Hi,
I wondered what approach Webflow designers / agencies take to the logistics of a client paying their hosting costs? If I create a CMS site through my Personal account that will cost me $10 a month. It feels a little messy to then have the client pay me each month to cover that cost. Is there a more straightforward way so the client can pay Webflow directly (without having to set up their own account and the additional cost that would involve) or any other alternatives?
Thanks
You should make your client pay annually, upfront, for a price you decide. And then deal with your payments to Webflow by yourself.
Just FYI, there’s a hosting practice that is—at least here in europe—very very used.
Say I develop/design a site for a client. Then he need hosting, so I point him to a good company for hosting. The hosting company issues a quote, and the client starts paying directly to them for hosting. Then the hosting company backpays us of +/- 25-30% of the hosting fees.
It seems everyone does this. The first time it happens to me, I didn’t even understood it… I was like “What is this money for?” So they explained these are captive business and it adds up… so when you give them a client of yours, they consider that this is an important move, a business that will last, so they backpay.
Thanks @vincent
Having the client pay annually upfront is certainly an option and the only practical one I can see as things currently stand. However, I really don’t like the idea of having monthly outgoings which would feel disconnected from that initial upfront payment. Could also be affected by any fluctuations in Webflow pricing structure.
My ideal would be to charge annually and pay Webflow in the same way or allow the client to pay Webflow directly. Neither option is available at the moment (perhaps in the future?)
Does anyone else see this as an issue and deal with it differently?
Due to what I desribed above, it could be possible in the future, it’s not fantasy. But I really don’t know Webflows’ roadmap (:
As for the upfront annual payment, you can think of it as a maintenance fee rather than just hosting. that’s why you whose your price and place it above what WF makes you pay. In this fee, you include hosting, any WF maintenance you could have to do, any external maintenance typekit, other hosting for resources etc), maintenance on the site itself etc.
A website, or a mobile app, a software never live by itself. It’s only natural to sell it with a maintenance contract and related fees.
I agree with your points in the sense that a certain amount of maintenance may crop up during the year. I just think when the out cost for hosting (in this case $120 annually for a CMS hosted site) can be seen by the client on the Webflow pricing page, charging more than that becomes a tougher sell.
HI @sparky
I’m with you.
Check out a forum post I started a while back and it’s still ongoing.
Hopefully the ability for our clients to pay Webflow directly for hosting will be with us very soon.
Dan
excellent point.
For the first year… We don’t charge our clients for hosting.
The cost is built into the price.
Client has the option of per-incident or annual maintenance.
The way we do it is that we include 1/2 hr. support per month in the hosting. That way we can justify the higher hosting cost by going through our agency and it makes it better for our customer as they don´t have to think about the cost of every time they give us a call either for a problem or a small fix. We also invoice annually up front. Works for us. 
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