cPanel and Plesk are popular and well-known web hosting control panels. Web hosting control panel provides an interface that is web-based to manage your hosting setup.
Though both cPanel and Plesk tend to do the same type of work, that’s managing your website and web hosting; they are unique in their own way. Moreover, they control everything right from managing domain names, files on the server, database access, manage email accounts, etc., very smoothly and efficiently.
As well known web panels, they are a pathway to online business and give tough competition to each other. They are continuously evolving and come up with new integrations as per the needs and demands of the customers to suit their conveniences.
cPanel is in the market since 1996, which speaks a lot about how long they are in the market and how they have managed to keep their hold on the market. They are the pioneers and, as such, have a great number of users. Plesk control panel, on the other hand, entered the market in 2001.
Here’s a detailed comparison of cPanel and Plesk based on their features, usability, understandability, efficiency, etc. Which among them is better? Which should you choose for your business? What are their major differences? These are some of the questions to which you will have an answer by the end of this article.
Contents
User Interface – cPanel vs. Plesk
When you compare these two web hosting panels, from the user’s point of view, they tend to look quite similar. Even if you are going through Plesk dashboard for the first time, you will get all the things you need very easily.
Though they have a host of sections, each of them is properly segmented and labelled, making every area of the control panel very accessible. The different sections, such as File, Database, Domains, etc., are very clearly noticeable on the Plesk dashboard.
The Plesk dashboard is very easy to navigate, especially if you are a new user, whereas cPanel is much more beneficial for experienced users. The control panel resembles the WordPress admin panel. It follows an altogether different method and organizes its features on the basis of sites that you host on your setup.
Thus, it shows only those settings and configurations applicable for that site. As far as cPanel web hosting control panel is concerned, it might be a little cluttered as compared to Plesk, but it does have the feature wherein you are free to customize the home-screen for your better usage.
Here, you can shift each group to the right or the left, to the top or to the bottom based on your convenience. Through this, you know exactly where the specific group you are looking for is.
The difference between a cPanel dashboard design/function and Plesk’s is quite visible and unique. This can be explained with the following example: if you have to make an addition of an email account to your domain name, then:-
In the case of cPanel:- you navigate to your email, choose the domain to which you want your new email to be assigned.
In the case of Plesk – you choose the domain first and later decide the next step, that’s assigning the new email to it.
cPanel places importance on features, and Plesk control panel, on the other hand, emphasizes more on domains /hosted sites.
To sum it all up into a list, here’s a view of the cPanel and the Plesk user interface features:-
Plesk Control Panel
- It is much easier to use if you’re a beginner.
- It has a much more clean Graphical User Interface (GUI)
- Easy to use
- Navigation to your required feature is smooth and quick.
cPanel Control Panel
- You can customize your home screen
- All the similar items found in one group
- Better for the experienced users
Features Available – Plesk vs. cPanel
Both of the web hosting control panels don’t leave an inch in providing you with the best of all features. In terms of your offering criteria, they do not disappoint their users at all. They both provide customers with identical settings and features to manage their work.
For instance, cPanel and Plesk have the Domain management feature wherein you can easily configure, manage and even add new domain names. They also have file management, database management, and email accounts management features.
But, apart from all this, both of the web hosting control panels have a little bit more to offer.
Let’s begin with cPanel.
Through cPanel, you get the Auto SSL feature, wherein you can set free SSL certificates. Another amazing feature is that cPanel supports Amazon Linux, which isn’t supported by Plesk.
The backups available here are advanced and cool. So you can make full use of them to restore mechanisms. Also, if seen from the end user’s perspective, cPanel is much cheaper than Plesk.
Moving on to Plesk,
Plesk can not only be run on Windows server but also on many other Linux distributions that cPanel doesn’t support, such as Ubuntu, Cloud Linux, etc. If you wish to use some WordPress Automations, then that can be done too, because Plesk has built-in Docker support, Nid, etc.
