Hi have a windows server 2008 running 3 VMs, that shall be co-located.
I have a few personal websites that needed reliable hosting in a full-trust environment, hence the investment in my own server.
However, as a small design business to offset some of these costs I would ideally like to offer very competitive hosting to my clients
Are there any tried/recommended alternative versions to Helm/Plesk that are out there which allow the automated management of hosting accounts by clients?
The only free hosting control panel I know of for Windows is ZPanel. I've used it briefly and it seemed ok. There is also WHCP, but I do not believe this is being developed further.
Most of the big names like Helm and DotNetPanel of free version that allow a limited number of users/sites. If you need more than that you will probably need to pay, however they do often offer monthly payments that may be a better option for you than buying outright.