In this post we’ll compare the pros and cons of the top two most popular commercial control panels, cPanel and Plesk. Get a better feel for which of these two control panels is right for your server.
Both cPanel and Plesk have their strengths and weaknesses and it’s fair to say that there is no easy answer as to which is better or worse. This blog post will dive into some of the pros and cons of both cPanel and Plesk, so you can decide for yourself which control panel is best for you.
cPanel is arguably the most-used server control panel in the world. Its web-based GUI makes website management simple. It’s packed with features, and controls almost every facet of your server. The entire server can be managed from a standard web browser. With cPanel, creating, maintaining and updating your sites is both easy and less time-consuming.
cPanel has been around since the 90s., and earned a solid reputation in that time. Most users opt for it because they’re familiar with it, and know it to be a quality and reliable product.
Users have the ability to manage multiple domains in a single interface, be it via WHM (reseller account) or via cPanel (addon domains).
Users have the ability to manage multiple domains in a single interface, be it via WHM (reseller account) or via cPanel (addon domains).
Being the market leader has its advantages: everybody wants in on the action. cPanel has many plugins available, to expand its functions. You can find script auto-installers, backup tools, SEO tools, and more.
cPanel provides many resources for its users: knowledge bases, community forums, bug trackers, and more.
Only the open-source CentOS and commercial CloudLinux OS are supported. Users of other distributions, Windows, Unix, and other OS will have to look elsewhere for their panel needs.
cPanel usually costs between €10 and €15 per VPS per month, or €30 to €50 for dedicated servers. And that’s just the license, and doesn’t reflect the cost of the VPS itself. For small businesses or individuals, that may be a concern, especially since open-source (free) alternatives exist.
Migrating your website from one cPanel server/host to another is usually a trivial matter. cPanel can even import other popular panel backups, such as Plesk. But the reverse is not as easy. For example, migrating from cPanel to Plesk would require it be done manually, often involving a substantial amount of time and effort.
Plesk Panel was released back in 2003, and has since earned the favor of many seasoned and newbie users alike. It’s the only panel that works on both Linux and Windows Server. In terms of popularity, Plesk is #2 for Linux (behind cPanel) and #1 for Windows. Plesk has several editions with varying degrees of features.
As mentioned, you can use Plesk Panel to manage both Windows and Linux servers. It’s a great convenience for hosts, schools, and corporation IT departments, as they can implement the same panel software on both platforms. This is one of the main reasons behind Plesk’s rapid growth.
Plesk has several unique and useful features not found in other panels. For example, Plesk offers an easy-to-use integrated billing and automation solution (Business Manager), making third-part billing tools like WHMCS unnecessary.
Although cPanel has a nice GUI, many users consider Plesk to be cleaner and better organized. Of course, visual appeal is a matter of personal preferences, so some users will of course disagree.
Like cPanel, Plesk is a commercial for-pay proprietary software. Moreover, compared to its commercial competitors, Plesk Panel license is pricier.
While cPanel comes with a separate WHM panel for server administrators, Plesk has no such option. It comes with a single login for admins and users. Newbie server admins may be confused, not knowing that some actions have server-wide repercussions.
Many Plesk users have noticed excessive disk space is required for creating site backups. Servers may easily run out of disk space due to these hidden and forgotten space vampires.
Although Plesk generally does a great job at acknowledging and patching security vulnerabilities, problems seem to be more common with it vs. other panels.
Although cPanel is easy to use, it’s still complicated to understand. It has many, many menus, features and options. EuroVPS offers managed VPS plans, and cPanel is one of several options we offer on those plans. We can handle all the complex hosting duties, and that let’s you focus on your site content.
Plesk is a very powerful panel, and we deploy new customer servers every day. EuroVPS has been using Plesk since its earliest version, and has years of experience managing it for both Linux and Windows servers. If you’re looking for something other than cPanel, yet are unsure of how to use it, then our managed VPS plans are for you. We’ll handle the tech, and you can continue handling your sites.
