The complete guide to web consoles 2016: cPanel, Plesk, ISPmanager and others

Many of those who need web hosting today need a simple server management method. It is usually assumed that a graphical user interface (GUI) is provided along with hosting. Indeed, hosters often offer the best control panels - web consoles. They are a web-based interface that allows administrators and / or users to manage various server services in a comfortable web browser environment.

Consider briefly some of the most popular options among the available and actively supported. 11 of these projects belong to the Open Source category, and six are proprietary software.

Typical means of control panels

In general, most control panels implement a common set of typical functions. Although many allow you to perform only a subset of them, there are several consoles that include all the functionality. The control panel software for web hosting can provide access to the following functions:

Domain name system management (web domains, mail domains, etc.).
E-mail system management (email addresses, quotas, spam prevention, etc.).
FTP management (user accounts, password management, file system quotas).
Access to the file system from the web interface.
Manage SSH users / keys.
Database management (MySQL, PostgreSQL and sometimes other database systems).
Backup management.
Access to logs and create reports.
Plugins for configuring additional services and installing applications (for example, WordPress).

Corporate Control Panel Tools

Some projects also offer enterprise-class facilities, for example:
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Manage multiple servers from one control panel.
(For hosts) allow multiple clients to simultaneously run the software control panel on the server.
Service monitoring and alerting.
The system of processing customer requests.
IPv6 support.

Table of control panel tools
As you know, it is better to see once, so for comparison we have brought all this into a table. Below the table are some comments on each software product and links where further information can be found.

Control Panel	Basic YAP	Open source	Linux	Windows	DNS	Email	FTP	DB	IPv6	Multi-Server
cPanel	Perl, PHP		x		x	x	x	x	x	x
Plesk	PHP, C, C ++		x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Directadmin	Php		x		x	x	x	x	x
Core-admin	Php		x		x	x	x			x
Interworx	Php		x		x	x	x	x	x	x
ISPmanager	C ++		x		x	x	x	x	x	x
iMSCP	PHP, Perl	x	x		x	x		x	x	x
Froxlor	Php	x	x		x	x	x		x
Vesta	Php	x	x		x	x	x	x
Zpanel	Php	x	x	x	x	x	x	x	x
Sentora	Php	x	x		x	x	x	x	x
Webmin	Perl	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
ISPConfig	Php	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x
Ajenti	Python	x	x		x	x	x	x
BlueOnyx	Java, Perl	x	x		x	x	x	x	x
CentOS Web Panel	Php	x	x		x	x	x	x	x
Virtualmin	Php	x	x		x	x	x	x	x	x

The possibilities of these control panels are varied. Some may be best suited for shared hosting (shared), while others are very popular among cloud hosting users. However, whether your site works on the basis of dedicated servers (dedicated), VPS , or is hosted in a common environment, the ability to manage files, e-mail, applications, etc. from a single, intuitive interface is always useful. Sometimes it is invaluable.

Control Panel Overview

▍ cPanel

cPanel is the most widely used web console. Site owners use cPanel as a control panel, and hosting providers use Web Host Manager (WHM) as an administration tool.

In general, both cPanel and WHM can be considered as the most full-featured systems. Although cPanel is supported only on Linux, Windows support can be implemented using the Enkompass product or through virtualization. However, the user interface, being simple, is definitely not the best among web consoles.

▍ Plesk

Plesk is the leading control panel in the United States, it also owns approximately 75-80% of the European market. Supporting a wide range of Linux versions, as well as ensuring compatibility with Windows, it comes in several editions, each designed specifically for a particular hosting option and usage scenario.

The user interface can be called somewhat clearer and more understandable than that of cPanel, but in terms of functions, Plesk and cPanel are almost the same. Both products are used in large hosting companies (often in the form of proprietary versions) and many other customers.

» Free demo version

Plesk has recently become an independent company, and developers are actively trying to keep up with the ever-evolving Web. The creators of the panel are focused both on hosting for inexperienced users and professional developers, and try to make server management simple and effective. The company also invests heavily in the educational part with elements of marketing to teach web professionals the best practices for doing business on the Internet, marketing and even effective presentation of the material.

