Introduction
A hosting control panel is the web interface you use to manage a website’s server. On shared hosting, your hosting company usually chooses the panel, installs it, and keeps it updated, so you only see the finished interface.
When you have a VPS (virtual private server), you get your own server with full administrator access, but it often starts as a plain Linux system with no website software installed. You can set everything up yourself on the command line, or you can install a control panel to do most of that work and give you a point-and-click interface again. Either way, the choice of panel is now yours.
Our series helps you make that choice, then takes you through installing a panel, moving your sites across, and looking after the server. We’ll start by comparing cPanel and Plesk with the main alternatives. If you’re still deciding whether you need a VPS at all, our guide to shared hosting vs. VPS covers that decision first.
What a Control Panel Does on a VPS
Behind the scenes, a typical website needs a web server such as Apache or nginx to deliver its pages. Many sites, including WordPress, also need PHP (the programming language WordPress is written in) and a database server such as MySQL or MariaDB, plus an SSL certificate so the site loads over HTTPS.
A hosting control panel installs this software, configures it to work together, and gives you a web interface for the day-to-day jobs.
Most panels let you:
- add websites and domains
- choose which PHP version each site uses
- create databases and database users
- issue and renew SSL certificates
- manage files through a file manager or FTP accounts
- schedule tasks, such as a script that runs every night
- take and restore backups
Mail and DNS
Many panels can also run a mail server, so the VPS hosts your email addresses, and a DNS server, which answers the internet’s questions about where your domain’s website and email are.
You don’t have to use either. Running your own mail server takes ongoing work, from publishing the right email DNS records to keeping your server’s address off spam blocklists, so we generally suggest keeping email with a hosted email service such as our own STWmail.
DNS can likewise stay with your registrar or DNS provider, with your domain simply pointed at the VPS. We’ll come back to both choices in Part 2.
A panel saves you a lot of manual setup, but it doesn’t take over the server’s maintenance. On a VPS you manage yourself, you’re responsible for operating system updates, panel updates, and backups, whichever panel you choose.
Not every “control panel” is a hosting panel. Tools such as Coolify, Dokploy, and Portainer manage applications packaged in containers (self-contained bundles of an app and everything it needs to run), and Proxmox VE manages whole virtual machines. They’re mainly built for developers running many apps or servers. We cover one of them in our guide to deploying WordPress with Coolify.
cPanel and Plesk
cPanel and Plesk are the most widely offered hosting panels. In CloudLinux’s 2026 Web Hosting Trends Report, 64% of 446 hosting companies offered cPanel, and 31% offered Plesk. Many offer more than one panel, so the figures overlap. If you’ve used shared hosting, you’ve probably used one of them already. STW shared hosting runs Plesk, for example.
Both panels have been developed for well over a decade, so they’re thoroughly documented, cover almost every hosting task, and come with vendor support.
Both also offer WP Toolkit, a WordPress manager that handles installs, updates, security checks, and staging copies (test copies of a site where you can try changes before they go live) from one screen. WP Toolkit is made by the same company as the two panels and only runs on them. Plesk’s cheapest VPS edition includes a limited version, WP Toolkit SE, and the full toolkit comes with its higher editions.
Those strengths are good reasons to stay with a familiar panel when you move to a VPS. It may make sense to use cPanel or Plesk when:
- Other people already use it. If your clients or colleagues log in to manage their own sites, changing panels means retraining them.
- You rely on WP Toolkit. Because WP Toolkit only runs on cPanel and Plesk, moving to another panel means replacing its staging and update features with other tools.
- You want vendor support. A paid license gives you a company to contact when the panel itself goes wrong.
- You want the widest compatibility. Hosting guides, migration tools, and third-party add-ons are more often written with cPanel or Plesk in mind.
If that sounds like you, we can install cPanel or Plesk on a ServeTheWorld VPS on request.
What a license costs on a VPS
On shared hosting, the panel’s license is included in your hosting price. On a VPS, the panel needs its own paid license, which adds a monthly cost on top of the server. At the time of writing (October 2026), monthly VPS licenses were priced as follows, excluding VAT:
| Panel | Price depends on | Monthly price |
|---|---|---|
| cPanel | Number of accounts | From $29.99 for 1 account, up to $69.99 for 100 |
| Plesk from STW | Number of domains | From NOK 169 (~$18) for 10 domains, up to NOK 419 (~$44) for unlimited |
The two panels charge in different ways.
- cPanel charges by hosting account, where an account is a separate login with its own files, email, and databases that can hold several domains.
- Plesk charges by domain instead, and its editions also differ in features. The cheapest, Web Admin, is built for managing your own sites, so it doesn’t include separate customer or reseller accounts, and it comes with the limited WP Toolkit SE.
Suppose you run three websites for your own business. They can all use one cPanel account, so the cheapest cPanel license covers them, and they also fit Plesk’s Web Admin edition. Now suppose you host five websites for five clients who each need their own login. On cPanel, that’s five accounts and the second tier pricing. On Plesk, you’d need Web Pro or higher, because customer accounts aren’t part of Web Admin.
Why Some People Look Beyond cPanel and Plesk
For many VPS owners, cPanel or Plesk is worth that license. Others look at alternatives, and cost is usually the first reason.
1 – The license adds a running cost
On a small VPS, the monthly panel license can cost as much as renting the VPS itself, or more. If you’re moving a few sites off shared hosting to save money or gain control, a free panel cuts that cost from the monthly bill.
2 – Many prefer open-source software
Beyond cost, most panel alternatives are open source, meaning their code is published and anyone can use it without paying a license fee. You can read the code, report or fix problems, and keep using the software even if its original developers move on. Support for open-source panels typically comes through community forums, although some projects also sell paid support.
