How To Choose Between cPanel/WHM or Plesk
If you’re one of the many people who are trying to choose between one of these managers, then we can help. Most people who have used cPanel/WHM or Plesk already know which they prefer and tend to stay with them.
Both packages have grown dramatically over the years, but in my opinion cPanel/WHM far exceeds what Plesk can do. It also depends whether you’re using Linux or Windows as a hosting platform because cPanel/WHM won’t run on Windows.
You have to look at many factors beyond what each web host manager provides. If you’re migrating from one host provider to another, then I highly suggest that you use the same management platform on the new host provider. Why? It makes the migration from one provider to another incredibly easy. It’s also good because you already know how to use the host management software.
If you chose Linux as your hosting platform, then you have a choice. You can use cPanel/WHM (my suggestion) or Plesk.
Why cPanel/WHM over Plesk for Linux? There are plenty of reasons and here are just a few:
- Free SSL certificates – yes…really free. That means that all of your sites that use cPanel/WHM run under SSL.
- The people behind cPanel/WHM have made it highly responsive (faster than the past)
- It has a lower memory footprint than in the past
- It has command line utilities that you can run from the shell if you have a VPS or Dedicated server
- EasyApache allows you to easily configure Apache (what runs your websites) easily if you have a VPS or Dedicated server
I’ve personally used many of the command line utilities and other various APIs that cPanel/WHM have available and it’s made my life far easier.
The cPanel/WHM team also offers free support (VPS or Dedicated server) for everyone with a license.
Yes I’m a HUGE fan of cPanel/WHM and for good reason – it rocks!
If you chose Windows as your hosting platform, then your choice is simple – Plesk. It will help you accomplish all of your Windows hosting tasks far faster and easier than without it. If you’re a Windows guru, then you may just pass on using Plesk and just RDP (remote desktop) to the server to handle everything.
If you chose Linux as your hosting platform, you can use Plesk (if offered by your hosting provider).
I’ve used Plesk in the past when I had to manage a Windows platform and it truly does help. Sure I could RDP to the server and manage everything, but Plesk made all of my Windows tasks far easier. Things like DNS, Email, FTP, Databases, and more.
There’s overhead with any hosting management software, but it usually makes sense to use one regardless of how advanced you are.
I don’t know many people who use Windows hosting that don’t use Plesk.
Conclusion
If you’re using Linux as your hosting platform, then cPanel/WHM is your best choice.
If you’re using Windows as your hosting platform, then Plesk is your best choice.
Be sure to check out our host reviews: https://hostratings.com/reviews/best-hosting