5 Best cPanel Alternatives for a Great Website Management Experience

cPanel alternatives come in handy nowadays primarily because cPanel is increasing prices for their services. Although the company may have been part of many businesses’ success for some time, looking at other hosting control panel alternatives might be a wise move.  

These alternatives can also give users an intuitive interface, providing similar management experience as cPanel. What is even interesting is some of the best cPanel alternatives are free, so you do not have to spend anything. 

Despite cPanel’s price increase, you always have the option to continue using the software. If you are considering making major changes to your website management experience, checking out these cPanel alternatives would be a good place to start.

5 Factors to Look for in cPanel Alternatives

Before we give you the best alternatives for cPanel, we will tackle first the things you should look for in a cPanel alternative. This will serve as your guide in picking the right software that suits your unique business needs. 

1. Price

The price increase with cPanel is what triggered many users to switch to another hosting control panel. Therefore, it is important to look for the best cPanel alternative that offers a fair price or is stable with their prices. This way, you can expect that your subscription is always within your budget.

It is also a good option to look for open-source alternatives where you can enjoy the functionalities without spending a penny.

2. Intuitive Interface

Another factor to look for is an interface that is easy to use and understand, so you can work quickly and hassle-free. Not all the cPanel alternatives on our list are a thing of beauty, but it is highly likely that you will find one that will suit your business needs perfectly. 

3. Basic Features

The ability to configure basic hosting control panel features like emails, domains, backups, and databases is something you should look for in a cPanel alternative. You would not want to migrate to an alternative that will not give you the basic options you had with cPanel, right?

It is even better if you have the software that can go further with its options and integrations.

4. Easy Installation

In essence, a hosting control panel should make running your business online a lot easier for you. Therefore, it is crucial to choose an alternative that offers two command lines or easy installations.     

If you are not comfortable doing the installations yourself, your hosting provider can do it for you. 

5. Full Support for Linux Distributions

Linux is an extremely powerful operating system in the world. It runs on 1.63% of desktop operating systems and 100% of supercomputers in the world. 

cPanel runs on Linux-operated machines and serves as the interface between the command line and the user. Therefore, it is essential to consider switching to an alternative that also supports Linux distributions. 

Now that you have an idea which factors to look for when choosing a cPanel alternative, it is time to check our list of the best cPanel alternatives.

1. Ajenti 

Ajenti is an open source alternative to cPanel that supports many Linux distributions. It was created and is maintained by a group of web developers and server administrators. 

This control panel software is unique among our list because it has specific uses and does not have overwhelming options. It is ideal for personal projects and small-scale experiments.

Its features include:

• Personal support – Although it is a free cPanel alternative, it has people support that you can rely on whenever you need help. Whenever you encounter issues, you can always post on their forums, so developers can assist you. 
• Monitoring and analytics – Ajenti provides detailed information about your configured domains such as server tasks, monthly averages, and resource usage.
• Firewall protection – Security is equally important as having a hosting service, and Ajenti offers firewall protection for your account. You can enable and configure this from your control panel with just a click, permitting access to services that you authorize.
• Simple interface – The software is also easy to navigate with a modern-designed interface. You can quickly find a feature and configure it.

2. Virtualmin  

Virtualmin is also another free alternative to cPanel. It provides the advanced configuration options for web hosting and is ideal for advanced users. 

It has side menus with a distinctive style and a detailed dashboard. Virtualmin might be free, but it also has a premium version if you want more complex configurations.

Its features include:

• Security tools – It has security tools you can use to fight against brute force attacks. It also has the two-factor authentication to make accessibility more secure and safe.
• Professional version – Its premium version offers easy content management system installations, dedicated support, and an advanced website-building tool.
• Mobile responsive – Commonly, server management is a job done using a desktop, but Virtualmin is more flexible. The software is optimized to be responsive on mobile screens, so configurations are done anytime and anywhere.

3. Froxlor 

This open source alternative to cPanel is lightweight and has strong community support. It contains the basic management features that you can use to manage the backend concerns of your website. 

Froxlor’s community support ensures that the software is regularly updated to cater to the Internet’s changing demands. It offers benefits such as:

• Easy SSL integrations – Secure sockets layer (SSL) encrypts a client and server for security, protecting sensitive data from hackers. Froxlor gives you the option to make your own SSL certificate easily to secure your information. 
• Easy domain customizations – You can customize your domain on each server easily with Froxlor. Every domain can be modified using its resources and a different PHP version and web server. 
• Powerful software – The software is designed to be powerful in providing hosting services because it is maintained by experienced server administrators. It is also light and speedy for the resources in your system. 
• You can become a contributor – Froxlor welcomes ideas for its features from people. The people behind the software are willing to listen to others’ thoughts that can make Froxlor better in serving its users. 

4. Plesk 

Plesk is one of the most popular cPanel alternatives available today. It has a pretty interface that ensures users with a flawless experience. 

This cPanel alternative for Windows allows server and user side configurations in one panel. Plesk gives you these benefits:

• Reasonable price – Plesk can either be more or less expensive than cPanel, depending on the number of domains you will handle. Price increases were never implemented for several years now, so people can still weigh prices and services meticulously. 
• 24/7 Support – Unlike cPanel where they offer paid support depending on the concern, Plesk makes sure they provide customers 24/7 support through phone or email. This is extremely helpful because backend problems can occur any time.
• Availability for many operating systems – While cPanel is only limited to some Linux distributions, Plesk can support both Windows and Linux distributions. This makes the software more available to a larger market.
• Great graphic interface – One outstanding feature of Plesk is its graphic interface. It has colourful and animated icons that provide a wonderful experience to users. 

5. DirectAdmin 

DirectAdmin is a major competitor of cPanel. It ensures to provide users all the features cPanel has. It is also faster and makes sure resources are less hungry, which means there is more power available for users because management uses less.

Its benefits include:

• Money-back guarantee – Although DirectAdmin is pricier than cPanel, it has no domain limits. It also gives you the protection for price increases, which is extremely beneficial to customers.
• Advanced features – The software has add-ons and plugins that help improve its control panel’s functionality. Among these plugins are for marketing, security, and webmail.
• Support – DirectAdmin also gives customers strong support through email for any concerns that arise. Its website has a lot of useful content as community advice and helpful resources. 
• Easy content management system installations – The software features a one-click installation for content management system platforms such as WordPress to make customers’ lives a lot easier. It uses Softaculous, an installation program, which cPanel utilizes as well.

Conclusion

With our cPanel alternatives, it is not yet the end of the world for your website or business. cPanel might be one of the most popular and used software for managing website needs, but there are other software you can try to get the same service and level of user experience.

Once you have chosen the best alternative, you need to also familiarize yourself with the software, so you can maximize all the benefits it has to offer. So, closely assess these amazing cPanel alternatives and use it to take your business to the next level!