Written By Robert Ludrosky . Published on 8 Feb, 2012 .
cPanel vs Plesk
In the world of web-hosting there are two control panels that are commonly used; cPanel and Plesk. Both solutions are generally offered by all web-hosting companies on a VPS or dedicated server plan and they are generally around the same price. Sometimes you will be able to find Plesk being offered for less than cPanel but this will vary. If you are using a shared solution you are generally only offered the user cPanel. Click here to skip to the conclusion.
Comparison Chart: cPanel vs Plesk
Compare cPanel and Plesk features head-to-head in table below.
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cPanel |
Plesk |
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Auto Installers |
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Name |
Fantastico |
Application Vault |
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Available Scripts |
List Available Here |
List Available Here |
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Statistics Features |
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Services |
Analog, AwStats, Webalizer |
Webalizer, Plesk Traffic Manager, AWStats |
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Other Features |
Custom Reports, Graphical Analysis, logs, log rotation |
Real Time Bandwidth, Custom Reports, Graphical User Breakdowns |
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DNS Features |
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Services |
BIND |
BIND |
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Other Features |
Clustering, Hands-off automatic configuration |
Remote DNS, Load Balancing Support, Master/Slave Management, Automated File Matching, DNS Recursion, SOA Settings |
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FTP Information |
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Services |
proFTPd and PureFTPd |
ProFTPD |
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Other Features |
Drive Letter Access, Anonymous FTP, Graphical File Manager Anonymous |
Anonymous FTP, Upload Directory, FTP Throttling, File Manager |
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Database Support/Features |
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Services |
MySQL, PostgreSQL |
MySQL, PostgreSQL |
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Admin Panels |
phpMyAdmin, phpPgAdmin |
phpMyAdmin, phpPgMyAdmin, Secure Setup, Multi-user/Multi-DB |
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Mail Features |
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Services |
Exim, Courier-IMAP, Courier-POP |
Qmail |
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Mail List |
Mailman |
Mailman Aliasing, Auto- responses, Groups, User Access |
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Webmail |
Horde, Squirrelmail |
Horde IMP |
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Anti-Spam |
SpamAssassin, BoxTrapper, Spam Box |
SpamAssassin |
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Anti-Virus |
ClamAV |
DrWeb, Kaspersky |
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Web Features |
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Web Servers |
Apache |
Apache |
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Scripting |
Apache, CGI-Perl, PHP, SSI, JSP |
Apache ASP, PHP, Python, SSI, CGI, Mod_Perl, Ruby, FastCGI |
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Devlopement Tools |
FrontPage |
ColdFusion |
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Security |
SSL, phpSuExec, SuPHP, mod_security |
SSL, Suexec |
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Access |
IP Deny Manager, Hotlink Protector, Anti-leech, Passwords |
Unknown |
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Errors |
Last 300 Errors, Custom Error Pages |
Unknown |
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Account Types/Levels |
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Reseller Login |
Yes, with WHM 11 |
Yes |
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Domain Owner Login |
Yes |
Yes |
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Mail User Login |
Yes |
Yes |
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Demos |
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Demo Sites |
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About cPanel
Initially released in year 1996, cPanel is originally designed by J. Nicholas Koston; and it’s now managed by cPanel Inc. in Houston, Texas. The software supports a wide range of Unix based OS including CentOS, Red Hat Linux, as well as FreeBSD. cPanel is the most commonly used control panel because it is generally offered free with a shared hosing account. cPanel offers two interfaces one for the client and one for the reseller, the reseller panel is also known as the WHM panel.
cPanel official website: http://www.cpanel.net/
Screenshots Of cPanel
Screenshots Of WHM
The basic user cPanel allows the user to control his or her site thorough an easy to use interface. The features that are available will vary based on what is setup through the WHM panel. Some common tasks that can be performed through the user cPanel includes; uploading files, creating sup-domains, modifying DNS entries, creating/editing E-Mail accounts, and monitoring resource usage for sites hosted under that cPanel.
The WHM panel is designed for resellers to be able to create cPanels for subscribers. The WHM panel is generally offered to users with a reseller, VPS, or dedicated server account.
Overall the WHM offers a lot of features but can be difficult to use for someone who has only used the basic user cPanel.
