Many small businesses only need professional email on their domain, not a website. With a reseller plan you can sell email-only hosting: a cPanel account limited to mailboxes, webmail and email tools, with a simplified cPanel.
Before you start
- WHM access on your reseller plan (see logging in to WHM).
- Decide mailbox counts and sizes per plan, for example 5 mailboxes of 5 GB.
Create an email-only feature list
- Go to WHM → Packages → Feature Manager and create a new list, for example
email_only(see Feature Manager). - Keep enabled: Email Accounts, Forwarders, Autoresponders, Email Filters, Email Routing, Email Deliverability, Spam Filters, Track Delivery, Webmail, Two-Factor Authentication, Password & Security, Zone Editor.
- Disable website tools: File Manager, FTP, Softaculous, databases, PHP selectors, Site Publisher, Git and similar.
- Save.
Create the package
- Go to WHM → Packages → Add a Package (see creating packages).
- Set Disk Quota to cover all mailboxes, for example 25 GB for 5 × 5 GB.
- Set Max Email Accounts and Max Quota per Email Address.
- Set databases, FTP accounts and addon domains to 0.
- Set a sensible Maximum Hourly Email by Domain Relayed (see outgoing email limits).
- Choose the
email_onlyfeature list and save.
Create a customer account
Create the account with this package as usual. If the customer's website is hosted elsewhere, point only the mail records to your server:
- Keep the domain's nameservers where the website is, and add MX,
mailA record, SPF and DKIM records there, or - Use your nameservers and set the website's A record to the external host in Zone Manager.
Warning: If the domain's website is on another server, set Email Routing in cPanel to Local Mail Exchanger so the server accepts mail for the domain, and check SPF includes both senders if the website sends mail.
Deliverability
Make sure SPF, DKIM and DMARC pass for every email-only domain (see email deliverability). Email-only customers judge you entirely on whether their mail arrives.
What to tell customers
- Webmail URL and mail client settings: IMAP 993 SSL, SMTP 465 SSL, server
mail.theirdomain.com. - How to add mailboxes in cPanel.
- See the welcome email template and adapt it.
Frequently asked questions
Can the customer add a website later?
Yes. Move the account to a full hosting package with Upgrade/Downgrade an Account; mailboxes stay as they are.
Does email-only need SSL?
Yes. AutoSSL covers mail.domain and webmail.domain when they resolve to the server, so clients connect securely.
How big should mailboxes be?
Several GB per mailbox suits most businesses. Set the total disk quota to cover the mailboxes you sell.
Can I still let customers use Zone Editor?
Yes, it is useful for adding verification records. Leave it in the feature list if customers manage their own DNS on your nameservers.
What if the customer wants Google Workspace later?
Change their MX records to Google, set Email Routing to Remote Mail Exchanger, and downgrade or cancel the email package.