Which web hosting control panel is best and most affordable?
With all the different control panels to choose from it can be difficult to choose the one that best suits you, this guide will show you the pros, cons and pricing for some of the hosting panels we've chosen.
Before you choose any control panel you're going to either need your own server, this can be a VPS (Virtual Private Server) or a dedicated server. Alternatively you can also research other web hosting companies control panels and use their shared or reseller hosting, this will save you costs but you will not own it and you wont have admin access.
We've selected 5 different control panels, these are the main panels that are used in the web hosting industry:
The most used control panel currently is Cpanel, we've been using these for the past 7 years in which we've enjoyed using but due to the sudden massive price increase this has made many customers angry and we've moved our control panel to DirectAdmin (September 2019). cPanel is only compatible on Linux CentOS operating systems.
cPanel also comes with the option of installing a free SSL using their service or integrating a third party such as Let's Encrypt.
A standard licence for cPanel was around £15 ($20) per month but from September 1st 2019 will increase to £35 ($45) per month.
A superb control panel for anyone using it but things could get rocky in the near future as many are speculating they will stop using it and find an alternate and cheaper provider.
System Requirements: 226Mhz processor, 2GB RAM, 20GB disk space
Rating 7/10.
Another very good control panel with a clean interface, Directadmin has started to become the alternative to cPanel as it offers a cheaper licence fee with lots of features. DirectAdmin is also only compatible on Linux operating systems.
DirectAdmin prices from their website start from £23 ($29) per month with the option to buy a lifetime licence for just £240 ($299) which we thought was a bargain for anyone using DirectAdmin for the long run.
System requirements: 500Mhz processor, 2GB RAM, 2GB disk space.
Rating 9/10.
Interworx like the others has an easy to use control panel to navigate around, although we had to sign up just to use their demo, potential customer's could find this quite annoying. Compatible only on Linux operating systems
Licence costs £20 ($25) per month via the website or we also found this to be half the price on alternative websites.
System requirements: 512Mhz processor, 1GB RAM, 512MB disk space.
Rating 7/10.
Plesk which is also owned along with cPanel by Oakley is the alternative for those with a Windows operating system. An easy to use control panel but can look quite overwhelming to a new user.
Prices start from around £7 ($9) but increases depending on the amount of domains hosted, roughly the same pricing structure for cPanel.
System requirements: 2GB RAM, 10GB disk space.
Rating 8/10.
Unlike the other web panels the Control Web Panel is opensource and a free alternative for anyone on a budget. The control panel also looks more advanced with up to date server information and processes.
Should you need any help along the way then you'll need to pay for it so its not recommended for a basic user.
System requirements: 1GB RAM, 10GB disk space.
Rating 7/10.
If you're looking for reliable web hosting, check out our Directadmin web hosting page.