cPanel Vs DirectAdmin

It has been a while since I wrote a comparison of cPanel Vs Plesk and I see still there is quite a bit of traffic to that article. I must say I was a cPanel fan those days and it clearly shows in the comparison. These days I have been using another control panel, DirectAdmin for few clients and getting quite impressed by it. So here is a very short and to the point comparison of cPanel and DirectAdmin, hopefully a more objective one.

cPanel Pros

1. More widely used and popular.
2. With a good professional skin like RVSkin, cPanel look cool!
3. More features


DirectAdmin Pros

1. Easier for newbies
2. Cheaper
3. Takes less server resources
4. More stable - less bugs.

DirectAdmin is a light weight control panel where as cPanel is feature rich and heavy. If you want a fast and simple control panel, DirectAdmin should be the choice. However if you offer shared hosting services to public, cPanel may be a better bet as it is much more popular and lot of people are going to demand cPanel.

Cheapest Dedicated Servers

After dirt cheap shared hosting reviews, I thought of listing some of the cheapest dedicated server offers. Most of them are unmanaged, which is expected for cheap dedcated servers.

1. Gate.com Dedicated Servers

gate.com offers some of the cheapest dedicated server plans. Their rates starts from a very low $39.00 per month. A reasonable linux dedicated server will be available for approx: $59.00 per month.

Good thing about gate.com is you will get a real dedicated server at the price of a VPS. The hardware, network and overall company reputation is good.

On the flip side, it is going to be managed and they will charge for any extra work, which is not hardware or network related. Also there is a setup fee.

If you just want a small dedicated server and you can manage it yourself, gate.com is an excellent host.

2. Serverpronto dedicated server

Server pronto is another cheap dedicated hosting company. They offer a range of servers from the cheapest to the high end send servers.

Their starter plan start from $29.00 per month! For approx $70.00 per month, you will get a reasonably good dedicated server.

To justify the cheap rates, they charge for anything that is above the scope of a self managed server. If you are going to request more than a few reboots per month, be prepared to pay for that! They also charge for custom services at $75.00 per half hour.

Serverpronto is again a good option if you can manage the server yourself. Very economical for webmasters who know what they are doing!

3. 1and1 Managed Server

1and1 must sound like a surprise addition to a list of cheapest hosts. But they actually are a very affordable host! Among managed servers, i could not find any good company that is as cheap as 1and1. Getting a managed server for $100 per month is a good deal!

Their price starts with 49.99 pounds which is approx $95.00. This is not a self managed server, the hosts will take care of monitoring, managent and maintenance! They also offer 100mbps connection, which is really good. Overall, 1and1 is a good option if you are looking for a cheap managed server.

Dirt Cheap Web Hosting

Looking for really cheap web hosting?? here is a few options for you.

1. Siteflip.com
Web hosting for less than 1$ per month. How reliable you would expect it to be??
Well, siteflip is not that bad. They servers are reasonably fast and they even replies to support questions within 24 hours. Fdor those who are looking for something better than a free hosting, siteflip is definitely worth the money!

2. cheap-hosting-domain.com

Starts at $1 per month. Very small packages, starts with 5mb space. If you have a very small website, and you dont want to spend much for that - cheap-hosting-domain.com is not a bad choice.

3. HostingNoLimit.com

200 MB space for less than 2$ per month. Thats a good deal.
2 GB transfer, CPanel etc.. are supported. Okay for a small site.

4. Purohits.com

10 MB space. 1 GB data transfer. 15$ for month.
This is another cheap yet reliable offer from a small Indian co.

cPanel Vs Plesk

I had been a loyal cPanel User for years. Recently I had to manage a Pleask based server for a client. It was bit confusing initially, before I managed to figureout how it works. Here is a comparison, hope my Cpanel loyalty doesn't makes it one sided :)

1. User Interface

Plesk scores with a clean and better looking interface. cPanel, on the other hand looks a bit ameturish with default skin. But the good thing is, cPanel is skinnable and there are a number of skins available now a days.

cPanel looks a bit cluttered, with all the functionalities. I guess nubies might be more comfortable with Plesk. However, I think it's just a matter of getting used to. GUI should not be a major factor for a server management system.

2. Functionality

cPanel is a lot more powerful, especially from the server management side(WHM). Better management and back up options make cPanel my favourite. I especially loved the mail trouble shooting options, when I had problem with a number of email accounts of a client. Probably I havent seen the full power of Plesk yet, still I would rate cPanel much above, when it comes about the functionality. A lot of webmasters love Fantastico, which comes as a cPanel add on.

3. Support and Software Integration

I have never contacted either support, so its hard to say. Few reports I have seen, put cPanel support above Plesk, which requires payment for any major issues.

Cpanel also have more options for billing and related softwares.

4. Price

cPanel costs $1255.00 currently, for an unlimited license. Plesk is cheaper at $799.00 for unlimited domains. For 30 domain license, plesk is just $199.00, making it a lot cheaper than any cpanel offering. Lease lincenses are alos available for plesk, as low as $29.95 / per month for a 30 domain license.

In short, Plesk is a lot cheaper than cpanel.


Bottom line is, Plesk is an easy to use and cheaper control panel, whereas cPanel is more powerful one. Ultimatlely, both are good and it is a matter of personal preference. cPanel still remians my personal favorite, I will recommend it any day.

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