Special features

Host / OS Independence: Plesk can be installed on a wide range of operating systems and on almost any host. If you use any kind of popular Linux version (CentOS, Ubuntu, CloudLinux, etc.) or even Windows, you can run Plesk. As an added bonus, you can even run Plesk inside the Docker container taken from the Docker Hub. This is a strong trump card that distinguishes Plesk from cPanel, which only works on CentOS.
Git Integration: In response to complaints that many web consoles do not support Git, the popular Gitman extension has been added to Plesk, a popular version control system used to track changes and site updates. This extension is available in Plesk version 12.5 and later, and in a future version of Plesk, full Git support will be built into the kernel.
Docker Integration: In the October 2016 release, the Plesk core will also include Docker support with a catalog of over 200,000 Docker images. This will enable you to run Docker images directly from Plesk, without the help of the command line.
SSL Security: Even those with no hosting experience should understand the security features of SSL. Unfortunately, setting up and updating them is sometimes difficult. Thanks to new services like Let's Encrypt, equipping the site with SSL (TLS) security features is greatly simplified, and therefore there is no reason to leave your pages unprotected. Plesk will automatically process certificate receipt and configure database files for https access, which will protect both the web console and the sites hosted on the server. This includes such “goodies” as updating your certificate, supporting HTTP2 and providing you with detailed security information when your server is under attack.
WordPress Support: Future enhanced version will allow WordPress users to trust Plesk security management with one click. Plesk will take care of managing plug-in updates, fixing bugs in software, and applying updates to enhance security.
Demo
Prices

For more advanced users, the panel provides support for multiple versions of PHP, while support for Ruby, Python and NodeJS is implemented through Phusion (it is already built in the release of Plesk Onyx). The popular Linux systems supported are Ubuntu, CentOS, RHEL, Debian, and CloudLinux, and upgrades are possible for Ubuntu and Debian.

▍ DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin is a relatively “lightweight” control panel with Linux support. It has all the basic functions of the control panel, including installation for several clients. All licenses are sold without any restrictions on the number of domains.

▍ Core-Admin

Core-Admin - the panel was designed as a centralized solution with rich connectivity that allows you to manage multiple servers from a single web console. This software includes an advanced authority assignment system and monitoring functions. There is a free version of the Free Web Edition on 10 domains.

▍ InterWorx

InterWorx is offered in the form of two packages: NodeWorx (for server management) and SiteWorx (for site management). Interworx has a good plugin system that allows you to quickly install applications, which is similar to the Softaculous web package manager. InterWorx also has a command line interface.

▍ ISPmanager

ISPmanager is a flexible Linux-based control panel offered by ISPsystem, the leading Russian provider of automation solutions for VPS hosting . For almost twenty years of its history, ISPmanager has become one of the most popular web consoles in Eastern Europe, and its popularity is growing in other regions. This powerful panel is available in two editions. Both can be customized to work with an unlimited number of domains and users and in accordance with your branding.

ISPmanager Lite is designed to manage VPS and dedicated servers.

ISPmanager Business is an ideal option for virtual VDS hosting (shared) or reseller hosting. ISPmanager is a commercial product with functions similar to those of premium panels with a relatively low price, which is why many users find this option the most profitable. The combination of the rich functionality of ISPmanager and an acceptable cost is the quality thanks to which we are pleased to present this product to users.

▍ i-MSCP

i-MSCP is an Open Source product that claims to be the perfect control panel for multiple servers for both professionals (for example, hosting providers) and for personal use. In this panel, it is difficult to single out one thing, but it has an active community.

▍ froxlor

Froxlor is also an Open-Source web console with a very intuitive interface. It has support for IPv6, a system for handling customer requests, and an integrated reseller-customer messaging system. Ideal for Internet service providers and similar organizations.

▍ Vesta

Vesta is an Open Source product that claims to be the easiest and most lightweight web console. It does not support enterprise-level tools (such as multi-server installations), but the developers have tried to focus their attention on performance, for which Nginx was used as the front-end, and Apache was used as the back-end of the application.

▍ ZPanel

Zpanel (has not been updated since March 2014 and may not be supported anymore) - the Open Source control panel “corporate class with support for an unlimited number of resellers”. The product interface is compact and highly functional. Zpanel supports many operating systems, including Linux, Windows, MacOS and FreeBSD.

▍ Sentora

Sentora is a branch of ZPanel. This separation occurred after the sale of Zpanel company, based in the United States. Sentora is considered the version of ZPanel developed by the user community. The Sentora team also offers premium support for the subscription model.

Sources

▍ Webmin

Webmin - Open Source Control Panel for system administration in Linux / Unix environment. It has dozens of modules for configuring server services. Cloudmin Toolkit is a Webmin-based interface for managing virtualization systems, including Xen, KVM and OpenVZ.

▍ ISPConfig

ISPConfig is a popular open source control panel with good corporate support. The number of downloads reaches 40 thousand per month, the product has good tools for working with multiple servers, support for IPv6 and virtualization (OpenVZ). This is ideal for service providers and corporate environments.

▍ Ajenti

Ajenti is a Python-based web console that distinguishes it from PHP management systems. The site says that Ajenti has over 55,000 active users. The console has a very well designed interface. Ajento works in various Linux and FreeBSD distributions.

