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A reseller API gives your customer an API key to send orders from their own system; a child panel gives them a ready-made panel on their own domain that orders from yours; a rental panel gives them a full panel with their own providers. The more control the customer gets, the more work it is for them, and the less they depend on you.
If you run a panel, all three are ways to sell to other sellers. If you are starting out, they are three ways to get your own business running. This post compares them from both sides, with the real feature names from FlashyPanels where it matters.
The Three Options in One Table
| Reseller API | Child panel | Rental panel | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the reseller gets | An API key on your panel | A panel on their domain with your panel as its only provider | A full panel with their own providers |
| Who supplies services | You | You | Any provider they connect |
| Reseller needs their own software | Yes | No | No, it is included |
| Their customers see | Their brand, through their own system | Their brand | Their brand |
| How the reseller pays you | Per order, from their balance | A monthly child panel fee plus per order | They pay the rental platform; orders go to their providers |
| Lock-in to one supplier | None, they can add others | Full, one supplier | None |
How a Reseller API Works
Every FlashyPanels panel has a User API. Your customer copies their API key from their Account page, reads the API page on your panel, and sends requests to your panel's API endpoint. The actions are the standard ones most panels use:
- services lists your services with IDs, rates and limits.
- add places an order, including drip-feed runs and intervals where a service supports them.
- status returns an order's status, for one order or several at once.
- refill and refill_status request a refill and check on it.
- cancel asks to cancel orders.
- balance returns the customer's balance.
Our SMM panel API guide covers every parameter and error message.
For you, an API customer is a normal customer who orders without opening your site. They pay from their balance at your price, custom prices included. For them, your panel is a provider they connect to their own panel the same way you connect yours.
Who it suits: other panel owners and agencies that already have software. It is the least work for you to offer and gives them the most freedom, including the freedom to move orders to a cheaper provider tomorrow.
How a Child Panel Works
A child panel is a panel with exactly one provider: the parent it was bought from. On FlashyPanels you switch on the Child Panel System module and set your price. Your customers then see a Child Panel page on your panel. They enter a domain, a currency and an admin login, and the price comes off their balance. Each child panel runs for 30 days and they renew it from their balance.
Every order on the child panel is sent to your panel and charged at your rate. The child panel owner sets their own prices on top. You earn twice: the monthly fee and the margin on every order.
Who it suits: resellers who want a branded site without choosing providers or importing catalogs. The trade-off is dependency. If your prices rise or a service fails, every child panel under you feels it the same day. Our child panel page covers ours in detail, and what is a child panel explains the idea from the start.
How a Rental Panel Works
A rental panel is a full panel on your own domain, hosted by the platform. You connect your own providers, import services with your own markup, and set up your own payment methods. You can also offer the API and child panels to your customers, because they are features of the panel.
On FlashyPanels, Starter is $10 a month for 500 orders and 5 providers, Pro $25 for 10,000 orders and 20 providers, and Business $60 with no limit on either, all with no setup fee.
Who it suits: anyone who wants to choose their own providers. More setup than a child panel, but nobody else decides your costs.
Which One to Sell If You Run a Panel
If you already run a panel, you do not have to choose. Most panels end up offering the API and child panels side by side, because they suit different customers.
- Offer the API from day one. It costs nothing to switch on and the customers who use it tend to order in volume.
- Offer child panels once your catalog is reliable. A child panel owner cannot route around a bad service, so they will leave you if your services fail.
- Point growing resellers to their own panel when they outgrow a child panel. Losing their child panel fee is better than losing them to a competitor.
Pricing Your API and Child Panels
API customers usually order more than retail customers, so most panels give them a lower rate. On FlashyPanels you set that per user under Clients → Custom Prices, or give a percentage discount, and the API charges the same price the website would. Keep enough margin for refills: an API customer can request refills in bulk through the refill action, and every refill you owe is one your provider has to honour.
For child panels, the monthly fee is yours to set in the module. Set it high enough to cover the support work. A child panel owner brings you their customers' tickets, so ten child panels can mean more tickets than a hundred retail customers. The order margin still comes from your normal service prices, because every child panel order is charged at your rate.
Two habits help with both. Tell API and child panel customers before you change prices on popular services, because their own prices are built on yours. And when you drop a service, move them to a replacement first, so their orders do not start failing overnight.
What API Customers Expect
API customers judge you on things retail customers never see. Keep service IDs stable, because their software is built on them; if you replace a service, add a new one and tell them, rather than changing what an existing ID delivers. Keep min and max quantities accurate in the services list, because their systems read them. And answer API tickets with order IDs, since that is how their side tracks everything.
Which One to Pick If You Are Starting Out
Ask yourself two questions.
- Do you already have a website or software that can place orders? Then a reseller API from a provider is all you need.
- Do you want to choose your own providers? If not, a child panel from a panel you trust is the fastest start. If yes, rent a full panel.
| Your situation | Pick |
|---|---|
| You have your own software or panel | Reseller API from a provider |
| You want a branded site this week and trust one supplier | Child panel |
| You want your own providers, prices and payment methods | Rental panel |
| You want to resell to other resellers | Rental panel, then offer the API and child panels |
Costs Compared
- Reseller API: no fixed fee. You pay per order from your balance on the supplier panel.
- Child panel: a monthly fee set by the parent panel, plus every order at the parent's rate. On FlashyPanels you can also order a child panel under your own panel from your account; the current price is on the child panel page.
- Rental panel: the plan fee, plus your provider balance and payment gateway fees. The pricing page has our plans, and what it costs to run an SMM panel covers the rest.
Moving Between Them
These are steps, not a final choice. A common path is a reseller account first, then a child panel to get a branded site, then a full rental panel once you know which services sell and want to pick your own providers. The domain stays yours at every step, so customers keep the same address. When you move from a child panel to a full panel, import the same services from providers you choose and keep your service names, so customers see the same catalog.
If you run a panel, plan for the same path in reverse. Your best API customers may one day want a child panel, and your biggest child panel owners may one day rent their own panel. Keeping them as API customers after that is better than losing them, so keep your API prices competitive for the volumes they reach.