Web hosting control panels are a must-have for system administrators and web hosting providers nowadays. That is why we have created a list of the most popular web hosting control panels.
Control panels make management and automation tasks easier for sysadmins. They allow, for instance, managing one or several servers from a single dashboard. So, as a smart tool to manage critical tasks such as patches, setups, installations, monitoring, etc., it must be properly chosen.
Here is a list of the most popular web hosting control panels on the market, reviewed in November 2026. The versions quoted carry that date on purpose: a dated figure gets old, but it does not mislead. We have also flagged the projects that have stopped shipping releases, because running an unmaintained panel on a production server is not a matter of taste, it is a security problem.
Before the list: the PHP vulnerabilities of October 2026
The security event of the last few weeks does not affect one panel, it affects all of them. In October 2026 CVE-2026-109618 and CVE-2026-109619 were published, two critical remote code execution vulnerabilities in PHP itself. They are fixed in PHP 8.5.12, 8.4.27, 8.3.36 and 8.2.35.
Since every panel on this list serves PHP, and most of them let you keep several versions installed on the same server, the question is not whether your panel is up to date. It is which PHP versions your panel serves, and whether all of them sit above those four. Several vendors reacted within days: BlueOnyx issued an advisory on 20 October and shipped patches the next day, cPanel documented its response on 26 October, and CWP already distributes PHP 8.5.12. An old PHP build still installed in case a customer needs it is exactly the case these two vulnerabilities exploit.
Plesk
Plesk stands out as the most popular commercial web hosting control panel available today, offering robust solutions for both Linux and Windows platforms. Designed to meet the needs of developers, system administrators, and hosting providers, Plesk offers flexible monthly and annual pricing plans, making it ideal for managing dedicated servers and virtual private servers (VPS).
Key Features of Plesk:
- Full Access via SSH:
Plesk provides complete SSH access, ensuring that developers and administrators can manage their servers with maximum flexibility and control. - Enhanced Security:
Security is a top priority, with advanced tools like integrated web application firewalls (WAF), fail2ban intrusion prevention, and automatic SSL/TLS certificates from Let’s Encrypt or DigiCert. - Advanced Monitoring Tools:
Plesk includes real-time monitoring of server performance, resource usage, and key metrics, helping to proactively address potential issues. - Extensive Extension Library:
Plesk boasts over 100 extensions, offering integrations with leading third-party services like Cloudflare, Git, Docker, and SEO tools to enhance functionality and customization. - Complete WordPress Toolkit:
A comprehensive suite for managing WordPress websites. This includes staging environments, automatic updates, cloning, and one-click security hardening, making it a go-to choice for WordPress professionals. - Developer-Friendly Environment:
Plesk supports modern technologies, such as Node.js, Ruby, Python, Git, and Docker, enabling seamless development workflows. - Multilingual Support:
Plesk’s intuitive interface is available in multiple languages, ensuring global usability for administrators and end-users. - Integrated Backup and Restore:
Automated backup options ensure data safety, allowing users to restore their websites or servers with just a few clicks.
Additional Information:
- Developer: WebPros International GmbH, formerly Plesk International GmbH.
- Latest release (November 2026): Plesk Obsidian 18.0.82 Update 2, shipped on 3 November 2026. The 18.0.82 line introduces the Nova AI site builder, adds support for MCP servers, drops Debian 11 from the supported systems, and fixes a two-factor authentication bypass.
- Pricing: WebPros has announced a Plesk price increase effective 1 January 2027.
- License: Proprietary, ensuring top-tier support and continual updates.
Why Choose Plesk?
Plesk’s unparalleled versatility, combined with its rich feature set and comprehensive ecosystem, makes it the preferred choice for individuals and enterprises alike. Whether you’re managing a single website or an entire server, Plesk simplifies tasks, enhances security, and delivers unmatched scalability to meet modern hosting demands.
Control Web Panel (CWP)
Control Web Panel (CWP) is a powerful, community-driven web hosting panel for dedicated servers and VPS. It has different licensing options:
- A free version.
- A Pro version — with or without support.
- A special Pro version for partners.
CWP is developed for Linux operating systems and it includes features such as:
- Modern and intuitive user interface.
