White-Label CMS for Agencies
When you hand a finished website to a client, they log into the CMS. If that CMS shows a third-party logo — "Powered by SiteCake," "Powered by WordPress," whatever it is — the experience breaks slightly. The client is reminded they're using someone else's tool, not yours.
For agencies building and maintaining multiple client sites, branding consistency matters. You've spent time on your logo, your onboarding materials, your client communication. The CMS login screen shouldn't undercut that.
This article covers how to set up a white-label CMS for agency use — what that means practically, what SiteCake's white-label license includes, and how to deploy it for a client in an afternoon.
The problem agencies keep running into
Most agencies settle on one CMS and use it across all client projects. The problem is that most popular CMSs were designed for end users — the WordPress logo, the Squarespace branding, the Wix watermark. They're not designed to be invisible.
The alternatives usually involve:
- Building a custom CMS in-house — significant development cost, ongoing maintenance
- Using an enterprise headless CMS with white-label options — high monthly per-site cost, complex setup
- Working with WordPress and trying to deactivate the branding — fragile, inconsistent across plugins
- Accepting third-party branding and hoping clients don't notice or mind
There's a more practical option for agencies deploying simple HTML-based client sites: a white-label flat-file CMS with a fixed one-time cost and full branding control.
What a white-label CMS actually means
In practical terms, white-labeling a CMS means two things:
- The client sees your agency's logo on the login screen and the editor toolbar — not the CMS vendor's branding.
- The entry point URL can use a neutral name (
admin.phpinstead ofsitecake.php), so the underlying product isn't visible in the URL bar.
What it doesn't mean: you're not selling the CMS as your own product or reselling licenses. You're deploying it for your clients under your agency's visual identity. The functional capability is the same as the standard product.
SiteCake's white-label license
SiteCake offers two licenses. The Regular license ($99 one-time) covers a single website. The White Label license ($199 one-time) covers unlimited websites and includes full branding customization.
The white-label license is designed specifically for agencies. You pay once and deploy SiteCake to as many client sites as you need. There's no per-site fee, no monthly subscription, and no revenue share.
The white-label package uses admin.php as the entry point and cms/ as the resource directory instead of sitecake/ — so neither the filename nor the folder reveals which CMS product is installed.
What you can customize
Login screen logo. Replace the SiteCake logo on the login dialog with your own agency logo. Place your image at cms/brand/login-logo.png. The login screen is what clients see every time they access the editor — this is the most visible branding point.
Toolbar logo. Replace the logo in the editor toolbar (visible while the client is editing). Place your image at cms/brand/toolbar-logo.png. This keeps your branding present throughout the editing session.
Entry point URL. The white-label package uses admin.php instead of sitecake.php. Clients log in at yourdomain.com/admin.php. You can further rename this file to anything you prefer.
These three changes — login logo, toolbar logo, entry point URL — are enough to make the CMS look like an agency-owned product to most clients.
For deeper customization (colors, icon set, editor component list), the toolbar and login screen HTML are configurable via the editor.cnf file.
Deploying for clients
Once you've set up your branded version, deploying to a new client site is straightforward:
- Prepare your branded package. Keep a master copy of the white-label files with your logos already in place. When a new client site is ready, copy this package rather than starting fresh each time.
- Add
sc-contentclasses to the HTML regions the client should be able to edit. The typical setup marks the main content area on each page as editable and leaves navigation, headers, and footers protected. - Upload to the client's server. The client's server needs PHP 7.4+. Upload
admin.phpand thecms/folder to the web root alongside the HTML files. No database setup required. - Set the client's password. Log in at
admin.phpand change the password from the default. Give the client their login URL and new password. - Test the editable regions. Click through each page to verify the right sections are editable and the non-editable areas are protected.
A typical deployment on an existing HTML site takes 30 to 60 minutes depending on how many pages need the sc-content class added.
What clients experience
The client visits yourdomain.com/admin.php, sees your agency's login screen, and logs in. The editor toolbar appears at the top of their site with your logo. They click on the text they want to change, edit it, add or swap images if needed, and hit Publish.
They never see the SiteCake name. From their perspective, this is your agency's CMS.
The editor is intentionally simple. There's no admin panel, no dashboard, no content calendar, no plugin settings page. Clients who have struggled with WordPress often find this a relief — the editing interface is just the page, with the editable parts highlighted.
Pricing for agencies
The White Label license is $199 as a one-time purchase. There are no annual fees, no per-site charges, and no client seat limits. You can deploy the editor to 5 client sites or 500 client sites — the price is the same.
For comparison: enterprise white-label CMS products typically charge $100–$500 per month per site, or require enterprise contracts. The flat-file approach scales down gracefully to the kind of small static sites agencies build for local businesses.