About Plesk
Plesk, on the other hand, was released back in year 2003. The company is originally a product of SWsoft (after SWsoft acquired Plesk Inc.) but it’s now shipped under Parallels Inc; and the infamous Plesk is rebranded as Parallels Plesk Panel. Unlike cPanel, Plesk supports both Windows and Unix based operating system. Parallels Plesk Panel for Unix support Debian, FreeBSD, Ubuntu, SUSE, Red Hat Linux; while Parallels Plesk Panel for Windows support Windows Server 2003 and 2008. Personally, I think that Plesk offers better flexibility (especially for Windows users) when compare to cPanel.
Plesk also offer two different control panels; one for the user and one for the administrator. The administrator control panel is also known as Plesk Server Administrator (PSA).
Plesk official website: http://www.parallels.com/products/plesk/
Plesk Screenshots
PSA Screenshots
Generally, Plesk does the same things as cPanel but the layouts are completely different. It’d be tough to switch between the two when you are already familiar with one of them.
Plesk is a great solution for those who are familiar with Windows and don’t mind spending a little time figuring out how everything is setup – which, in my opinion, not too hard.
One major thing I like better about Plesk than cPanel is Plesk Site Builder. I find Plesk Site Builder very powerful and easy to use. Just to give you a quick feel on how it’s like, below are some screenshots.
Plesk Site Builder Screenshots
I would recommend cPanel to the basic user who is just trying to run a single small site or who has been using cPanel for a long time (since it is difficult to switch because of the layout differences).
I would recommend Plesk to anyone who is looking for a powerful and cheap GUI to manage their website. Additionally Plesk offers everything cPanel does plus the site builder which is a great tool for someone who is just starting out in web design or wants to make a quick website, Plesk is also generally a little cheaper than cPanel so it just makes more sense to me. Please keep in mind that for many shared hosing platforms Plesk is not an option.
Actually given Sitebuilder screenshots would be for its previous version, current one looks different and much easier to use. Additionally to listed QMail and Horde, Plesk also has Postfix and AtMail which many might consider a better choice.
My 5 cents to this comparison:
- Plesk has Postfix as MTA by default. Qmail is optional.
- FreeBSD is not supported in latest versions of Plesk.
- FrontPage is also supported by Plesk
- Atmail (commercial and free) is also supported by Plesk as webmail solution
- Restrict access by IPs is supported by Plesk
- Except Spamassassin GL, SPF, DKIM can be used as spamprotection solutions in Plesk
- Hotlink Protector is available for Plesk for Windows
- suPHP as security solution is also available in Plesk
- Watchdog and Rootkit Hunter are available in Plesk
- Custom Error Pages can be configured in Plesk
- Except BIND MS DNS server can be used for Plesk for Windows
- MS SQL 2005/2008 server can be used in Plesk for Windows
- Additional FTP Accounts and Web users feature
- IIS6/7/7.5 versions are supported by Plesk for Windows
- WYSIWYG editor in File Manager
- Migration by Plesk Migration Manager from cPanel to Plesk works like a charm!
So, I think that according to these additional (which were missed by author for some reasons) Plesk looks much more better than cPanel.
Hey guys,
I just wanted to take a couple minutes to comment on the above comments. The screenshots in the article were taken from different versions of Plesk and cPanel, not necessarily the most resent, because not all hosting companies are on the same or most resent version of the product. I have an account with 3 hosting companies and all of them are running different versions and I used them to take these screenshots.
The additional features Iron_Butterfly added are correct, but I did not include most of them in this article because many of the features will vary based on what the web hosting company sets up as their defaults. If you are working with a dedicated server or a VPS it is an entirely different ball game, which seems to be more along the lines of what he/she was talking about.
Like I mentioned in the article cPanel is easier to use for the average user and Plesk is better for someone who is more experienced and wants more control. I agree that Plesk is better in the terms of being more powerful and offering more features but I would still not recommend it to someone who has little experience with configuring a webserver.
Plesk. I hate it. I really hate it. I got a server with Plesk installed about a month ago. When the serveradmin told me I would get Plesk with the server I thought: “Good, a controlpanel I’ve heard about so it’s seems popular. Cant go wrong there… I’m only going to use it to add domains, databases and simple stuff.”.
I was so wrong. This controlpanel is a mess! The logic behind the structure of it is… there is no logic! I hate it.
And I get error after error after error. Permission-errors everywhere I look. Cpanel is so much better, they cant be compared.
As I noob I hate no problem to get around Cpanel, you’ll find everything so easily, Plesk is just a mess. I really regret I got a server with Plesk.