- Enhanced security.
- Full automation of processes.
- Server logs visualization.
- Monitoring tools.
CWP changed its version numbering in mid-2026, and you need to know that before comparing versions. The last entry in the old 0.9.8.xxxx format is 0.9.8.1235, from 18 June 2026. From there the project moved to a 1.x series under the CWP7 generation label, and it now ships almost daily: between 30 October and 4 November 2026 it released 1.27, 1.28, 1.29, 1.30, 1.30.1, 1.30.2 and 1.30.3. If your installation reports a 0.9.8.x number, it is not one release behind, it is on the previous scheme altogether.
The changes in the recent releases are substantial:
- LTS and Edge channels (1.30), selectable under Settings → CWP Settings → CWP updates. LTS is the default channel; Edge receives new features first and promotes them to LTS once they prove stable.
- A rebuilt CWP Secure Kernel (1.30), with a health check, a one-click safe mode, per-service control, and new kernel installs without a reboot: it boots the kernel on trial, checks it after three minutes, and rolls back if anything fails.
- EL10 support (1.29), meaning RHEL 10 and its clones, along with 2048-bit DKIM and a hardened user panel API.
- A daily security audit (1.30.3) that detects cryptominers and installations made with
curl | bash, and warns about open remote API ports.
In September 2025, CVE-2025-48703 was published: an unauthenticated remote code execution flaw in the file manager, scored 9.0 out of 10, affecting every version before 0.9.8.1205. If you run a CWP installed before that date, updating it is not optional. That build number belongs to the retired scheme, so it cannot be compared against an installation already on the 1.x series.
Developer: LINANTO LLC (Tbilisi, Georgia).
Latest release (November 2026): CWP7 1.30.3 LTS-Stable, announced on the official forum on 4 November 2026. The vendor website reports 1.30.4 and the dated change log stops at 1.30.1, from 3 November, so the three official sources do not agree with one another, which is the price of shipping daily.
Control Web Panel license: not free software, even though it is free of charge. The project publishes neither a license nor a public repository, and it also sells a paid edition, CWPpro.
ISPConfig
ISPConfig is a free, open source hosting control panel for Linux. It supports numerous Daemons and the Linux distributions most used on servers: Debian 11 to 13, Ubuntu 22.04 to 26.04 LTS, AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux 8 to 10.
ISPConfig includes features such as:
- Several access levels.
- Web server management.
- DNS server management.
- Mail server management.
- Numerous managed services.
Developer: projektfarm GmbH.
Latest ISPConfig release (November 2026): ISPConfig 3.3.2, with the 3.3.2p1 patch from 21 September 2026.
ISPConfig license: BSD license.
Virtualmin
Virtualmin is an open source website and domain hosting control panel, based on Webmin. There are two versions of this control panel:
- Virtualmin GPL, a free, open-source version.
- Virtualmin Professional, a premium version available for a monthly or annual fee.
Virtualmin is developed for Linux and BSD systems and includes features such as:
- Advanced access control.
- Easy server logs visualization.
- Monitoring tools.
- Numerous security features.
- Comprehensive tools for managing databases.
Developer: the Virtualmin project, with Jamie Cameron, Joe Cooper and Ilia Ross.
Latest Virtualmin release (November 2026): Virtualmin 8.3.0, from September 2026. The 8.x line arrived in early 2026 and left behind the 6.x branch quoted in earlier versions of this article.
Virtualmin license: GNU General Public License v3.
ispmanager
ispmanager is a commercial website and web server control panel based on Linux. It offers a free 14-day trial version and three licensing options, available for a monthly or annual fee:
- Lite, up to 10 websites.
- Pro, up to 50.
- Host, unlimited.
The business edition, listed in earlier versions of this article, has been discontinued: it stopped being sold on 1 June 2025 and its support ended on 1 June 2026. Existing licenses remain active, and its features moved into ispmanager host.
ispmanager includes features such as:
- Domain management.
- Built-in security tools.
- Support for all popular CMS.
- Backup system.
- Multiple PHP versions supported on a single server.
- Support for Docker.
Developer: ispmanager LTD (Cyprus).
