cPanel vs DirectAdmin In 2023| Which One to Choose, and Why? vs DirectAdmin
Your overall web hosting experience depends on the control panel features and usability, so you must choose it carefully. When it comes to web hosting, cPanel and DirectAdmin are the most popular and versatile control panel options out there. However, choosing between these two panels might be tricky, and you might get into the tiniest details. As we know, the fee for web hosting is continuously increasing, regardless of the higher competition and variety of alternatives available.
Well, selecting the perfect web hosting control panel requires you to understand the functionalities, performance, accessibility, and features of different alternatives available.
This post will have a detailed discussion on DirectAdmin vs cPanel hosting that discusses the difference and similarities between both control panels. So, let’s get right into it.
DirectAdmin vs cPanel | Which One to Choose, and Why?
What is cPanel?
It is a UNIX-based web hosting control panel used by one of the biggest hosting companies. Using this control panel, the user can easily handle the management function effortlessly. The best thing about this control panel is that it is very easy to work on, regardless of your technical abilities.
It is used for both small and large-scale hosting projects that allow you to manage the cloud packages of your server. This control panel has made website administration super easy through automation and an intuitive interface. The user can effectively perform tasks using its point-and-click graphical user interface. It allows the customers to see the web stats through cPanel server management. So, you can even access your cPanel components using any browser.
With cPanel, you get to know small details about your website visitors. You would always know what your users are browsing and how they are using the disc.
One cool feature of cPanel is its box trapper that protects you from spam emails. All the non-authorized people sending you emails have to respond to the authentication emails that are sent to you.
WHM vs CPanel
WHM is a reseller control panel that resellers use to maintain their hosting account for different reseller plans. Cpanel, on the flip side, is a control panel that users use to manage their web hosting accounts.
What is DirectAdmin?
This control panel goes very well with all sorts of hosting accounts. It offers a lot of administrative options for effective management. It is a web-based panel that is known for its speed and use. It has a graphical user interface designed for browser-based web hosting management that comes with a dedicated computer for higher convenience.
It allows the admin to add or remove information from the DirectAdmin server and modify the MX setting. Clients can also develop, remove or acquire sub-domain information. It can be used as an alternative to a file transfer protocol that is easy to use and fast. DirectAdmin is an ideal option to keep website development and maintenance more convenient and faster. Using this control panel, you can quickly develop, change and uninstall MySQL conveniently.
Major DirectAdmin vs cPanel Hosting Differences
User Interface
cPanel has a very user-friendly and interactive interface that offers you complete control over all WHM features. You can easily automate your administrative tasks through the command line and API accessibility using this panel.
DirectAdmin hosting contains all the latest technologies you would need to perform administrative work for effective hosting. The advanced technologies that you would find in this control panel are FastCGI, LSPHP, mod_php, etc.
Functionality
As far as the functionality is concerned, there are some similarities and many differences. Both come with a user-friendly interface and easy server configuration, but DirectAdmin hosting doesn’t have proper command-line functions. Similarly, cPanel hosting offers an interactive UI and configuration functionalities, but when it comes to advanced user needs, DirectAdmin is a better choice. For instance, in the case of advanced user needs, the manual company line configuration would get very time-consuming and troublesome. So, it all depends on your unique hosting requirements and what level of control you want to have on your site.
Expandability
In cPanel hosting, you can easily add the required modules and plugins to your website. There is no need to pay an extra fee at all. Moreover, the users who want to expand their functions can also customize their web hosting plan on cPanel. Similarly, we can also extend the functionalities of DirectAdmin using different plugins, but the user has to pay an added cost with that.
Themes and Designs
DirectAdmin offers four style categories in their new evolution theme. All the themes and designs are accessible to all levels of access. The image themes styles offered by DirectAdmin are icons grid, standard, sidebar, and hybrid. “Traditional” is the direct sub-theme of DirectAdmin.
X theme for WHM, x3mail theme for webmail, and paper lantern theme for cPanel is the most preferred themes by the cPanel team. It is up to your choice whether you want to go for a “default” or classic theme for WHM. In both cPanel and DirectAdmin, you can easily customize your themes and styles based on your unique preferences.
Resource Usability
Cpanel uses more disk space and storage as compared to DirectAdmin. It is because Cpanel comes with more features and functionalities. However, some advances are made to DirectAdmin that come with interactive designs and provide support for more features. There is rapid development in the resource usability of DirectAdmin, but it still doesn’t match up to what the cPanel offers.
However, working with cPanel would require more disk space and memory than DirectAdmin. Until the price raised substantially in 2019, cPanel has been a preferred choice. Many people are more likely to choose DirectAdmin hosting because of its higher affordability.
Pricing
Pricing is the most crucial aspect to consider when it comes to choosing the best control panel for your website hosting. CPanel has been a preferred choice for hosting providers who are looking for a budget-friendly option until they have significantly increased their pricing since 2019. After a sudden rise in their cost and fee, many users switch to other hosting providers.
