Best User-friendly Control Panels

You need to pick an excellent control panel to build and maintain websites and manage servers that let you do all that without getting down to the nitty-gritty. Fortunately, there are many good options for you to choose from. With these control panels and tools, you can manage a cloud-based infrastructure on any of the most popular cloud providers without leaving the comfort of your cushion

Best User-friendly Control Panels

SPanel

SPanel by Scala Hosting offers an all-around hosting platform to manage cloud VPS services. It is an easy and quick replacement for cPanel with additional benefits. You will get better security, faster websites, and 100% email delivery. Users can manage AWS, DigitalOcean, and ScalaHosting servers through SPanel, working as an all-in-one web hosting solution.

Every user gets access to the interface to manage forwarders, emails, anti-spam settings, databases, SSL certificates, DNS zones, domain names, and more. The server owner can access the admin interface to manage all the accounts, add, modify and remove accounts, unsuspend or suspend websites, change passwords, and more.

You can see server health and status, restart individual services, or restart the whole server. SPanel supports Nginx, LiteSpeed Enterprise, OpenLiteSpeed, and Apache web servers. Due to this, you can experience a higher loading speed of your website, which is essential for SEO rankings and attracting visitors.

SPanel allows you to migrate your websites with no downtime. You can also host many emails, databases, and websites without worrying about limits. Every website will have a free SSL encryption certificate which is installed and renewed automatically.

In addition, you can choose any PHP version from 5.6 onwards easily. With SPanel, you’ve got everything, from managing to securing your server. You can test SPanel for free with a demo.

cPanel on Kamatera

cPanel is a popular web hosting control panel with GUI and automation tools to simplify regular website maintenance tasks. It presents a three-tiered structure that offers end-user website owners, resellers, and admins capabilities to control the different aspects of server and website management via a web interface.

cPanel also offers API-based and command-line access to allow developers, third-party software vendors, and web hosting providers to apply different usage models to its functionality. Kamatera lets you pick your preferred version of cPanel whenever you create a new server. Once you have it installed, you can start using its GUI to manage all aspects of your server, from FTP access and email accounts to deploying your server’s new websites and configuration.

Cloudways

Cloudways’ managed hosting platform offers peace of mind, oriented toward digital agencies and eCommerce businesses. It promises a go-live time of a matter of minutes, assuring they will take care of all the complexities of setting up or migrating a website. The managed hosting options include WordPress, Magento, Laravel, and custom PHP apps.

Instead of the commonplace cPanel for server management, Cloudways offers its custom control panel, which provides a friendly user experience coupled with the power to manage all the functionality available. If you need extra help to solve a particular problem, there’s also 24/7/365 support included in all pricing plans.

Cloudways supports 5 cloud providers: AWS, DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, Linode, and Vultr, with an unlimited PHP application choice. All plans include an interesting set of goodies that free you from complicated maintenance tasks, such as auto-healing servers, dedicated firewalls, real-time monitoring, automated backups, and regular security patching.

SpinupWP

SpinupWP comes with an elegant user interface, making it effortless to host WordPress on Digital Ocean. However, it supports any cloud server having a public IP and the latest Ubuntu LTS.

SpinupWP makes strong claims about the speed with a tech stack consisting of Nginx, PHP, MySQL, and Redis.

Additionally, you get full-page caches for optimal performance and firewalls for robust server security.

SpinWP supports Git repositories, WP-CLI, cloning & staging, and lets you scale as per your needs.

Additionally, this is collaboration friendly, and there isn’t a reason you should avoid taking its 7-day free trial.

RunCloud

Usually, when you look for simplicity, you need to resign power. That’s not the case with RunCloud, which offers a simple yet powerful graphical interface to build and manage websites powered by DigitalOcean, AWS, or Google Cloud.

Instead of remembering multiple logins for each entity you might need to manage, RunCloud offers a complete dashboard to control them: web applications, databases, services, files, jobs, backups, etc.