Latest ispmanager release (November 2026): ispmanager 6.155.0, from 28 October 2026.
ispmanager license: proprietary.
Vesta Control Panel
Warning: Vesta CP started publishing releases again in October 2026, after almost five years of silence, but it is still not a sensible choice for production. On 22 October 2026 three tags appeared within two hours, 1.0.0-8, 1.0.0-9 and 1.0.0-10. The first two carry no release notes at all and the third carries a single line about compatibility testing for a new installation process. That reads like work on the installer rather than a product release. What has not changed is the record: fifteen accumulated CVEs, and at least one of them, CVE-2022-3967, still has its patch written in the repository and in no published version. The project has stated since February 2024 that it is back under active development, and its website advertises a Vesta 2.0 with no date attached. If you need a panel from this family today, the maintained successor is HestiaCP, a direct fork of Vesta that was on version 1.10.5 in September 2026.
Vesta CP is a free, easy-to-use web hosting control panel. Its core functionalities are completely free, but Vesta also offers commercial plugins available for a monthly fee or a lifetime license. Its source code is publicly available to be downloaded and modified as desired.
Vesta Control Panel includes features such as:
- Server statistics monitoring.
- Powerful backup system.
- Linux PAM authentication mechanism.
- Built-in firewall.
- Fast web interface.
Developer: Vesta Control Panel.
Latest Vesta CP release (November 2026): Vesta 1.0.0-10, from 22 October 2026, the first new tag since November 2021.
Vesta CP license: GNU General Public License v3.
DirectAdmin
DirectAdmin is an easy-to-use and powerful web hosting control panel. It is highly customizable and offers diverse licenses:
- Free 60-day trial.
- Personal PLUS.
- Lite.
- Standard.
DirectAdmin is compatible with diverse Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, Debian and RHEL. It includes features such as:
- Complete system usage statistics.
- Several access levels.
- Automatic SSL.
- Unlimited customization abilities.
- Automatic installation and configuration of selected software packages.
Developer: JBMC Software.
Latest DirectAdmin release (November 2026): DirectAdmin 1.712 on the current channel, from 21 October 2026. The project keeps three channels, current, stable and alpha, and it ships a release every one or two weeks. Version 1.713 is already documented, with SFTP for ProFTPD and SNI on outbound SMTP, but it has not yet been promoted to current; 1.714 is in alpha.
DirectAdmin license: proprietary.
Ajenti
Ajenti is an open source web hosting control panel, with two available options: Ajenti 1.x as a server administration panel and Ajenti 2 as a lightweight admin panel. Ajenti is developed for Linux and BSD systems and compatible with many Linux distributions. Its former website, ajenti.org, now redirects to the GitHub repository, which is where the project lives.
Ajenti includes features such as:
- Responsive remote terminal.
- Fast and secure access.
- Easily extensible using Python.
- Numerous plugins available.
- Ajenti Core and Ajenti V.
Check the version before installing it: CVE-2026-79920, scored 9.9 out of 10, let any authenticated user run code as root, and it was not fixed until 2.2.16, released in July 2026.
Developer: Ajenti Project, with Eugene Pankov as the original author.
Latest Ajenti release (November 2026): Ajenti 2.2.17, from 12 September 2026. The reliable reference is the ajenti-panel package on PyPI, because the releases listed in its repository lag behind.
Ajenti license: MIT.
Sentora
Warning: Sentora has not shipped a release since 3 May 2024 and its repository has received no code since February 2025. The project website advertises a 3.0 version “in active development” for which there is no public code and no branch in the repository, and the support board for that version on its official forum does not hold a single post. Treat it as a stalled project.
Sentora is a free, open source web hosting control panel, based on the foundations of ZPanel. It is developed to work on a wide variety of linux distributions and targeted to small and medium ISPs.
Sentora includes features such as:
- Fully customizable control panel.
- Multi-client environment.
- Community and premium support.
- Simplified management.
- Numerous add-ons.
Developer: The Sentora Project.
Latest Sentora release (November 2026): Sentora 2.0.2, from May 2024.
Sentora license: GNU General Public License v3.