On the flip side, DirectAdmin offers fewer functionalities, but it comes at a lower cost. You can get DirectAdmin hosting for $5 per month and pricing increased for advanced hosting plans. They offer personal, lite, and standard hosting plans that cost $2, $15, and $29 per month.
In the case of cPanel, it depends on how many accounts you have in WHM. Its lowest plan costs you $12 per month and can support up to 5 accounts. It is $17 for 30 accounts, $25 for 50 accounts, and $32 for up to 100 accounts per month. Some plans can support as many as 1000 accounts.
What One is Better?
Well, the simple answer to that question would be: it depends on your hosting needs and personal preferences. One needs to keep in mind various factors while looking for a hosting control panel. This article has discussed everything about DirectAdmin vs. cPanel hosting control panels that would give you an idea about what can better match your expectations.
When it comes to functionalities and performance, cPanel would be the first hosting solution that would come to your mind. However, pricing is a matter of great concern here. There is a recent hike in the prices of cPanel that allows the DirectAdmin control panel to take the lead position. Many hosting service providers switch from cPanel to DirectAdmin to keep their hosting under budget. So, it is all about your hosting needs and your preferences regarding functionality, usability, and pricing.
Conclusion
Summing up the whole discussion, we can say that both of these control panels have their perks and cons when it comes to managing the hosting accounts. They have some similarities and differences that have been discussed in this blog to give you an idea about the technical understanding of these control panels so that you can make a better purchase.
However, choosing the right web hosting services provider is also as important as choosing your control panel. Your overall website performance and uptime depend on the hosting provider. VisualWebTechnologies is a professional and trustworthy hosting provider that promises maximum uptime, 24/7 support, and a personal account manager with a money-back guarantee. If you’re looking for reliable hosting services, you can consider VisualWebTechnologies in this matter.
In this article, we compare the features offered by cPanel and DirectAdmin, in the below table we have a general overview of the features offered and in the “Reseller Accounts” and “Shared Hosting Accounts” section we have a detailed overview of the features present.
| Feature | cPanel | DirectAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Overselling (Reseller) | Yes | Yes |
| 2Factor Authentication (Shared & Reseller) | Yes | Yes |
| Softaculous (Shared & Reseller) | Yes | Yes |
| Whitelabel (Shared & Reseller) | Yes | Yes |
| Jetbackup (Shared & Reseller) | Yes | Coming Soon |
| AutoSSL (Shared & Reseller) | Yes | Yes |
| Reseller accounts | Yes | Yes |
| PHP version selector | Yes | Yes |
| SSH Access (limited ssh access per account) | Yes | Yes |
| CloudLinux LVE (resource limitations) | Yes | Yes |
| PHP Modules | Yes | Yes |
| phpMyAdmin | Yes | Yes |
| WebMail (Roundcube) | Yes | Yes |
Reseller Accounts
| Feature | cPanel | DirectAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Overselling | Yes | Yes |
| Package Creation | Yes | Yes |
| Softaculous | Yes | Yes |
| Jetbackup | Yes | Coming Soon |
| AutoSSL | Yes | Yes |
| PHP version selector | Yes | Yes |
| SSH Access | Yes | Yes |
| CloudLinux LVE (resource limitations) | Yes | Yes |
| PHP Modules Selector | Yes | Yes |
| EMail Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| SpamAssassin | Yes | Yes |
| User welcome message(Reseller) | No | Yes |
| Notification to all user(Reseller) | No | Yes |
| IP management | Yes | Yes |
| Manage backup | Yes | Yes |
| Skin manager | No | Yes |
| Customize Evolution Skin | No | Yes |
| File manager | Yes | Yes |
| Language Translator | Yes | Yes |
Shared Hosting Accounts
| Feature | cPanel | DirectAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Softaculous | Yes | Yes |
| Jetbackup | Yes | Coming Soon |
| AutoSSL | Yes | Yes |
| PHP version selector | Yes | Yes |
| SSH Access | Yes | Yes |
| CloudLinux LVE (resource limitations) | Yes | Yes |
| PHP Modules Selector | Yes | Yes |
| EMail Accounts | Yes | Yes |
| SpamAssassin | Yes | Yes |
| FTP management | yes | Yes |
| Vacation message | No | Yes |
| Auto Responder | Yes | Yes |
| PHPMyAdmin | Yes | Yes |
| WebMail (Roundcube) | Yes | Yes |
| Password protect directories | Yes | Yes |
| Language Translator | Yes | Yes |
Admin Side
On the admin side we have the much needed feature of moving users between resellers which will help us help users who have multiple reseller accounts as well,
| Feature | cPanel | DirectAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Move Users Between Resellers | No | Yes |