Plesk or cPanel: Who’s The User-Friendliest Of Them All?

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If you’ve been hosting websites for awhile now, on a VPS or otherwise, you’re no doubt familiar with the plethora of web administration panels available on the market for overseeing your online property. As such, there’s a considerable amount of debate as to which one’s the best. Over the coming weeks and months, we’ll be doing in-depth reviews on various topics related to VPS hosting and general VPS related IT concerns. Expect to see those shortly. In the meantime, here’s a recap of TheHostingNews.com’s excellent article comparing Parallels Plesk Panel 10 and WHM/cPanel Stable. It’s a fairly comprehensive review that details and elaborates on the differences between the two. For the abridged version, keep reading.

No cPanel review would be complete without a thorough rundown of the many features it offers. Hobby webmasters and IT professionals will appreciate WHM’s superb POP/IMAP webmail interface as well as its intuitive file management system and the simple but effective SiteBuilder that comes standard. Hosting resellers and developers will most likely be drawn to WHM’s slick account creation manager and their built-in templates package. And large web hosting firms no doubt love cPanel for its infinitely customizable Apache configuration capabilities, as well as its remote database management tools. In the wrong hands, it can be dangerous for large installations. But if you know what you’re doing, WHM is a powerful tool for quick deployment across many servers.

While it’s difficult to cram a full Plesk review covering all of their many features into a single paragraph, we’ll give it a shot. For hosting a single site or just a few at a time, Parallels is the king when it comes to logging, statistics, and analytics. Their database management interface is also incredibly easy to work with. But their “one-click” software addon tool for programs like WordPress and Joomla are where they really shine. Resellers will immediately notice Parallels’ “Change Subscriber” feature, which allows them to move accounts between users. In addition, major hosting companies will love the use of FastCGI for site isolation, as well as the detailed charts Parallels provides for monitoring the health of deployed servers and keeping an eye on load balancing.

As far as automation and integration are concerned, the cPanel review portion of TheHN’s article highlighted quite a few similarities between that panel and Parallels. But there were a few areas where WHM stood out. For one thing, users can take advantage of the fantastic Fantastico script for quick and easy installation, an add-on that Parallels lacks. Also, WHM features DNS clustering, which Plesk hasn’t implemented as of yet. And they feature automatic upgrades to keep all clients up to date with the latest software. Parallels apprises users of coming upgrades, which can be implemented if they so choose. While neither system is inherently good or bad, it’s one less thing to worry about if you choose WHM.

The Plesk review section of the article demonstrates that Parallels’ panel has a few unique features up its sleeve in the automation and integration department as well. When it comes to billing, they feature a “Perpetual” licensing bundle that costs only a few hundred dollars more than WHM’s 3-year fee. That’s not a bad selling point if you plan on being in business for awhile as a large host or reseller. And Parallels also features more customization options for re-branding the interface for your own customers. In addition, Parallels features a unique Partner Storefront for third-party add-on modules that WHM doesn’t have. Most add-ons are easily installable with one click and make upgrading easy for users of all skill levels when the time comes.

Each panel has its own strengths, weaknesses, and unique features. It’s difficult to recommend one or the other based merely on the hosting scenario involved. WHM offers more fine-tuned, direct control over the features that it offers. Parallels typically wins in the user-friendliness department, so it’s probably better for non-IT folk. But both get the job done without a lot of hassle. We’d like to give credit where credit is due and salute the The Hosting News for their first-rate work in putting together such a thorough review of both panels. If you have the time, it’s well worth a read. And check back with us again in the near future for our own original feature articles, coming soon.