BlueOnyx
BlueOnyx is a free, open source web hosting control panel. It is a modernized fork of BlueQuartz. It keeps three lines in parallel — 5210R on AlmaLinux 8, 5211R on AlmaLinux 9, and 5212R on AlmaLinux 10 — and everything older than 5210R is retired and not recommended for new installations.
BlueOnyx includes features such as:
- User-friendly web-based interface.
- Web, email, DNS and file transfer services.
- IPv4, IPv6 and dual-stack support.
- Reseller management.
- GDPR tools.
Developer: Solarspeed.net.
Latest BlueOnyx release (November 2026): BlueOnyx 5212R, with the installation media refreshed on 28 October 2026. That refresh brings stricter per-vsite PHP-FPM isolation, using systemd sandboxing. The project does not publish a release date per line, so the useful reference is the date of the media.
Blueonyx license: Sun modified BSD license.
cPanel
cPanel is an intuitive web and server control panel, targeted to small and medium businesses, developers, digital agencies and hosting providers. It offers a free 15-day trial and different paying licenses:
- cPanel solo.
- Admin.
- Pro.
- Premier.
Besides, cPanel offers licenses for cloud environments and bare-metal servers. It includes features such as:
- Automation of all server management tasks.
- Control and flexibility.
- Add-ons and third-party plugins.
- Tools for designing custom databases.
- Secure backups.
In May 2026 cPanel disclosed CVE-2026-41940, an authentication bypass scored 9.8 out of 10 that affected every version after 11.40 and was exploited in the wild, to the point that CISA added it to its catalog of known exploited vulnerabilities. It was fixed in v138 and backported to several earlier branches.
Developer: cPanel, L.L.C., part of the WebPros group, the same one behind Plesk.
Latest cPanel release (November 2026): cPanel & WHM 138, with build 138.0.19 from 26 October 2026.
Pricing: WebPros has announced a cPanel price increase effective 16 December 2026, applying to new orders and to existing accounts alike. The only specific figure published in its official FAQ is the per-account price above the 101st account, which goes from $0.49 to $0.55. Plesk and WHMCS, from the same group, go up on 1 January 2027.
cPanel license: proprietary.
Froxlor
Froxlor is a lightweight, open source server control panel, developed by experienced server administrators. It is built on Laravel, it is available for free, and its current releases are supported on Debian 12 and Ubuntu 24.04. It includes features such as:
- Multistack.
- Simplified management.
- API based.
- Advanced SSL.
- Easy management of resellers and customers resources.
Developer: Froxlor team, with Michael Kaufmann as lead developer.
Latest Froxlor release (November 2026): Froxlor 2.3.16, from 20 October 2026, which adds PHP 8.5 compatibility.
With that same release the project published eight security advisories in its repository, none of them with a CVE assigned. The two rated high severity are a local privilege escalation through symlinks in the traffic accounting cron job, which runs as root, and the exposure of every account’s API keys to any administrator holding the customers_see_all permission. If you administer a Froxlor, 2.3.16 is not an optional update.
Froxlor license: GNU Lesser General Public License v3 or later, with the froxlor Extension Package Exception. It is often called simply “GPL”, even on its own website, but the license in the repository is LGPL v3.
Easy Hosting Control Panel
Warning: EHCP has not shipped an identifiable release since 2023. The free download offered on its website targets Ubuntu 20.04, which went out of support in May 2025, and in 2025 three vulnerabilities were published against that same version — CVE-2025-50926, CVE-2025-50927 and CVE-2025-50928 — with no patch on record. The project website itself now shows injected betting spam inside its pages, a sign that it is either compromised or abandoned. Do not install it on a production server.
Easy Hosting Control Panel or EHCP is a free hosting control panel. EHCP includes features such as:
- Easy customization.
- Web statistics.
- SSL support.
- Management of domains, FTP, emails, etc.
- Different user levels.
Developer: Easy Hosting Control Panel.
Latest EHCP release (November 2026): the available download is EHCP 20.04.1.b, for Ubuntu 20.04. There is also a paid version for more recent systems.
EHCP license: the project publishes no license on its website.
Webmin
Webmin is one of the earliest web hosting control panels, developed for Linux, FreeBSD, Windows and other Unix-like OS. It is a system configuration tool that can be used on any web browser, and it still ships a release roughly every month. Webmin includes features such as:
- Numerous built-in functions using modules.
