Plesk and cPanel are probably the two most common names that spring to mind when people think about hosting control panels. But in truth, there are more options out there too – and some are even free! GNUPanel, SysCP, and Webmin are among the most popular free hosting control panel software options. So let’s take a look at them more closely.
Server Control Panels Guide How Multi-Server Management Works
GNUPanel free hosting panel software
GNUPanel exists under a GNU General Public License. It’s a hosting control panel for the Debian Linux distribution and a newcomer to the scene. Its first stable release appeared in March 2016 with significant features including domain and database administration, FTP management, and mail management.
Apache web server, MySQL, and PHP are some of the more prominent applications this free hosting panel can control. And it can happily install a variety of third-party programs, most notably Joomla, phpBB, osCommerce, and WordPress. Though the developer team’s focus is narrow at the moment, they say they have offerings compatible with a wider range of operating systems in the pipeline.
Webmin free control panel
Webmin is a free hosting control panel for server administration released under the BSD license. Highly regarded by dedicated server customers. It’s designed to work with Unix-like systems. But as of recent times, you can also install and run it on Windows.
Its popularity is probably partly due to its simple, user-friendly hosting control panel. Webmin’s creators built it around modules that make it easy to add new functionality. This panel includes standard modules for Apache and BIND, a BSD firewall, bandwidth monitoring, a Cronjob Manager and many others.
In addition to the provided modules, Webmin offers support for an array of third-party extensions and user-developed modules. At the moment, Webmin can support over 80 operating systems. These include Unix, FreeBSD and various incarnations of Linux.
Its open-source software status means that it appeals to developers everywhere. The active Webmin community has refined the software over time. Now its BSD license makes it free for all to use and modify. True both for private and commercial purposes, giving us yet another reason for its popularity.
SysCP free hosting panel
SysCP (System Control Panel) is a free hosting control panel. You use it as a server management tool. Allowing web-based administration of Apache servers, mail, CGI scripts, DNS settings, error page creation, database management and more. Its integrated features control a wide variety of applications, including Apache, BIND, Courier, and ProFTPD.
Built-in modules are plentiful, but third-party extensions offer even more scope for control and customization for the administrator. Names include Fetchmail and SpamAssassin. For a free hosting control panel, it’s quite versatile. Because it supports the Debian, Gentoo, FreeBSD, OpenSuSe and Ubuntu Linux distributions.
SysCP is released under a GNU GPL, so anyone can distribute and modify it. But make sure you check compatibility before installing it.
Having a free hosting control panel versus Plesk
Free hosting control panels offer a lot of scope to beginners. However, it’s commercial hosting control panels like Plesk that are the only real alternative for commercial operations. If you look at Webmin vs Plesk, it becomes clear why Plesk is the paid option.
- Efficiency, the versatility to work in both Windows and Linux environments, and on shared, dedicated and virtual private servers.
- An increasing amount of hosting providers adopt Plesk, demonstrating their trust in its inherent security and stability.
- Increasing performance and boosting per-server profitability are aspects of the business equation that they naturally take seriously.
- Outstanding 24/7 technical support.
Plesk offers numerous advantages over free hosting control panels and even other commercial options such as CPanel. It is the only serious choice to consider for the serious administrator – Read about the top benefits for administrators.