SSL integrations, too, are available with a single click. Basically, Plesk takes care of your job as sincerely as it is on its own, so you do not have to get worried as it is all covered.
Plesk also manages most of the WordPress security, which is a plus factor for those users who make use of WordPress. Through this feature, they can make the most by getting bug fixes, automatic updates, etc.
So, in these ways, cPanel and Plesk are so alike and yet so different from each other. It is so fascinating that you can get such amazing features in both of the web hosting control panels. You should certainly choose the one that does more justice to what your requirements are.
Security- cPanel vs. Plesk
Security is a must-have feature in any platform, stream, website, literally anything you access on the internet or in actual life. If there isn’t proper security made available, it isn’t possible to trust that particular system.
Both cPanel and Plesk provide you with amazing security features that make sure to keep all your data completely safe and secure.
As mentioned earlier, both the controls share some of the most common features, which also includes, few features related to security, such as the Auto SSL feature.
Apart from that, cPanel contains directories that can be password protected. You also have the feature wherein you are free to blacklist any individual IP addresses or even the whole region.
cPanel supports ConfigServer security as well as Firewall. You can also encrypt all your outbound messages, and you have certain specific spam filters for your emails which you can make use of based on your necessities.
It also makes sure that your media files don’t get misused or any unwanted visitor making use of your username and password inappropriately.
Apart from that, the new version of cPanel also has some additional security, such as the feature whereupon the system administrator can set each sub-directory’s privacy permission.
Coming to Plesk, it too has some great security features that ensure 100% safety of all your resources and data. First and foremost, Plesk supports a huge number of security extensions available such as the Active Directory integration, immunity 360, etc.
It has both Symantec SSL as well as Let’s Encrypt. One of the best features is the “Automated healing” feature. Here there is literally no skilled support required from your end. It is like the web hosting control panel does the whole job for you.
With Plesk, even your domains can be secured easily just by configuring the DNSSEC and DNS. You also have the spam filters for your email, just like in cPanel.
Anyways, these are the overall features, whereas, on your Plesk dashboard, there are more available. For instance, you get the ‘restrict administrative access,’ ‘restrict subzone creation,’ and so much more.
Pricing – cPanel vs. Plesk
If you run a regular business having its own servers and even customizing its control panels, then here are the plans that cPanel has to provide you, which can work best for you as well as your business.
First and foremost, you have the Solo plan that starts at $15 per month. It is the cheapest plan and works like a charm for small businesses. Then you have the Admin plan that begins at $20 per month.
This plan is best suitable for larger business companies, especially the ones who need more than two accounts. Later comes the Pro plan, which starts at $30 per month. This plan works for up to 30 accounts without giving you any inconveniences.
And lastly, you have the Premier plan that begins at $45 per month. This plan must be opted by large businesses as this works for around 100 cPanel accounts. Also, if you prefer to take annual plans over monthly, you also get excellent discounts.
Now, let’s have a look at the Plesk plans. Plesk has three different plans to offer, all of which are affordable and amazing. The first plan is the ‘Web Admin Edition’ plan that begins at $10 per month.
The fascinating part of this plan is that the price is the same for both VPS as well dedicated hosting, and it supports up to 10 domains.
Then you have the ‘Web Pro Edition’ plan that starts at $15 and provides you with account management, subscription management, server management tools, etc.
And lastly, you have the ‘Web Host Edition’ plan. This plan begins at $25 for VPS hosting, which is a great deal, in my opinion. It starts at $45 per month for dedicated hosting. You get almost all the features in this plan, and it is really beneficial to all the big sectors.
Which is Better?
As see from the above article, both cPanel and Plesk have excellent yet unique features to offer. At the end of the day, it’s completely dependent on your preferences and your requirements.
Overall, in general, Plesk has better pricing and is easy to use, especially if you are a beginner. You can also check our article on 3 WordPress Plugins You Can Use For Faster Loading Speed.
On the other hand, cPanel has excellent features, especially for the professionals in this sector. So make the right decision based on what you think is best for you and your business!