- Powerful and flexible.
- SSH keys support.
- Third-party modules.
- Support for a wide list of systems.
Developer: Jamie Cameron and Ilia Ross, with the Webmin community.
Latest Webmin release (November 2026): Webmin 2.670, from 20 September 2026, alongside Usermin 2.570.
Webmin license: BSD 3-Clause license.
ApisCP
ApisCP is a commercial web hosting control panel. It offers a free development license and several paid options, on a monthly fee or as a lifetime license:
- Pro, on a monthly subscription.
- Lifetime, as a one-off payment.
- Free development and DNS-only licenses.
Apis control panel includes features such as:
- Performance and security-focused.
- Integrated monitoring.
- Automation.
- Intelligent updates.
- Quick installation.
Developer: Apis Networks, Inc.
Latest ApisCP release (November 2026): ApisCP 3.2.48.7, from 12 May 2026. Its release cadence is slow and its blog and forum have not announced a version since 2025, so the reliable reference is the tag list in its repository.
ApisCP license: proprietary.
aaPanel
aaPanel is a free, source-available hosting control panel. The distinction matters, because it is frequently called open source and it is not: the code is published, but the project’s own license only allows modifying it for personal use and forbids releasing modified versions, so it does not meet the open source definition. It offers a free license and a paid professional license, aaPanel Pro, and it includes features such as:
- Module-based.
- Fast deployment.
- Real-time monitoring.
- Numerous security features.
- One-click function.
Mind the domain: the official site is aapanel.com. There is also an aapanel.org serving a cloned download page, and it does not belong to the project.
Developer: aaPanel.
Latest aaPanel release (November 2026): aaPanel 8.0.7, the one offered on its download page. The project does not date its releases: the most recent dated version announced is 8.0.3, from May 2026, and the jump from the 7.x line to 8.x was published in February 2026. Its GitHub repository lags well behind and does not carry the 8.x line at all.
aaPanel license: its own “AAPANEL Open Source License Agreement” which, despite the name, is not an open source license.
Zesle Control Panel
Warning: ZesleCP has not shipped a release since 24 May 2024 and its blog stopped in November 2023, although the website is still up and selling licenses as usual. It even markets the 3.1.x line as “LTS with ten years of support”, which is one way of presenting stagnation as stability. Before paying for a license, ask the vendor whether the product is still being updated.
Zesle Control Panel or ZesleCP is a lightweight, easy-to-use web hosting control panel. It offers a free tier limited to two domains and diverse pricing plans, available for a monthly, annual and lifetime fee:
- Solo.
- Personal.
- Pro.
- Business.
ZesleCP includes features such as:
- API support.
- Multi-accounts.
- One-click apps.
- SSH keys management.
- Easy Firewall Manager interface.
Developer: Zesle Software Inc.
Latest ZesleCP release (November 2026): ZesleCP 3.1.21, from 24 May 2024.
Zesle Control Panel license: proprietary.
Kloxo
A warning about the name: three different projects live under “Kloxo”. The original Kloxo from LxCenter is dead — its last release is from March 2014 — and it carries an unauthenticated SQL injection scored 10 out of 10 that leads to root; Kloxo-MR has received no code since 2019; and what this entry describes is Kloxo-NG, the only one still being built, for EL8 and EL9. If you find a Kloxo installation guide written before 2024, it points at the dead code. Kloxo-NG is not in great shape either: it has received no commits since June 2025 and depends on a single developer.
Kloxo is a free and open-source web hosting control panel designed for Linux servers. It offers a functional solution for small installations on virtual machines and standalone hardware.
Key Features of Kloxo:
- Operating System Compatibility: Rocky Linux and AlmaLinux (versions 8 and 9) and other RHEL derivatives.
- Supported Web Servers: Nginx, Lighttpd, Hiawatha, Apache (Httpd 24), and dual or multiple web server setups.
- Web Cache Server: Varnish.
- PHP Management: Supports multiple PHP versions (5.6, 7.4, and all PHP 8 versions).
- Mail Servers: Qmail-toaster (based on Qmail 1.06) and Dovecot for IMAP/POP3.