Sources

▍ BlueOnyx

BlueOnyx is an open source web console that works only on CentOS and Scientific Linux distributions. Its interface may seem somewhat outdated, but among many other tools this control panel offers good support for multi-user installations.

▍ CentOS Web Panel

CentOS Web Panel - Open Source Web Panel for CentOS Linux. It contains a solid set of functions, similar to most other web panels, although the ability to manage multiple servers is missing.

▍ Virtualmin

Virtualmin is a popular control panel, mainly Open Source. It is offered in three versions:

» Virtualmin GPL - a basic web console with a rich set of tools and a nice interface. This product is available only as a Webmin module . Webmin is one of the most popular user interface management systems in the Linux / UNIX world and has more than three million downloads per year.
The Virtualmin panel offers four server management methods: via the web interface, from a mobile device, from the command line, and via the remote HTTP API .

» Virtualmin Professional simplifies installation and updating of many other applications (for example, WordPress, Joomla, Magento, NodeJS) and provides commercial support.

Cloudmin Professional is a multi-server control panel based on Virtualmin. It is used by companies and providers to deploy cloud services. Cloudmin supports Xen, vserver, Solaris Zones and Amazon EC2.

Virtualmin Professional has more advanced tools for installing applications:

Final note

We hope that this brief overview of the 17 leading and actively supported web consoles will allow you to more confidently choose the best option that meets your personal needs or requirements for professional website management.

Before choosing a control panel, you need to understand which type of hosting suits you best (shared, dedicated or virtual). The appropriate guide for beginners explains what web hosting is and where to start, and more knowledgeable users can refer to the VPS manual .

Do not forget that the web panel is only a dashboard for the site owner, helping to manage applications, files, software add-ons, etc. Many hosting providers include control panels with fantastic features in their packages.

Control Panel

license

free

Open source

Alive (latest version)

BSD

Linux

Windows

Frontend

Backend

Plugin support

VCS

IPv6 support

Support multiple servers

Aegir

LGPL

Yes

2015/07/19

Yes

Not

PHP, AJAX

PHP, MySQL / MariaDB

git

Ajenti

AGPL, proprietary

Yes

2014/03/28

FreeBSD 8.0+

Yes

Not

Python

Yes

git

Yes

Not

Alternc

GPL 2

Yes

2016/01/18

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP / Perl / Shell script

Yes

git

Yes

Not

Baifox

GPL

Yes

2009/04/04

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, SQLite

bzr

Domain Technologie Control

GNU LGPL

Yes

2013/04/04

Limited free BSD support

Yes

Not

Php

git

Not

EasySCP

GPL

Yes

2016/08/21

Limited freebsd support

Yes

Not

Php

Perl

Yes

Not

EHCP

GPL

Yes

2016/03/14

Not

Yes

Not

Froxlor

GPL

Yes

2016/08/02

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Yes

git

Yes

Partial

Gnupanel

GPL

Yes

2012/03/21

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, PgSQL

git

i-MSCP

GPL, MPL

Yes

2016/09/14

Not

Yes

Not

Php

Perl, C

Yes

git

Yes

ISPConfig

BSD

Yes

2016/04/22

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Yes

git

Yes

ispCP

GPL

Yes

2010/11/24

Limited freebsd support

Yes

Not

Php

Perl

Not

Kloxo (formerly Lxadmin)

AGPL

Yes

2011/11/13

Not

CentOS (6 is not currently supported) or Red Hat EL 5.x

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Not

git

Not

Yes

Kloxo-MR (Kloxo)

AGPL

Yes

2015/10/30 (7.0.0.b)

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL / MariaDB

Not

git

Yes

Sentora

GPL 3

Yes

2014/07/30

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Yes

git

Syscp

GPL

Yes

2010/05/11

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Yes

Not

MSPControl

BSD

Yes

Not

2016/09/19

Not

Yes

ASP.NET

ASP.NET, MSSQL

Not

[closed]

Yes

SolidCP

CC BY-SA

Yes

2016/09/01

Not

Yes

ASP.NET

ASP.NET, MSSQL

Not

git

Yes

Usermin

BSD

Yes

2016/03/06

Yes

Not

Perl

Tarball

Virtualmin

GPL

Yes

2016/09/17

Yes

Not

Perl

Yes

Tarball

Yes

Partial

Webmin

BSD

Yes

2016/08/08

Yes

Partial

Perl

Yes

git

Yes

WebsitePanel

BSD

Yes

2015/08/30

Not

Yes

ASP.NET

ASP.NET, MSSQL

Not

Yes

VestaCP

GPL

Yes

2016/06/27

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, BASH, C

Yes

git

Planned

Partial

Zpanel

GPL

Yes

2014/03/03 (now dead)

Limited freebsd support

Yes

Php

PHP, MySQL / MariaDB

Yes

Not

Yes

Proprietary Control Panels

Control Panel

license

Free

Open source

Latest version

BSD

Linux

Windows

Frontend

Backend

Plugin support

HTTP / 2 support

IPV6 support

Multiple server support

CentOS WebPanel

proprietary

Yes

Partial

2016/09/08

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Yes

Not

Yes

Not

cPanel

proprietary

Not

2016/06/30

FreeBSD Versions No More

Yes

EOL

Perl

Yes

Not

Yes

Directadmin

proprietary

Not

2016/06/09

Yes

Not

C, scripts, PHP

Yes

Not

Yes

H-Sphere

proprietary

Not

2013/05/15

Yes

Java

Yes

Not

Yes

HDE Controller X

proprietary

Not

2012/07/24

Not

Yes

Not

Php

Not

Yes

Hepsia CP

proprietary

Not

2013/11/08

Not

Yes

Php

PHP / MySQL / PgSQL

Yes

Not

Yes

Hosting controller

proprietary

Not

2014/12/24

Not

Yes

.NET

MSSQL

Yes

Not

Yes

Interworx

proprietary

Not

2016/08/02

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP, MySQL

Yes

Not

Yes

ISPmanager

proprietary

Not

2016/09/20

FreeBSD Versions No More

Yes

Partial

C / sqlite

Yes

Not

Yes

Liveconfig

proprietary

Not

2016/02/01

planned

Yes

Not

C / Sqlite

Yes

Not

Yes

Machpanel

proprietary

Not

2016/03/20

Not

Yes

.NET

Yes

Not

Yes

Plesk

proprietary

Not

2016/08/01

Not

Yes

Php

PHP / MySQL

Yes

Server management tool

proprietary

Not

2012/09/1

Not

Yes

Not

PHP, Perl

Not

Yes

Serverpilot

proprietary

Partial

Not

SaaS

Not

Yes

Not

Backbone.js

Python go

Not

Yes

Serversuit

proprietary

Not

SaaS

Not

Yes

Not

Php

PHP / MySQL

Not

Yes

Virtualmin pro

proprietary

Not

2016/09/17

Yes

Not

Perl

Yes

Not

Yes

Partial

Webuzo

EULA

Yes

Not

2016/09/16

Not

Yes

Not

Php

Not

Yes

XO Panel

proprietary

Not

2013/05/18

Yes

Yes ( Beta )

Php

C / C

Yes

Not

Yes

Zentyal (eBox Platform)

GPL

Not

2015/10/22

Not

Yes

Not

Perl

Yes

Not

git

Remote access

Some panels implement access to the base OS via a Java applet, while the client side must use the Java Virtual Machine software. Others provide direct access via telnet or SSH.

Control panel	FTP	Anonymous ftp	Terminal	View, download and upload files via HTTP frontend
Ajenti	Yes (plugin)	?	SSH, HTML5	Yes
Baifox	Yes (Pureftpd only)	?	?	?
cPanel	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Machpanel	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Directadmin	Yes	Yes	Ssh	Yes
Domain Technologie Control	Yes	?	Ssh	Yes
Gnupanel	?	?	Ssh	?
H-Sphere	Yes	Yes	Ssh	Yes
HDE Controller X	Yes	Yes	Ssh	Yes
Hosting controller	Yes	?	?	Yes
i-MSCP	Yes	Not	Ssh	Yes
Interworx	Yes	Yes	Ssh	Yes
ISPConfig	Yes	Yes	Ssh	Not
ispCP	Yes	Not	Not	Yes
ISPmanager	Yes	Not	Ssh	Yes
Kloxo	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Kloxo-mr	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Openpanel	Yes	Planned	Ssh	Planned
Plesk	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Syscp	Yes	Not	Not	Yes
Serversuit	Yes	Not	Yes	Yes
Froxlor	Yes	Partial	Partial	Yes
Usermin	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Virtualmin	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Virtualmin pro	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Webmin	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
Zpanel	Yes	Yes	Ssh	Installable third-party module
Hepsia CP	Yes	Yes	SSH, HTML5, NodeJS	Yes
VestaCP	Yes	Not	Ssh	Yes

This article is a modified translation of this article and this table .

Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/310380/

All Articles

The complete guide to web consoles 2016: cPanel, Plesk, ISPmanager and others

Typical means of control panels

Corporate Control Panel Tools

Control Panel Overview

▍ cPanel

▍ Plesk

▍ DirectAdmin

▍ Core-Admin

▍ InterWorx

▍ ISPmanager

▍ i-MSCP

▍ froxlor

▍ Vesta

▍ ZPanel

▍ Sentora

▍ Webmin

▍ ISPConfig

▍ Ajenti

▍ BlueOnyx

▍ CentOS Web Panel

▍ Virtualmin

Final note

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