3 – A more basic panel can suit a simpler server
Open source or not, some alternatives are also simpler. cPanel and Plesk are designed to handle almost any kind of hosting. Some alternatives focus on a smaller job, such as running WordPress sites or hosting websites without email, so they install less software. On a small server running a few sites, that also means fewer services to keep updated.
cPanel and Plesk Alternatives
The control panels below are some of the main free or lower-cost alternatives to cPanel and Plesk. Each makes different trade-offs, and in Part 2 we’ll help you work out which one fits your sites.
DirectAdmin
DirectAdmin is the main commercial alternative to cPanel and Plesk. It comes from an independent company, and the survey above found 23% of hosting companies offer it. DirectAdmin covers the same ground as cPanel, including email, DNS, and its own WordPress Manager. Its licenses are priced by the number of accounts and domains, and the entry-level license costs much less than cPanel’s.
HestiaCP
HestiaCP is free and open source. With it, a single install command sets up a complete hosting server. The installer adds a web server, PHP, a database, a mail server, a DNS server, and Fail2Ban, a tool that blocks IP addresses after repeated failed logins. For WordPress and other applications, each website has a Quick install App button. Help comes from the documentation and community forum, as there’s no paid support option.
ISPConfig
ISPConfig is designed for people who host websites for others, such as web agencies and small hosting companies. The long-running open-source panel has separate logins for the administrator, for resellers (people who sell hosting to their own customers), and for clients, and one installation can manage several servers.
On a single VPS with a handful of sites, it also works as a straightforward all-in-one panel. The software is free, and paid business support and a paid migration tool are available from the developers.
CyberPanel
CyberPanel is aimed mainly at WordPress sites. It runs OpenLiteSpeed, the free edition of the LiteSpeed web server, and its one-click WordPress install includes the LiteSpeed Cache plugin. The plugin works with the web server to store ready-made copies of your pages, so they don’t need to be rebuilt for every visitor. The panel is free and open source, with paid add-ons and paid priority support.
CloudPanel
Some people want a panel that only runs websites, and CloudPanel is built for that. It hosts WordPress and other sites written in PHP, Node.js, or Python, and deliberately leaves out email and DNS. Its documentation explains that email “is very complex and shouldn’t be handled by the server that runs your Applications” and recommends a hosted email service.
CloudPanel is free to use, including for business, but it isn’t open source, as its license doesn’t allow you to modify or resell the software.
OpenPanel
OpenPanel gives each account its own separate copy of the web server and related software, so a problem in one account is less likely to spill over into the others.
The free Community edition allows up to 3 user accounts and 50 domains, and it includes a WordPress manager but leaves out email and FTP. OpenPanel describes Community as intended for private or personal use, and its Enterprise edition removes the limits for a monthly or yearly fee per server.
Froxlor
With Froxlor, you decide which services run on the server. You choose the web server, database, mail, and DNS software, and this free, open-source panel configures each one from a template, showing you the commands and settings it will apply. Setup takes more hands-on work than an all-in-one panel, and in return you know exactly how your server is put together. Froxlor doesn’t include a WordPress installer or a migration tool.
Sentora
Sentora is free and open source, and it includes websites, email, and DNS. Its development has slowed in recent years. The current stable release, from May 2024, only installs on Linux versions that have reached the end of their standard support, so they no longer receive regular security updates. Sentora 3.0 supports current Ubuntu and Debian releases but is still in beta.
How the Panels Compare
| Panel | License | WP installer | DNS | Migration tool | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| cPanel | Paid | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Plesk | Paid | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| DirectAdmin | Paid | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| HestiaCP | Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Command line |
| ISPConfig | Free | ✕ | ✓ | ✓ | Paid |
| CyberPanel | Free | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| CloudPanel | Free | ✓ | ✕ | ✕ | ✕ |
| OpenPanel | Free; paid Enterprise | ✓ | Enterprise | ✓ | Enterprise |
| Froxlor | Free | ✕ | ✓ | Optional | ✕ |
| Sentora | Free | 3.0 beta | ✓ | ✓ | ✕ |
Other Control Panels
These aren’t the only options. New panels appear regularly, while some older ones stop being developed. A few more you’re likely to come across:
- Virtualmin is free and open source, with a paid Pro edition. It’s built on the Webmin server administration tool, so it manages much more than websites, and it can import accounts from cPanel, Plesk, and DirectAdmin.
- aaPanel has a free edition with WordPress tools and Docker management, and a paid Pro edition.
- 1Panel is open source and manages websites alongside container-based applications.
- Control Web Panel has a free core with a paid Pro version, and runs on AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux, and similar systems.
- Webuzo comes from Softaculous, the company behind the popular one-click app installer, and is a low-cost paid panel.
- Enhance is a commercial panel aimed at hosting companies running many sites across several servers, priced per website.
- KeyHelp is a free panel for Ubuntu and Debian, developed by the German host Keyweb.
Check a project’s recent releases and supported operating systems before you commit to it.
Conclusion
cPanel and Plesk are widely offered hosting panels, with broad feature sets and vendor support behind them, and they’re a natural choice if you want a VPS to feel like the shared hosting you know.
On a VPS, either panel requires a paid license, and the cost depends on how many accounts or domains you host. In this tutorial, we’ve begun discussing current alternatives that cover the same everyday hosting jobs with different trade-offs in cost, features, licensing, and upkeep. Whichever you choose, paid or free, looking after the server is your job.
In Part 2, we’ll help you choose a panel based on the websites you run and how much server work you’re willing to take on.
Next steps: