These are the most widely used control panels for web servers and the best available solutions available when you buy VPS hosting.

Today we take a deep dive into cPanel vs. Plesk and compare them side-by-side. In this article, we’ll explain the difference between cPanel and Plesk, and hopefully, by the end of this article, you can either buy VPS hosting with cPanel or buy VPS hosting with Plesk.

What Is a VPS Hosting Control Panel

To manage web services offered by a hosting provider, you don’t need to have any administration skills. System administrators prefer graphical-user interface-based control panels because they offer easier and more efficient management and monitoring of all hosting services.

Your services can be managed with the help of mailboxes, DNS settings and server databases. Plesk and cPanel are both considered to be the best control panel for VPS. These control panels allow you to monitor your bandwidth, memory, and CPU. This makes your job easier.

The purpose of the control panel is to manage websites or servers. You need to be aware of whether you require more advanced or basic functionality. A control panel should have a user-friendly graphical user interface (GUI) with security features.

What Is cPanel?

cPanel has been in operation since 1996 and is one of the most highly praised Linux-based Web hosting panels. It allows you to manage all your services from one place. It has been a top-rated web hosting control panel for years. cPanel is easy to use and intuitive. It also works well with other products. It is the industry standard for control panels.

Plesk vs. cPanel comparison shows the amazing variety of features in cPanel. They are all grouped together for easy management. It also has a great GUI that allows you to personalize the appearance of your dashboard. Keep reading with cPanel tutorial if you are new to cPanel control panel.

What Is Plesk?

Plesk was founded in 2000, by Dimitri Simonenko. Plesk is a leading web hosting control panel that hosts and automates website operators. It protects more than 380,000 servers and supports more than 11 million websites through its automation.

Plesk hosting is best for what? Plesk hosting is known for its great GUI and overall usability. It is suitable for Linux as well as Windows-based providers. It also offers excellent security features such as fail2ban.

Major Features in cPanel vs. Plesk

Plesk and cPanel are both great choices when it comes to must-have features. You will find:

• Domain management – Add new domain names, configure them and manage them.
• File management – Upload new files to the server and manage them.
• Email Management – Create new email accounts, manage them and access webmail. You can also configure spam filters, mailing list forwarders, and other features.
• Database Management – Set up and manage databases.
• Stats – See the traffic volume for the server.
• Security – SSL certificates and SSH access. IP blockers.
• Software installers are easy to install popular web scripts like Joomla and WordPress.

There are some distinctive characteristics that make each platform stand out.

cPanel

• This platform is more popular among hosting providers, and it’s usually less expensive for end-users.
• You can set up SSL certificates for free via Let’s Encrypt or AutoSSL. However, you can also switch to Comodo certificates.
• cPanel can be run on fewer operating systems than Plesk, but it does support Amazon Linux.
• You can rely on great automatic backups and restores. There are a few built-in backups and restore options.

Plesk

• Plesk can be run on Windows as well as more than a dozen Linux distributions, including CentOS, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and CloudLinux.
• Support for Docker and Git, Node.js and WordPress Toolkit built-in (great if your goal is to automate WordPress and gain additional management tools).
• One-click for easy SSL integration Plesk will assist you in obtaining an SSL certificate through Let’s Encrypt and integrating it on your site.
• WordPress users have the option to receive automatic updates, bug fixes and patches. Plesk manages most of your WordPress security requirements.

Security – cPanel vs Plesk

Security is a strong point for both Plesk and cPanel. Some of this cPanel vs. Plesk security are known; however, we’ll mention them down below.

cPanel Security

• AutoSSL automatically renews SSL certificates issued by Let’s Encrypt.
• cPHulk protection by brute force.
• Support for CSF (ConfigServer Security & Firewall).
• Email spam filters.
• Every user has access to SSH access and an IP blocker. Hotlink protection, leech protection. ModSecurity. Two-factor authentication.

Plesk Security

• Plesk Firewall is Plesk’s custom firewall you can configure.
• AutoSSL automatically renews SSL certificates issued by Let’s Encrypt.
• ImunifyAV is an intelligent antivirus and monitoring software; one-click malware removal, domain reputation monitoring, and blacklist status check.
• Fail2ban is a tool that scans log files to ban IP addresses suspected of doing malicious activities.
• Email spam filters.

Pricing – cPanel vs Plesk

Plesk vs. cPanel has different pricing plans depending on the services they provide. To ensure that you are getting the best option, make sure you read the description of the product you’re purchasing.

Plesk Pricing

Plesk offers three plans for dedicated servers and VPS hosting.

