Understanding Bulk Shared Hosting: Supporting Independent Sites at Scale

When organizations support a large number of people building websites - such as students, faculty, staff, program participants, or community members - they face challenges that go beyond simply where to host those sites. The real challenge is balancing affordability, independence, ease of onboarding, and long-term site ownership at scale.

Bulk Shared Hosting (BSH) is a hosting option that Reclaim offers to help organizations face those challenges. Instead of managing their own dedicated environment or creating dozens of individual hosting transactions, BSH gives organizations the option to purchase a set of unique signup codes that individuals redeem to create their own independent hosting accounts. Unlike centralized or institution-managed hosting, BSH preserves individual ownership while simplifying purchasing and distribution.

Each person ultimately manages their own site, billing, content, and settings while the organization provides a simple and affordable way for them to create their own sites. This model supports sites at scale for users who retain full control and don’t require ongoing organizational administration.

How Does Bulk Shared Hosting Work?

Bulk Shared Hosting is a bulk purchasing option for Reclaim Hosting’s Shared Hosting accounts. An organization, department, program, or grant contacts our Sales Team and purchases a bundle of hosting codes. These codes can then be distributed to individuals, who redeem them during signup to create their own hosting account.

Once redeemed:

• The account functions just like any standard Reclaim Shared Hosting plan.
• Each user has their own Reclaim Hosting account
• Each user has their own cPanel account and login.
• The individual controls their domains, files, applications, and settings.

There is no central administrative dashboard managing everyone’s sites. Ownership and responsibility stay with the person who creates the account.

Who Is This Model Designed For?

Bulk Shared Hosting works especially well for programs that want to empower individuals while simplifying purchasing and logistics. Common scenarios include:

• Educational Programs - Colleges and universities use bulk codes to provide students or faculty with real hosting accounts for coursework, portfolios, and long-term projects that don’t require institutional oversight.
• Workshops - Institutes, bootcamps, and learning communities can distribute hosting access quickly while letting participants keep their sites after the program ends.
• Grants and Pilot Programs - Short-term funding can support long-term ownership by covering the first year of hosting for participants.
• Organizations Supporting Digital Literacy - Libraries, nonprofits, and community groups can lower the barrier to entry while encouraging independent publishing and experimentation.

Why Individual Ownership Matters

Unlike centrally managed or enrollment-based institutional platforms, Bulk Shared Hosting is built around individual ownership. One of the defining strengths of this model is that each participant owns and manages their hosting account.

That means:

• Users learn real-world web skills, not simplified simulations.
• Sites are portable and can continue beyond a course or program.
• Individuals control their data, domains, and publishing decisions.
• There’s no dependency on an institutional platform to keep the site alive.

This reinforces digital agency and supports long-term learning rather than temporary access.

What Can End Users Build?

Because each Bulk Shared Hosting code creates a full shared hosting account, users can install and run the same tools they would on any personal hosting plan. Participants aren’t limited to a single platform, CMS, or template. They’re free to explore and experiment with all of the applications available through Installatron, the one-click installer included in their cPanel accounts.

• WordPress and other applications
• Digital portfolios
• Course and project websites
• Media-rich storytelling projects
• Static websites and experiments
• Documentation and knowledge bases

How Bulk Purchasing Helps Organizations

While the sites are managed by individual users, bulk purchasing simplifies things on the organizational side:

• One purchase instead of many individual reimbursements or transactions
• Easy distribution of access through redeemable codes
• Predictable budgeting for cohorts or programs
• Reduced administrative overhead
• Clear separation between institutional funding and individual ownership

Organizations enable access without becoming long-term site administrators. Instead of the organization taking on the burden of managing everyone’s websites, programs invest in their people owning and managing their own space on the web. 

By lowering financial and logistical barriers, organizations can support meaningful publishing, learning, and experimentation at scale. Bulk Shared Hosting is a great solution for groups that do not require centralized oversight, enforce strict security controls, or restrict the use of specific tools.

If you’re exploring ways to support independent sites at scale, or weighing how Bulk Shared Hosting compares to our Domain of One’s Own or Managed Hosting solutions, our support team is happy to help you get set up with BSH or think through the best fit for your organization.