The Web Hosting Tech Support Forum

[Peter_W]

Hello,

Can somebody here help us?

We need a new server and we are hesitating between Plesk and cPanel.

Which control panel do you think is best?

What are the main differences between them?

Are there some advantages one has that the other lacks?

What about security?

Thank you for any help you may provide us.

Peter W.

[Donovan B.]

Hello Peter, and welcome to the forum.

Here's the rundown on cPanel versus Plesk.

Actually, both panels are good and accomplish pretty much the same job.

Here at Sun Hosting, we happen to offer both and we've been working with those 2 control panels for a certain number of years so we can certainly comment on them.

Here's a list of some features that cPanel has which Plesk does not:

1) Better security features. cPanel is generally regarded as more secure than Plesk, though there are some which may not agree on this. For example, cPanel performs daily security checks on the server it resides and then sends the results of its findings and its daily fixes to your email address.

2) A neat video tutorial on most of its functions. That feature is available for your client, not you the admin. So if you have users that are totally new at utilizing remote server control software, cPanel is for them.

3) Better email spam filter controls. Note that Plesk is also available with Spam Assassin, but cPanel goes a notch above that. If for example one of the email addresses hosted on a cpanel server gets 'bombarded' with hundreds of spam emails (like we see sometimes) cPanel will actually log off that email for 5-minute increments. Plesk dosen't have that, least not yet.

4) cPanel comes with 12 language packs. That feature is set by default. You can also have a lot more if you install more languages manually. When you buy a Plesk license, the only default language you will see is English. Every additional 'language pack' costs an extra $99, so if for example you need French, Spanish and Italian, you'd be looking at an extra $297 for one license good for one server. If you own and operate more than say 4 or 5 servers, those costs can escalate rather fast. With cPanel, you don't have any of those problems.

Here are some features that Plesk has which cPanel dosen't:

1) Timely account subscription reporting feature. I still boggles my mind how come cpanel still hasn't fixed that... One of the very and most basic feature of any good hosting control panel is its ability to let you know in advance and in a timely fashion when you have a customer account that will expire soon, or is on the verge of expiring. cPanel dosen't have that, and for me, that's a very big mistake. In Plesk you can program in advance say 30 or 60 days in advance your accounts that will expire soon, so that you can email your clients before the server will shut them down.

2) Setting up virtual servers. Some may not agree with this, but I've always found that it is somehow easier to setup a virtual server (VS) with Plesk then with cPanel. This is my personal opinion however, and not one that is shared with Sun Hosting.

3) One interface does it all. In Plesk, the admin (you) has exactly the same interface as the client. In cPanel, the admin interface is called WHM (Web Hosting Manager) and is very different from what your users have called cPanel itself. This in itself isn't a real problem, but just a different way of doing things.

In a nutshell, that's about it, really.

Here's more information on both control panels:
http://www.sunhosting.ca/control-panels.html

Hope that helps.

The tech support team,
Sun Hosting
http://www.sunhosting.ca/

[Jonathan]

Don, as usual your answers are always very good.

Thanks