Main features of Plesk

• If you manage more servers than 20, you may be eligible for their partner program.
• You can also choose to pay monthly.
• Additional discounts are available if you choose to sign up for an Annual Plan

cPanel Pricing

cPanel has three options: Solo, VPS, or Dedicated. You can choose to pay monthly or annually.

Main features of cPanel

• Extra 30% Discount for Partners
• You can also choose to pay monthly.
• Additional discounts are available if you choose to sign up for an Annual Plan

cPanel vs. Plesk – Which One’s Good for WordPress?

Plesk works in the same way as WordPress Dashboard. You can manage Plesk Onyx easily if you are familiar with the WordPress Dashboard. The toolkit comes with WordPress and makes it easy to install. Click installation of WordPress is also available through cPanel.

Plesk vs. cPanel – Which Control Panel Is Better?

Your web hosting control panel plays an important role in how you interact and communicate with your server. Your control panel will give you all the features that you need for your project.

1. cPanel is a popular web hosting service because it is easy to use and can be used with Linux-based servers that power most of the Internet.
2. Plesk is better if you want to use multiple servers from the same control panel.
3. Plesk offers separate licenses for 10-30 sites. It is cheaper to have more sites.
4. cPanel is a cheaper option if you have many sites.
5. Plesk is a better choice for beginners who are just starting to build a website.

Conclusion

Both server management and system brands offer excellent products. You can choose from either of these options depending on your needs and how familiar you are with hosting platform control panels. Plesk is able to run on both Linux and Windows servers. cPanel, however, is better suited for Linux servers.

Managing your hosting environment without cPanel would be difficult. Using a dashboard such as cPanel, complex tasks can be done in just a few clicks. This software allows complete beginners to manage their hosting accounts.

Many web hosts use cPanel, so it is a good idea that you understand how it works to maximize your hosting experience.

In this article, we would like to discuss VPS hosting with cPanel, cPanel advantages and hopefully by the end of this article, you should be able to make your mind and buy cPanel VPS hosting.

What Is cPanel?

cPanel, as mentioned in the introduction, is a control panel that allows you to manage the backend of your VPS hosting. It makes hosting management easy and allows you to complete tasks in just a few clicks.

cPanel’s beauty is that it was designed for beginners. It’s easy to use and can do complex tasks.

Here are some examples of tasks that you can do in cPanel.

• Just a few clicks to install WordPress or another CMS
• A visual interface allows you to organize your server and manage files
• Create domain-specific email accounts
• Check your current server usage statistics
• Install new software and applications on your server
• Security tools can be managed
• Schedule or run website backups

This is only the beginning. There are many other cPanel advantages that we’re going to discuss.

Don’t be intimidated by this. To use cPanel efficiently, you don’t have to know how each feature works. There are only a few tasks that you will need to be able to perform. You can either learn the rest over time or leave it as it is.

Is cPanel Free?

cPanel, a third-party program, is not available for free. cPanel is included in most hosting plans and comes at no additional cost. Some providers will provide cPanel for free the first year and charge an additional fee for each subsequent year.

Why You Need cPanel

It would be very difficult to manage your server without cPanel. To accomplish simple tasks, you’d need to have advanced technical knowledge. If you don’t have the technical knowledge to understand the commands, it will be difficult to manage your server or launch a website.

cPanel, one of the most popular control panels in the web hosting industry, is a very popular choice. This control panel is most commonly found on shared hosting plans. However, it can also be used for a variety of other hosting types. You’ll find it on more advanced hosting options like WordPress managed hosting, VPS, and cloud hosting.

cPanel is a tool that helps novices manage their server environments. There’s no learning curve. Although the feature set may seem overwhelming to beginners.

How to login to cPanel

cPanel is already installed on most hosting providers. To activate it, you don’t need to do anything. After you buy cPanel VPS hosting, you will receive an email with your cPanel URL and your username.

If you are new to cPanel, you may feel overwhelmed by all the options. cPanel becomes very intuitive once you have spent some time with it.

There is a tab called software that will allow you to access the programs that you use most. These apps allow you to access the website builder, install WordPress and manage files and folders on your server. You can also add site-specific email addresses and install subdomains.

You’ll find other applications such as in-depth domain and server management, database management features, security tools, and more as you scroll through cPanel.

Best cPanel Hosting

As mentioned above, most hosting providers offer cPanel for the first year and charge you for the next years. However, we offer cPanel completely free when you buy cPanel VPS hosting, from the beginning and you don’t have to pay anything fees for the upcoming years.