You don’t have to worry about determining the best configuration for your server. RunCloud tailors the best configuration for any traffic and lets you apply it to your server with just a few clicks. The dashboard makes it easy to install any particular PHP version, configure Nginx or Apache2, install SSL/TLS from Let’s Encrypt or another provider, or even configure your SSL to comply with PCI-DSS or NIST standards or HIPAA regulations.

Monitoring tasks are also simplified through cleaned-up, readable logs, and elegant graphs and tables. But if you can’t spend the day staring at elegant screens, RunCloud takes charge of the monitoring activities and notifies you about important events through email, Slack, or Telegram.

ServerPilot

ServerPilot’s control panel lets you connect servers from any service provider to take care of all the configuration and management tasks required to host any PHP app, like WordPress or other content management systems. With ServerPilot, you can configure a new server in less than two minutes.

You don’t have to wait for changes to happen on your server since all changes are applied immediately. The servers include a software stack specially tailored to provide speed to your websites: Ubuntu, Apache, Nginx, MySQL, to name a few.

Specially designed for developers, agencies, and hosting providers, ServerPilot’s solution takes care of all cloud server management tasks to give users the freedom to focus on their business. ServerPilot offers a modern REST API that provides full control of servers, apps, system users, and databases on your servers via HTTPS requests for hosting providers that build their platforms.

Since ServerPilot knows exactly what is running on your server and how it is configured, you can rely on its integrated monitoring features to save time and effort. Besides, real-time server stats let you watch your assets’ health whenever possible.

Moss

Moss is not just an admin tool or a control panel; it is a virtual teammate for web development professionals. Its goal is to help with everything it can, join the software development team, and perform server and website administration tasks.

Moss takes care of your web applications and servers, letting you use your time to develop applications and do business. You’ll have Moss’s help when in need to deploy, manage, or monitor your servers and websites.

When connected to a new Ubuntu server, Moss asks for permission to log in via SSH and set it up on your behalf. It can manage your VPS, your cloud server, and even the server under your table, as long as it runs a fresh Ubuntu installation.

To make your applications run as fast as possible, Moss configures your websites to use optimizations such as HTTP/2 and OCSP Stapling, among others. It also cares about security, setting up firewalls, installing security updates, managing user permissions, and controlling SSH/SFTP access to your servers.

Best control panel for vps

The web hosting control panel is basically a software application. It sits on an operating system and offers users Graphic User Interface (GUI) access to a variety of operations. These operations help make managing the server and applications much more accessible.

VPS server control panels come with varying features and pricing models. Their licensing fees can greatly differ, so it’s important to look for a solution that best suits your particular needs.

Why You Need a VPS Control Panel?

Technically speaking, you can manage VPS hosting without the use of a control panel. Still, such a platform introduces a dimension of user-friendliness that helps you save time and reduces the burden for novice users.

Users can opt for more manual control over their accounts, even if using a VPS hosting panel. More experienced developers often take advantage of that option.

By using a VPS control panel, clients have control over:

  • Domain names
  • Email accounts
  • Files
  • Applications
  • Databases
  • Cron jobs

…and many, many more.

A perfect solution for online businesses and heavy-traffic web apps and websites.

Best VPS Control Panel Options

Despite their functional similarities, not all VPS control panels are the same. They may differ in the features offered, pricing, and even the platforms they can run on. Here are some of the top options for virtual server control panels on the market:

cPanel

Top Features

  • Proven reliability & performance
  • Strong compatibility with browsers & add-ons
  • Excellent site maintenance options

cPanel is easily the most widely recognized name among web hosting control panels. Originally designed and released in 1996, the platform has undergone extensive changes over the years. The GUI offers quick access to a number of hosting management and automation tools.

CPanel offers one of the most user-friendly interface designs around. It allows users to handle web server management from a centralized point of control.

