Member Avatar for Patrick_Kane

I want to see your suggestions on comparing CPanel and FASTPANEL.

I used CPanel for some time but later I changed to FASTPANEL which is absolutely free but provides you with the same opportunities. Also FASTPANEL's design looks much better than CPANEL's one. So now I can't understand why people pay for CPanel.

What panel do you guys use and why?

Edited by Dani because: Moved to correct forum
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A lot has changed since 2019, so here is a quick, practical way to choose. Patrick_Kane, your UX point is fair: FASTPANEL has matured and, as of 2025, the vendor states the panel is free for end users and providers, installable on common Linux distros and available on popular clouds (DigitalOcean, Vultr, etc.). It also adds built‑in backups to local/FTP/SCP plus cloud targets like Dropbox and Google Drive, which is handy for low‑cost setups. (, kb.fastpanel.direct)

Akshay_M is right that migration tooling is a big reason people still pay for cPanel. WHM’s Transfer Tool and Live Transfer minimize downtime and carry over accounts and service configs, and cPanel publishes step‑by‑step guidance for whole‑server moves. If you value predictable, low‑risk moves between hosts, that ecosystem is hard to beat (note the current retail pricing tiers when you run the numbers). (docs.cpanel.net, cpanel.net)

For those aligned with happygeek’s Plesk preference, remember Plesk is commercial with edition limits and a 2025 price revision; it remains attractive if you want its WordPress tooling and extension catalog on supported Linux OSes. If you lean FOSS like lowlightimages, ISPConfig’s documented multi‑server topology (panel/web/mail/DNS roles) is a strong draw, especially when you want to scale beyond a single node. DirectAdmin also remains a budget commercial option worth pricing alongside cPanel/Plesk. (plesk.com, howtoforge.com, directadmin.com)

If you trial FASTPANEL, here is a safe migration workflow to test on a throwaway domain before committing production: 1) lower DNS TTL 24–48h ahead; 2) match PHP/MariaDB versions to your source; 3) create users/sites in FASTPANEL; 4) import DBs and sync files; 5) switch DNS. For FASTPANEL‑to‑FASTPANEL moves, there is a built‑in CLI transfer tool; for cPanel‑to‑cPanel, use WHM’s Transfer Tool. Example FASTPANEL command you can run on the destination host (adjust IPs and credentials):

/usr/local/fastpanel2/fastpanel transfer run \
  --remote_host=OLD_IP --remote_username=root --remote_password=SECRET \
  -m OLD_IP,NEW_IP

This keeps downtime low while you validate before cutover. (kb.fastpanel.direct, docs.cpanel.net)

Recommended Answers

All 13 Replies

Member Avatar for happygeek

Plesk, just to throw another into the mix. Why? A combination of legacy and lethargy with a bit of if it ain't broke for good measure I guess...

Member Avatar for gentlemedia

I've used cPanel the most, but this is because it comes with every new hosting package at Namecheap. I had to install it onl;y once myself as cPanel WHM on a VPS for a project.
I don't know Fastpanel, but I see it's free for 18 months and after that you will have to pay for it. It would be handy if they would say on their website how much this will be.

Member Avatar for Akshay_M

cPanel is used by many major hosting companies and it offers the ability to move hosting accounts from one host to another with ease. Also it is very popular and most customers know and understand how to use the control panel. When customers are looking for a new company they don't necessarily want to learn a new control panel. I have been using cPanel for several years now and I can say that they do provide outstanding support when needed. You will not receive such important features from a free control panel.

Regards,
Akshay

Member Avatar for tallship

FASTPANEL is NOT "Free"...

It's "FREE*", is a closed source, proprietary solution, and you cannot self-host this control panel (You must purchase an OpenVZ VPS service from the Estonian company FastVPS. There doesn't seem to be any integration at all or modules to support a billing system like WHMCS, Blesta, BoxBilling, or even HostBill.

  • Within the limited advertising campaign you will receive your full-functional version of FASTPANEL without restriction on the number of sites for a period of no less than 12 months absolutely free of charge. FASTPANEL reserves the right to change the license status to commercial at any time after this period, but with a notification of not less than 30 days.

If you're looking for a free website management control panel system, I've listed some of the available Free and Open Source (FOSS) solutions below:

And many more... Why purchase a mandatory service to use a control panel that warns you it will start charging you for in the future? If you want a real seasoned, mature, and reliable product that you're going to pay for, why not self-host cPanel on your own servers?

I hope that helps!

Member Avatar for esteemhost

Plesk, just to throw another into the mix.

Member Avatar for lowlightimages

I've been using ISPConfig for several years now. It's free, open source, and does most of what CPanel does. I find ISPConfog much easier to use and more intuitive. Support in the forum is first class. Paid support is available if really required. Installation is non-trivial but if you follow the appropriate tutorial it's not difficult. Oh, and it will support multiple servers in a master/slave scenario.

Member Avatar for zainhosting

Hello, Just try CWP Centos Web Panel also, its a greate and 100% free alternative of Cpanel.

Member Avatar for Jonny_4

A web web hosting control panel is a web-based interface supplied through a net hosting service that permits customers to manage their servers and hosted services. ... Domain Name System server. Mail server and junk mail filter. File Transfer Protocol server.

commented: Thanks +0
Member Avatar for Rajesh_43

I am use to C Panel, rather than fast panel, and also recommending use cpanel having a lot of functionalities over fastpanel.

Member Avatar for Backgroundsun

It's useful information.

Member Avatar for Sohaib_7

Thank you it is very useful

Member Avatar for Alexsun

Plesk, just to throw another into the mix. Why?

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