What You Can Do in cPanel

As you can see, you have a lot of options with cPanel for hosting-related tasks. Below, we won’t cover everything that cPanel can do. Instead, we’ll focus on the most common tasks that you’ll be doing with cPanel for VPS.

1. Manage and Add Domain Names

You can host multiple websites and domain names on one account, depending on the hosting plan. This is useful for those who want to manage multiple websites or try out new ideas and projects without creating a new hosting account.

This is how to add domains to your server. Before you can add domains to your account, you must first have them registered.

Once you are in cPanel, you will find an icon titled ‘Addon Domains’. This icon will be located either at the top of the section under ‘Popular Links’ or under the section titled ‘Domains’.

Next, click ‘Addon Domains’ and then enter your domain name. You can also create subdomains or a folder. Most users simply type the domain name into the box titled ‘New Domain Name’ and then click ‘Add Domain’. After you have added the domain, you can begin building a website.

2. Setup and Manage Email Accounts

One of the best features of cPanel allows you to create email accounts that can be associated with your domain. Instead of your standard Gmail address, this allows you to create a professional email account.

Many hosting plans allow you to set up multiple email accounts so that you can create email addresses and contact information for each member of your team.

The application called ‘Email Accounts’ can be used to create new email accounts. Next, you will create an email handle and choose the domain to associate the account with.

You can also adjust your mailbox quota, which is the maximum number of emails that an account can receive in its inbox. Once you are satisfied, click ‘Create Account’ to create your new email.

Your cPanel account can be used to manage, send and check your emails. Click on ‘Webmail’ and choose the application that you wish to use. You can use your email account just like any other email client.

3. Manage and Access Server Files

Although not every user will be required to manage files on your server servers, it is helpful to have a basic understanding of the process. The visual file manager, ‘File Manager’, will be used.

A series of files are created when you use cPanel to create new websites or install software on your server.

You can view the files in File Manager within cPanel and make changes or delete any files that you don’t need anymore. You should find it similar to your desktop file system or laptop’s file system.

4. Create and Manage Website Databases

Modern websites use databases to store content and manage them behind the scenes. This is especially true when WordPress websites have lots of content or user data.

These databases are usually created automatically. It’s helpful to learn how to manage and create existing databases.

Click on the ‘MySQL Database Wizard’ to create a new database. The tool will guide you through creating a new database. All you have to do is answer some questions.

5. Install WordPress on cPanel

Softaculous Apps Installer is one of the most popular pieces of software in cPanel. This useful application is a bundled installer that allows you to quickly install different software on your site.

This tool allows you to install virtually any software on your website in just a few clicks. This tool will allow you to install WordPress, other popular CMSs, eCommerce software, chat software, forum software, and many more.

Each application that you can install comes with a setup wizard. This means you only need to fill in a few fields, and the software will take care of the rest.

How to Install WordPress with cPanel

Many hosts offer access to an ‘auto-installer’ within their cPanel dashboard. You can install WordPress and other software with just a few clicks.

Softaculous is the most user-friendly of these auto-installers. However, it’s possible that your host uses a different solution.

You can install WordPress through cPanel by simply looking for the section on auto-installer and clicking the WordPress button.

Follow the steps to install WordPress.

Check all the cPanel features visiting cPanel Demo page.

What Is Managed WordPress VPS Hosting

We’ve previously discussed the various types of hosting plans. For example, shared hosting is an entry-level plan that allows you to share a server with multiple users. A Virtual Private Server (VPS), on the other hand, gives you your own server space and access to more resources. You can also get dedicated hosting at the top level. This is more expensive, but it provides you with a whole server for your site.

These hosting plans can be managed or unmanaged. Hosting is usually unmanaged. This means that once you have purchased space on a server, you are largely responsible for maintaining it. Although your hosting provider may give you some tools, you are responsible for the site’s security and performance (and customizing certain plans).

Read more: What Is WordPress VPS Hosting? Best VPS for WordPress Websites

Should We Used cPanel in Managed WordPress Hosting?

Managed WordPress hosting is, as its name implies, a plan in which your provider ‘manages’ your website and server. It will handle many key tasks, such as updating your website, so that you don’t have to. However, it comes with cPanel and you can manage simple tasks yourself and if you face something crucial, you can ask the hosting provider to help you.

Conclusion

In this cPanel tutorial, we discussed what you should know when it comes down to VPS hosting with cPanel and advantages of cPanel. This will help you understand why you need to support your website using this software and what kinds of hosting-related tasks it can perform.

The best news is that you don’t need to be an expert in cPanel to manage your website. You can launch your website, create an account, build it, and schedule backups with just basic knowledge.