- Database Management: MariaDB, with tools like PHPMyAdmin (upcoming options include Adminer, MyWebSQL, and SqlBuddy).
- Webmail Clients: Afterlogic Webmail Lite, Roundcube, and Rainloop.
- FTP Server: Pure-ftpd.
- DNS Server: Bind (testing compatibility with others like PowerDNS, MaraDNS, and Yadifa).
- Free SSL Certificates: Let’s Encrypt and StartAPI.
- Additional Security Modules: ClamAV, SpamAssassin, RKHunter, and MalDetect.
- Updates and Fixes: Includes bug fixes and security improvements from earlier Kloxo versions.
Additional Information:
- Developer: Kloxo Next Generation Team.
- Latest version (November 2026): Kloxo-NG 8.0.0-25, from 9 June 2025.
- License: Affero General Public License v3 (AGPLv3).
CyberPanel
CyberPanel is a free, open source web hosting control panel for OpenLiteSpeed. It is among the most active projects on this list: its repository has accumulated hundreds of commits in 2026.
CyberPanel includes features such as:
- Management of unlimited websites.
- Active community support.
- One-click SSL.
- Command-line interface.
- Free cache plugins included.
In October 2024 two unauthenticated remote code execution flaws scored 10 out of 10 were published — CVE-2024-51567 and CVE-2024-51378 — and were exploited that same month by the PSAUX ransomware. They were fixed in version 2.3.8, released on 1 November 2024. Any installation still below that version should be treated as compromised.
Developer: Usman Nasir and the CyberPanel community.
Latest CyberPanel release (November 2026): CyberPanel 3.0.8, from 18 October 2026. Its real version number lives in the version.txt file on the stable branch of the repository: the releases listed on GitHub have been abandoned since 2019 and mislead anyone who checks them.
CyberPanel license: General Public License v3.
Easypanel
Easypanel is a modern, Docker-based server control panel, and it is worth stating up front how it differs from everything above: it is not a classic hosting panel. It does not manage mailboxes, DNS zones or FTP users, and it has no reseller model. What it does is deploy applications and services in containers on your own server, with continuous deployment from Git, so its natural competitors are Coolify, Dokploy or CapRover rather than cPanel or Plesk.
Put another way: Easypanel does not replace a shared hosting panel, it replaces a PaaS such as Heroku or Render, on a machine that is yours. If what you need is to create customer mailboxes and domains, this is not your panel. If what you need is to deploy applications, databases and self-hosted services without building your own deployment pipeline, it fits very well.
Easypanel includes features such as:
- Continuous deployment: every push to GitHub deploys the application, with no downtime.
- Auto-renewing SSL certificates, handled by Traefik, and two-factor authentication.
- Databases as first-class services: PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, MongoDB and Redis.
- Docker Compose as a service type, alongside Nixpacks, Railpack and Dockerfile builders.
- More than 800 one-click templates of open-source applications.
- Database and volume backups to S3, FTP/SFTP, Dropbox, Google Drive or local storage.
- CPU, memory, disk and network monitoring per service, with built-in logs and shell.
- A command-line tool, a public REST API and a remote MCP server for AI clients.
Requirements: a clean Ubuntu server with at least 2 GB of RAM, root access and ports 80 and 443 free. Docker is installed automatically during setup. The panel runs on Docker Swarm.
Developer: Easypanel. The project publishes neither a legal entity nor a country.
Latest Easypanel release (November 2026): Easypanel 2.38.0, from 22 October 2026. It updates by pulling its Docker image, with stable and canary channels.
Easypanel license: proprietary. The panel ships only as a Docker image and its source is not public, although the templates, the installer and the surrounding tooling are. It has a free plan of up to three projects and paid plans per server per month.
