For those who build websites for clients, how do you organize hosting, domains, Git repositories, and related services? Do you create and manage everything under your own accounts, or help the client set up accounts in their name and invite you as an administrator or contributor? I'm especially interested in approaches that work well for ongoing maintenance, billing, renewals, and eventually handing the project over.
4 Answers
For small, nontechnical clients, managing every account for them can be a much smoother service. I host the sites, handle DNS and third-party services, and include those costs in one recurring invoice. That gives them one point of contact and removes a lot of setup friction. The important part is documenting ownership, access, costs, and what happens during a handover so convenience doesn’t become a lock-in problem.
Whichever account structure you choose, make an inventory before launch. Record who owns each service, which email is attached to it, who pays, renewal dates, license keys, and how access can be transferred. Plugin, theme, API, and software licenses are easy to overlook and can create the same handover problems as hosting or domains. Shared access is better than relying on screenshots or one person’s login.
The safest default is for the client to own the domain, hosting account, Git organization, analytics, licenses, and billing. You can be added with the access level you need. That avoids problems if the relationship ends, a payment method expires, or the client wants to switch developers later. A staging environment under your own account is fine, but production and billing should remain with the client. Put renewal responsibilities and maintenance expectations in the contract.
I agree for domains and hosting, but I handle Git differently depending on the job. If I’m delivering a finished code package, I may develop it in my own organization and transfer or export it at handoff. For a long-term project or one involving an existing codebase, I prefer working in the client’s repository or organization from the start. Either way, the client should own the actual product and have a clear path to the source code.
That model can work well when it’s clearly agreed upon, but I’d still avoid registering the domain in your personal name. Keeping the client’s domain and production assets separate makes a future transition much less painful.