As a multi-platform solution with an extended market presence, cPanel is widely available. It has a near-monopolistic industry leadership position, with over 93% of the market share. This has unfortunately led to high spikes in licensing fees. Many users had little choice but to pay to keep their configuration running smoothly.

Price: $15/mo for a solo license, per-user fee decreases with volume

SPanel

Top Features

  • Zero cost unlimited user license
  • High cPanel compatibility
  • Easy to use

Developed and introduced by ScalaHosting, SPanel gives cPanel users a viable alternative to cPanel. It is free to use and offers high cPanel compatibility for easy migration.

Aside from a robust suite of standard perks, SPanel incorporates several other features.

These include SShield and SWordPress Manager. SShield brings advanced cybersecurity features to the table with real-time protection noted to block over 99.998% of known server attacks.

Developed for all the WP lovers, SWordPress enables easy management of WordPress installations and a security lock feature for file protection.

Users who are concerned about increasing licensing fees should definitely consider SPanel.

Here is more useful information on managing a VPS with SPanel.

Price: SPanel is free of charge with ScalaHosting VPS accounts

Plesk

Top Features

  • SEO Toolkit
  • Repair Kit
  • WordPress Toolkit

Plesk is another well-known web hosting control panel. It was initially popular with users of Windows-based services. Today, the platform is available for Linux operating systems as well, offering comprehensive hosting management features.

The close affinity between Plesk and Windows makes the panel well-suited for those new to web hosting. The solution is highly customizable and offers various administrative tools that handle components such as Magento, Cloudflare, Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates, and many more.

Plesk’s acquisition in 2017 now sees it under the umbrella group that also owns cPanelWHMCSSolusVM, and XOVI. This has led to concerns about potential price hikes, similar to what we observed with other solutions on the list.

Price: from $10.08/mo

Webmin

Top Features

  • Modular design
  • Free to use
  • Powerful server management features

First introduced almost three decades ago, Webmin is a configuration tool for Linux-based servers. It comes included as part of the official package for several server distributions, including Debian and Ubuntu.

Webmin is modular, which means that web hosts have the option to custom-build their environment. This architecture helps Webmin be extremely lightweight while not limiting its essential functionalities.

Unfortunately, usability isn’t a strong point here, and new users may struggle to get accustomed to the Webmin user interface. This key drawback has somewhat limited the popularity of what is otherwise an excellent control panel choice.

Price: Free under BSD-style licensing

ISPConfig

Top Features

  • Free and open-source
  • Stable and high-performance
  • Enterprise support

ISPConfig started its development in 2005, helping users manage files, email, databases, and more. It is only available for Linux-style systems, including CentOS, Fedora,  and Ubuntu.

The power that ISPConfig offers makes it suitable for deployment in many scenarios. Since you can use it on almost any scale, the platform comes in very handy in an enterprise environment.

ISPConfig works on either physical or virtual servers.

This agile web hosting control panel is free to use and available in 20 languages. Although Webmin comes at no extra cost, some premium components might involve licensing fees, such as the billing module, malware scanner, and application monitor.

Price: Free

What To Consider When Looking for a VPS Control Panel?

Operating Environment

Not all control panels are multi-platform, and some may need a specific environment to run smoothly. One such example is ISPConfig which is only available on Linux OS servers and cannot support Win-based projects.

Licensing Fees

The price you have to pay for licensing varies depending on the number of users. While typically, the cost-per-user will decrease based on volume, the final bill can still be significant.  Those needing large-scale deployment should closely scrutinize all costs before building their system.

User Friendliness

All web hosting control panels come with unique design and layouts, many can even be subject to further customizations. While these may seem lucrative, make sure they are easy enough for your level of knowledge. Look for a platform that is clear, straightforward, and intuitive enough to ensure seamless navigation. A reliable web hosting provider can be of great help in this aspect.

Capabilities

Most web hosting control panels come with an intuitive server management interface, which packs a lot of features. Beyond this, you need to pay attention to your unique needs and whether the chosen hosting package will support them.

