Comparison of web hosting control panels

The following tables compare general and technical information for a variety of web hosting control panel software.

Licence and Operating system support

Control panel	Licencing			OS Support			Design
	Licence	Free	Full Opensource	BSD	Linux	Windows	Frontend	Backend	Plugin Support	IPV6 Support
Baifox	GPL	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	PHP	PHP, SQLite	?	?
cPanel	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	Partial / Beta	?	?	?	?
DirectAdmin	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	No	?	?	?	?
Domain Technologie Control	GNU LGPL	Yes	Yes	Limited FreeBSD support	Yes	No	?	?	?	?
ehcp	GPL	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	PHP	PHP, MySQL	Partial	System level
Gnupanel	GPL	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	?	?	?
H-Sphere	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Java	Java	?	?
Hosting Controller	Proprietary	No	No	?	No	No	?	?	?	?
InterWorx	Proprietary	No	No	No	Yes	No	PHP	PHP, MySQL	Yes	?
ISPConfig	BSD	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	?	?	?	?
ISPmanager	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	C++	Yes	?
ispCP	GPL	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Lxadmin (now Kloxo)	GPL	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	?	?	?	?
openLSM	GPL	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
OpenPanel	GPL	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	?	?	?	?
Plesk	Proprietary	No	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?
RavenCore	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SysCP	GPL	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	PHP	PHP,MySQL	Yes	Yes
Usermin	BSD style	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	?
VHCS	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Virtualmin	GPL	Yes	Yes	?	Yes	No	Perl	Perl	Yes	Yes
Virtualmin Pro	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
WebCP	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Webmin	BSD style	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Partial	Perl	Perl	Yes	?

Remote access

Some control panels allow shell (console) access to the underlying OS through a Java applet, requiring the client-side computer use Java Virtual Machine software. Other control panels allow direct access using telnet or secure shell (SSH).

Control panel	FTP	Anonymous FTP	Terminal	File Browse/Upload/Download using HTTP frontend
Baifox	?	?	?	?
cPanel	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
DirectAdmin	Yes	Yes	SSH	Yes
Domain Technologie Control	Yes	?	SSH	Yes
ehcp	Yes	Yes	SSH	Yes
H-Sphere	Yes	Yes	SSH	Yes
Hosting Controller	?	?	?	?
InterWorx	Yes	Yes	SSH	Yes
ISPConfig	Yes	No	No	Yes
ispCP	?	?	?	?
LxAdmin	Yes	Yes	Java Applet	Yes
Plesk	Yes	Yes	SSH, Java Applet	Yes
SysCP	Yes	No	No	Yes
Usermin	?	?	?	?
Webmin	Yes	No	Java Applet	Yes
Virtualmin	Yes	?	SSH,Java Applet	Yes
Virtualmin Pro	?	?	?	?

Email management

While all control panel software below support multiple email accounts, the features they provide vary.

Control panel	Antivirus	Antispam	Forwarders	Mailbox quota	DomainKeys
Baifox	?	?	?	?	?
cPanel	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DirectAdmin	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Domain Technologie Control	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ehcp	possible	possible	Yes	Yes	possible
Gnupanel	?	?	?	?	?
H-Sphere	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Hosting Controller	?	?	?	?	?
InterWorx	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ISPConfig	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ispCP	?	?	?	?	?
LxAdmin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plesk	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
SysCP	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Usermin	?	?	?	?	?
Webmin	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
Virtualmin	?	?	?	?	?
Virtualmin Pro	?	?	?	?	?

Third party modules

Web hosting packages often provide easy means of installing web services onto the server. Packaging services allow the Control panel to fetch a list of installable modules from the internet, whilst hard-coded methods require that the Control panel is updated to add new modules which are accessible

Control panel	Third Party Module Installation Methods			Modules Available
	Subscription Service	Free service	Allows Upgrades?	Shopping cart	Bulletin board	Gallery	Chat	Guestbook
Baifox	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
cPanel	?	?	?	Agora	phpBB	No°	phpMyChat	Yes
DirectAdmin	?	?	?	No°	No°	No°	No°	No°
Domain Technologie Control	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?
ehcp	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gnupanel	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
H-Sphere	?	?	?	Miva, osCommerce	phpBB	No	WebChat	Extropia
Hosting Controller	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
InterWorx	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
ISPConfig	?	?	?	No°	No°	No°	No°	No°
ispCP	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
LxAdmin	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Plesk	?	Via APS	Yes	Miva	phpBB	Coppermine	gtchat, CSLH	No°
SysCP	No	Via APS	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Usermin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Webmin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Virtualmin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Virtualmin Pro	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

° Available through third-party script-installer plugin.

Supported Backends

Control panel	Web server		FTP server			Receive mail		Send mail		SQL		programming languages
	Lighttpd	Apache	PureFTPd	Vsftp	ProFTPd	Dovecot	Courier	Sendmail	Postfix	PostgreSQL	MySQL	PHP	Perl	Python
Baifox	?	Yes	Yes	No	No	?	?	?	?	No	Yes	?	?	?
cPanel	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
DirectAdmin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Domain Technologie Control	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ehcp	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
Gnupanel	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	Yes	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	?
H-Sphere	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Hosting Controller	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
InterWorx	No	Yes	No	No	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes
ISPConfig	No	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No
ispCP	?	Yes	?	?	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	?	Yes (4 or 5)	Yes (5.x)	Yes	?
LxAdmin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Plesk	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
SysCP	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Yes	?	?	?	Yes	Yes	?	?
Usermin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
webmin	?	Yes	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Virtualmin	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?
Virtualmin Pro	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?

External links

• Comparison of web hosting control panels
• DTC home page and screenshots
• cPanel features
• EHCP Demo
• H-Sphere demo
• Plesk demo on Windows servers and on Linux servers
• SysCP Demo