The 20 control panels at a glance
A summary as of November 2026. The status column is the one to read first: three of the twenty have gone years without shipping a release, and a fourth, Vesta, has just broken five years of silence with what look like installer tests.
| Panel | License | Status (November 2026) | Fits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Plesk | Proprietary | Active · 18.0.82 | Managed hosting on Linux and Windows |
| Control Web Panel | No published license | Active, ships almost daily · CWP7 1.30.3 | Servers on RHEL derivatives |
| ISPConfig | BSD | Active · 3.3.2 | Multi-server setups and small providers |
| Virtualmin | GPL v3 | Active · 8.3.0 | Domain hosting on top of Webmin |
| ispmanager | Proprietary | Active · 6.155.0 | VPS and servers with few sites |
| Vesta CP | GPL v3 | Back to publishing in October 2026 · 1.0.0-10 | Still not recommended; see HestiaCP |
| DirectAdmin | Proprietary | Active · 1.712 on current | Lightweight alternative to cPanel |
| Ajenti | MIT | Active · 2.2.17 | Lightweight, modular administration |
| Sentora | GPL v3 | No releases since May 2024 | Not recommended |
| BlueOnyx | Sun modified BSD | Active · 5212R | RHEL derivatives with mail and DNS |
| cPanel | Proprietary | Active · v138 | Shared hosting and resellers |
| Froxlor | LGPL v3 with exception | Active · 2.3.16 | Lightweight panels on Debian and Ubuntu |
| EHCP | No published license | No identifiable releases since 2023 | Not recommended |
| Webmin | BSD 3-Clause | Active · 2.670 | General system administration |
| ApisCP | Proprietary | Active, slow cadence · 3.2.48.7 | Performance and automation first |
| aaPanel | Own license, not free software | Active · 8.0.7 | Fast single-server deployments |
| ZesleCP | Proprietary | No releases since May 2024 | Not recommended |
| Kloxo-NG | AGPL v3 | No commits since June 2025 | Legacy installs on EL8 and EL9 |
| CyberPanel | GPL v3 | Active · 3.0.8 | OpenLiteSpeed environments |
| Easypanel | Proprietary | Active · 2.38.0 | Deploying applications in containers |
How to choose a control panel
First question: is it still shipping releases?
This is the question that decides the most and gets asked the least. A control panel is exposed to the internet and touches the system with root privileges, which makes it the worst place on the server to run unmaintained code. The check is quick: look at the date of the last published release, not the last commit and not the copyright line in the footer, which updates itself, and rule out anything that has not moved in over a year.
One thing complicates that check: several projects do not publish their version where you would look for it. CyberPanel has left its GitHub releases abandoned since 2019 and keeps the real version in a file on the stable branch; aaPanel does not date its releases; CWP changed its numbering scheme in 2026 and its three official sources do not always agree. When a number does not add up, cross-check two sources from the project itself before trusting the first one.
What you actually need: mail and DNS, or just deployment
This is the split that has changed the landscape most in recent years. Classic panels, such as cPanel, Plesk, DirectAdmin and ISPConfig, exist to create domains, mailboxes, databases and customer accounts. Container-based panels such as Easypanel exist to deploy applications and do none of the above. Picking the wrong category costs an entire migration, so it is worth starting there rather than with a feature comparison.
Open source does not always mean what it looks like
Several panels advertised as open source are free of charge but not free software: aaPanel publishes its code under its own license, which forbids distributing modified versions, and CWP publishes neither a license nor a repository. That is not a flaw in itself, but it changes what you can do with them and whom you can turn to if the project changes direction. If vendor independence weighs on your decision, the ones that are unambiguously free software are ISPConfig, Webmin, Virtualmin, Froxlor, Ajenti and CyberPanel.
How many servers, and at what cost per server
Almost every commercial license is billed per server per month, so the cost grows in a straight line with the infrastructure. On a platform of ten or twenty nodes, the gap between a commercial panel and a free one stops being a budget detail. That calculation is worth doing before standardizing, not after, and it pays to watch the calendar: WebPros raises cPanel prices from 16 December 2026, and Plesk and WHMCS prices from 1 January 2027.
Where Stackscale fits
The panel is the layer you see; underneath it sits what determines whether the service holds up. At Stackscale we deploy and operate dedicated infrastructure in our data centers in Madrid and Amsterdam, with our own network, network storage and synchronous replication, and on top of it each customer installs whichever panel they prefer, commercial or free.
If you are building a hosting platform or migrating the one you already run, you can do it on dedicated bare-metal servers or on private cloud, and we will size it with your data.