Performance

While helpful, control panels are an optional extra that consume server resources. Take too many, and that may affect all your website operations. If your system resources are rather limited, a modular control panel may be more beneficial than a completely integrated system.

web hosting control panel for windows

Windows Web Hosting Control Panels

A control panel (in the web hosting industry) refers to the web interface given by the hosting provider for the administration of the hosted websites, databases, emails, and a lot more. Today, almost all web hosting providers offer control panels on their shared platform, even on VPS or dedicated servers. This set of tools allows a site owner or admin to have full control over all aspects of their website in one place. We’ve made this detailed guide to help you understand the most popular options available on the market and decide which is the best choice for you.

Plesk 

Plesk is a control panel available on our Windows-based hosting accounts and servers. It lets you easily manage many aspects of your account, including the files, applications, and emails hosted on your account or server. Plesk control panel automates a large number of tasks that allow service providers to reduce operating costs and resources while at the same time increasing profitability, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. There are four login levels in Plesk, with each one having its appropriate roles and responsibilities:

  • Administrator: The highest individual server level login which allows web hosting admins to set up and manage all system items. Multiple servers can be centrally managed with the master level login of Plesk Expand.
  • Client/Reseller: Second-tier login account where the users are given domain creation rights from the system administrator. Clients can administer to groups of domains using a single login.
  • Domain Owner: These are third-tier individual domain owner accounts with predetermined permission sets and interface for single domain administration.
  • Mail User: This is the fourth tier individual mail account which allows the user to log in to their own private interface and manage passwords, spam filters, anti-virus settings and much more.

Plesk offers simplified and automated workflows for hosters and agencies, as well as provides its own ecosystem with more than 100 third-party extensions. The latest version of Plesk is integrated with Github and Docker. It has multi-server management features and is able to obtain or update SSL certificates automatically using the Let’s Encrypt service.

ZPanel

ZPanel is an open-source web hosting control panel written in PHP and is compatible with Microsoft Windows server and POSIX (Linux, UNIX, MacOSX and the BSD’s) operating systems. From the easy to use control panel, users can create and manage MySQL databases, email mailboxes, forwarders, and distribution lists as well as set up and host multiple domains on one server.

ZPanel uses several open-source (or freely available) software packages to provide a secure, web hosting system. It has been in development for nearly 10 years.

H-Sphere

H-Sphere is a scalable multiserver web hosting solution for Linux, BSD and Windows platform.

It has some advanced options and a sophisticated billing system to automate and improve your web hosting tasks. H-Sphere was designed to work on multiple machines and can be scaled by adding more webmail, databases and DNS servers without any downtime.

vDeck

vDeck is a popular control panel adopted by hosting companies like iPage, FatCow, PowWeb, StartLogic, and iPower. One of the more popular features of vDock is the ability to control and more easily manage larger and more complex websites. Users of the vDeck can install pre-designed templates as well to make the navigation appear more customized. One of the biggest features that catches the eye of webmasters is the ability to add-on additional control modules. As your website grows, vDeck has the ability to plug in additional controls that you need for a growing online business website.

Hosting Controller

Hosting Controller is a complete array of Web hosting automation tools for the Windows VPS server family platform. It is the only multilingual software package you need to put your web hosting business on autopilot.

The HC has its own complete billing solution which is tightly integrated within the control panel and does all the invoicing and billing.

Conclusion

Since its main purpose is to save you time and effort, a good management control panel should simplify complex tasks, automate routine procedures, and call your attention only when necessary.

When it comes to complex tasks that need simplification, server creation and configuration are in the spotlight. The control panel should sit in between you and the cloud infrastructure provider to hide all the obscure (but critical) aspects that need to be taken care of when creating and configuring a server.

Then comes the software stack installation. You might not be sure what to install on your new server, but the control panel can help you decide what you plan to do with your website.

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