margin reports. Built and maintained by Leonov Design. Current version 1.0.3.
Free to download and use. No licence key, no account, no signup.
The problem it solves
If you resell hosting and domains alongside web design or development work, you know the pattern: the client’s cPanel login lives in a sticky note, the domain renewal date lives in your head, the hosting invoice gets typed by hand every month, and nobody checks the SSL certificate until the client calls in a panic.
Hosting & Domains Manager puts all of it inside the CRM you already open every morning.
What the module does
Automatic billing
Generates real Perfex invoices for hosting services and domain renewals ahead of each due date (21 days by default, configurable). Draft-first by default, so nothing goes out without your eyes on it — or switch to create-and-send automatically. Multiple items due for the same customer in one run can be consolidated onto a single invoice. Domains can bill on their own yearly schedule or ride along on the service invoice in the period their expiry actually falls.
When an invoice is paid in full, the service’s next due date advances by one billing cycle and its status moves to Active; a domain’s expiry advances by a year. Services follow a clear lifecycle: pending → active → grace → suspended → cancelled, with optional auto-suspend after a grace period (off by default).
Renewal reminders that actually go out
- Upcoming — 21, 7 and 1 day before due (default ladder).
- Bundled with a domain — 60, 30, 14, 7 days, because a domain renewal deserves more lead time.
- Overdue — 3, 7 and 14 days after the due date.
- Domain expiry safety net — 60, 30, 14, 7 days before expiry, independent of invoice state, so a domain never silently lapses.
Every ladder is configurable. Four editable email templates are installed into Perfex on activation. There’s also an optional daily 30-day digest to your admins and optional Telegram alerts.
Encrypted credentials vault
cPanel, Plesk, SSH, FTP, database, API and registrar logins, encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they touch the database. Secrets are write-only on edit, masked in the list, and revealed only on demand — shown in place for 30 seconds, or copied straight to the clipboard without ever appearing on screen. Reveals require HTTPS, a dedicated Reveal Secrets permission, and are rate-limited (20 per user per 5 minutes by default). Every reveal, copy, denied attempt and key rotation is written to an access log with user, IP and timestamp.
Monitoring
- WHOIS/RDAP expiry tracking, with a one-click “Accept WHOIS date” fix when the registry disagrees with your record.
- SSL certificate expiry, alerting 14, 7 and 1 day out.
- DNS change detection — alerts only when nameserver or TXT records actually change, not on reordering.
- Uptime — polling with an optional expected keyword, or push status in from Uptime Kuma (or any compatible monitor) via a token-protected webhook. One alert per outage episode, not per failed check.
Client portal tab
Your customers get a Hosting & Domains tab in the Perfex client portal: their services with live uptime status, their domains with expiry and SSL dates, plan features, linked invoices with pay links, a 30-day uptime strip, and — only if you flag a credential as client-visible — the same reveal/copy behaviour, logged the same way. Your cost, margin and server data never appear there.
Clients can request Renew early, Change plan and Request cancellation — each one creates a normal Perfex support ticket. Nothing changes until you act on it. No self-service surprises.
Reports and margin
Revenue by month (hosting vs domains), margin per server, domains by registrar, services by plan — each with a CSV export. Server costs can be recorded automatically as monthly Perfex expenses in a “Hosting” category, so the margin figure is based on real numbers rather than guesswork. A dashboard widget shows payments due in the next 30 days.
Requirements
| Perfex CRM | 3.x (module declares: requires at least 3.1) |
| PHP | 8.1 or newer |
| HTTPS | Required to reveal vault secrets |
| Cron | Native Perfex cron running, ideally every 5 minutes |
Installation in three steps
- In Perfex, go to Setup → Modules and upload the module ZIP.
- Click Activate next to “Hosting & Domains Manager”. The installer creates its tables, four email templates, the sidebar menu, the customer tab, the dashboard widget and the permission set.
- Confirm your Perfex cron is running, then set up Providers → Servers → Plans → Services → Domains. The manual walks the whole thing end to end in about 15 minutes.
One thing to read before you store your first credential: the module writes an encryption key file one level above your web root and locks it to 600. Back that file up separately from your database backups — without it, stored secrets cannot be recovered. On locked-down or containerised hosting, define the HOSTING_MANAGER_VAULT_KEY constant instead.
Who it’s for
- Freelance web designers and developers who resell hosting to a handful of clients and keep losing track of renewals.
- Web and digital agencies running dozens of client sites across several servers and registrars.
- Small hosting resellers who want billing, credentials and monitoring in one place instead of three.
- Businesses running Perfex CRM in-house that need to track their own domains, SSL certificates and server costs.
Frequently asked questions
Is Hosting & Domains Manager really free?
Yes. Download the ZIP, install it in your own Perfex CRM, use it on as many clients as you like. There is no licence key and no account required.
Which Perfex CRM and PHP versions are supported?
Perfex CRM 3.x (the module declares it requires at least 3.1) and PHP 8.1 or newer. HTTPS is required to reveal vault secrets, and the native Perfex cron must be running for billing, reminders and monitoring to work.
No invoice was generated — what should I check?
In order: the service status must be Pending or Active (Grace, Suspended and Cancelled never re-bill); Billing Mode must be Recurring Invoice, not Stripe Subscription; the next due date must fall inside the lead window set in Settings; and the Perfex cron must actually be running — the module shows cron health under Settings → Monitoring.
How secure are the stored passwords?
Secrets and private keys are encrypted with AES-256-GCM before they reach the database, using a key stored outside the web root. Revealing requires HTTPS and a separate Reveal Secrets permission, is rate-limited, and is logged with user, IP and timestamp. Revealed values never appear in the page source.
What happens to my data if I uninstall the module?
Your data is kept by default. Uninstalling removes only the module’s email templates and settings; all module tables stay untouched unless you deliberately enable the “delete all module tables on uninstall” option first.
Can my clients change or cancel services themselves?
No. The portal is read-only by design. Renew early, change plan and cancellation requests all become normal Perfex support tickets — nothing changes until you act on the ticket.
Need help with your Perfex CRM setup?
We build and customise web systems for small businesses and agencies — CRM setup, custom modules, websites and automation. See our pricing or get in touch if you’d like a hand installing or extending this module.