WHMCS / Checkout UX
A hosting checkout built for the person buying
Checkout UX for WHMCS, where buyers start with a business, not a domain.
Product design
UX
Design system
- 5
- starter themes
- 100+
- domain registrars
- 70+
- payment gateways
Overview
WHMCS
Billing and automation software for web hosting companies, part of WebPros
Checkout UX, product design, interaction design, design system, theming
A hosting checkout that starts with the business
WHMCS runs the online store many hosting companies sell through, so its buy flow decides whether their customers finish an order. It works with more than 100 domain registrars and 70 payment gateways.
We redesigned the journey from domain search to payment as pages and parts any hosting brand can make its own, and it shipped in WHMCS. Every clip follows one made-up customer, Harbour & Pine, a small coffee roaster in Bristol, buying from a demo store called Hosting Place.
01 The challenge
AI domain search that starts from the business
Older hosting checkouts open with a box that expects an exact domain, then hand the buyer over to a billing system. Most people arrive knowing what their business is and little else. The new search takes a plain description, such as a small-batch coffee roaster in Bristol, and suggests names that fit, priced up front. Tone and length filters narrow the list without starting again, and adding a name happens in place. The first screen already speaks the buyer's language.
02 The cart
A domain cart that stays out of the way
Each domain added confirms itself with a small card, then steps back so people can keep browsing. In the cart, the term selector does its sums in public: one, two and three years show 25%, 30% and 35% off, and the price rolls to match. Upsells appear only where they make sense. SSL is offered for domains already in the cart, and adding hosting makes a domain free for the first year.
03 Checkout
A checkout design with fewer reasons to stop
The order summary stays in view the whole time. Account setup can generate a strong password in one step, and the strength bar fills as the length goes up. Card, PayPal, Klarna and bank transfer share one space. Klarna states what is paid today and over the next two months: for Harbour & Pine, three payments of $36.99 against a $110.97 order, both on screen at once. Nothing new is asked for at the last step.
04 Theming
One hosting buy flow for any brand
Every hosting company that sells through WHMCS has its own brand. The flow runs on a small set of colour tokens, so one setting changes the masthead, buttons and highlights on every page. Five starter themes come with it, Default, Blue, Purple, Green and Red, and a hosting company can set its own colours from there. Nobody has to redesign a screen to get a checkout that looks like theirs.
05 Mobile
A mobile checkout with the total always in view
On a phone, the cart keeps the two numbers people check most: what they pay today and what it renews at. For Harbour & Pine that is $110.97 today, renewing at $147.97 a year, set out before the payment step. Payment carries the same clarity onto the small screen, with Klarna's three payments of $36.99 stated plainly beside the total. The same colour tokens theme the mobile flow, so a hosting brand looks like itself on every screen.
One senior team, from search box to payment
- UX
- Domain searchCart and upsellsCheckout and paymentAccount setup
- Product
- Interface designDesign systemTheming tokensInteraction states
FAQs
Questions about hosting checkout UX
The whole journey a hosting customer takes to buy: domain search, cart, upsells, account setup and payment. We designed it as a set of pages and components every WHMCS reseller can brand as their own, and built it in a test store called Hosting Place before it went anywhere near a live brand.
Customers describe their business in plain words, for example a small-batch coffee roaster in Bristol, and the search suggests domain names that fit, priced up front. Tone and length filters narrow the list without starting again, and adding a name to the cart happens in place with clear loading and added states.
Only offer them where they make sense. In the WHMCS cart, SSL is offered for domains already in the basket, and adding hosting makes a domain free for the first year. Term options show the saving on longer terms, and the price updates as you choose, so nothing feels hidden.
Card, PayPal, Klarna and bank transfer share one space, with the order summary in view the whole time. Klarna shows exactly what is paid today and over the next two months. Account setup can also generate a strong password in one step, removing another reason to stop at the last screen.
Yes. The flow runs on a small set of colour tokens, so one setting changes the masthead, buttons and highlights on every page. Five starter themes ship with it, Default, Blue, Purple, Green and Red, and a reseller can set their own colours from there.