Get started

This guide takes a new customer from no account to a live website with e-mail on their own domain. Everything happens in the NewHost dashboard at app.newhost.co.za. Skip the steps you don't need: an e-mail-only customer, for example, can leave out the website.

1. Create your account

Go to Create account.
Continue with Google or Facebook, or sign up with your name, e-mail address and a password of at least 8 characters.
Optional but recommended: turn on two-factor sign-in with an authenticator app under Security, and keep the backup codes somewhere safe.

2. Verify your business

Before you can order services or top up your wallet, we verify the business (or person) behind the account. The dashboard takes you to Business verification after sign-up, and a banner at the top of every page links to it until you're approved.

Choose the type of entity: company (Pty) Ltd / CC, sole proprietor, non-profit, or individual. Fill in the details and click Save details.
Upload the documents the page asks for, as PDF, JPG or PNG. A company needs its CIPC registration certificate, the ID of a director and a proof of address not older than three months; a sole proprietor or individual needs an ID and a proof of address.
Click Submit for review. It usually takes one business day, and we e-mail you when it's done.

3. Order hosting or a domain

A hosting plan

Open Websites & email and click Add website (web hosting) or Add email (e-mail only, no website). All plans, including Node.js app plans, are also under Billing & wallet → Choose a plan.
Choose monthly or yearly billing. Yearly gives you two months free.
Enter the domain the hosting is for. Each hosting account belongs to one domain: one you already own, or one you register in the next step.
Click Choose. This creates an invoice; pay it as described in step 4.

Once the invoice is paid, the hosting account is set up on our servers, usually within a minute. Its status shows on Websites & email.

A domain

Register a new domain: under Domains, search for the name and click Register. Choose the period, fill in the registrant details (they go to the registry, ZACR for .za domains, so they must be accurate) and leave the nameservers empty to use ours. Continue to payment creates the invoice, and the domain is registered as soon as it is paid.
Transfer a domain you already have: click Transfer a domain in on the Domains page. Make sure the domain is unlocked at your current registrar and enter its EPP / auth code (.za domains don't need one). The transfer starts once the invoice is paid; we check its progress every 15 minutes and the domain becomes active when it completes.
Keep your domain where it is: that works too. You only need to point its DNS at NewHost (step 5).

4. Pay

Every order creates an invoice. Open it from the order, or from Billing & wallet → Invoices, and choose how to pay:

Method	How it works
Card / Instant EFT	A secure payment page by our payment provider, CentraPoint. When paying for a plan you can tick Renew automatically by card so each renewal is charged to the card.
Wallet	Prepaid credit in your NewHost account. Top it up under Billing & wallet (by card or Instant EFT), then click Pay from wallet on the invoice.
Bank EFT	Pay into the bank account shown on the invoice, with the invoice number as the reference, then upload your proof of payment on the invoice. We confirm once the money reflects, usually within one to two business days.

No VAT is added: the amount on the invoice is the full amount you pay. Under Billing & wallet you can also turn on Pay invoices from wallet automatically, so new invoices are paid from your wallet whenever the balance covers them.

5. Point your domain at NewHost

Your website and e-mail work once the domain's DNS points to NewHost. The simplest way is to use NewHost's nameservers: the records for your site and mail are then set up for you.

Domain registered or transferred with NewHost: open it under Domains and click Use NewHost nameservers (new registrations normally use them already). The same page has a DNS records editor for extra records, such as a TXT record to verify a service.
Domain at another registrar: change its nameservers there to NewHost's (open a support ticket if you need their names), or transfer the domain to us.
Keeping DNS at another provider: add A records for the domain and www that point to the server IP shown on your hosting account's page. For e-mail, ask us for the mail records to add.

DNS changes can take a few hours, sometimes up to two days, to reach everyone. When the domain points to us, click Issue free SSL (Let's Encrypt) on the hosting account's page so the site opens over HTTPS.

6. Set up e-mail

Open Websites & email, click your domain and go to Mailboxes.
Enter the part before the @ (for example info) and the mailbox size, then click Create mailbox.
Copy the password straight away: it is shown once. You can set a new one later with Reset password.

Read your mail with Webmail, or add the mailbox to Outlook, Apple Mail or your phone with the full address as the username and mail.yourdomain as the IMAP and SMTP server. A mailbox's Settings change its size, forward copies to another address, and add aliases such as sales@ that deliver to the same mailbox.

7. Put your website online

Open your domain under Websites & email. The Manage panel gives you three ways in:

Control panel: Open control panel takes you to the Plesk control panel, where the File Manager uploads files (a ZIP can be extracted in place) and you manage the rest of the hosting account. Reset control panel password shows the login once.
FTP / SFTP: Reset FTP password shows the host, username and a new password once. Upload your site into the httpdocs folder.
Git: under Deploy from Git, paste your repository's URL and click Deploy. We pull it into httpdocs. A private repository needs the server's deploy key, added in the control panel.

Running a Node.js or Next.js app instead? Choose a Node.js apps plan, then deploy it from Git under Applications → New application.

8. Website aliases (optional)

A website alias is an extra domain that shows the same website, for example your .com next to your .co.za. Open the web hosting account, go to Website aliases, enter the domain and click Check domain. You see whether its DNS already points to us, the records to add if it doesn't, and the price for the rest of the billing period. Add alias creates the invoice; the alias is set up once it is paid and goes live, with SSL, when its DNS points to us. Each alias is then billed with the hosting account's renewals. If you remove one, the unused paid days go back to your wallet.

9. Billing and renewals

Hosting renews every month or year. With card auto-renewal, your card is charged each period. Otherwise a renewal invoice is raised 7 days before the period ends; it is paid from your wallet when the balance covers it, or you pay it on the invoice page.
Domains with auto-renew on get a renewal invoice 30 days before they expire, paid from your wallet when it can be. A domain's page also has Renew now, the registrar lock and its EPP / transfer code.
Auto top-up (Billing & wallet) sends you a one-click top-up link when your wallet drops below an amount you choose, or when an invoice is due.
An unpaid renewal makes the hosting account past due and then suspended. Paying the open invoice switches it back on. All invoices, paid and unpaid, are under Billing & wallet, ready to print or save as PDF.
To move to a bigger or smaller plan, click Change plan on the hosting account's page.

Working with other people? Invite them under Team as an admin, developer, billing or viewer member, so everyone signs in with their own login instead of sharing yours.

10. Getting help

NewHost support runs on GSS Support, our ticketing system: use Support tickets in the dashboard menu. Your support account is created with your NewHost account under the same e-mail address. Mention the domain, and the invoice number for billing questions, so we can help straight away.

Building your own integration? The API getting started guide covers API keys, deployments and webhooks.