DirectAdmin Vs. cPanel: A Battle Between Two Giants
Introduction
Control panels play a vital role in web hosting. When you’re looking to choose a hosting account, the chances are that you’re likely to be indecisive between these two giants – DirectAdmin and cPanel. Both of them provide the necessary administrative options to control your hosting account. If you are to choose one between the two, this article will enable you to make an informed decision.
Today, we will take a look at the differences and similarities between cPanel and DirectAdmin. But before we go too far, let’s see what both control panels offer.
DirectAdmin
DirectAdmin is a force to reckon with when it comes to the web hosting space. It is a paid control panel and requires a license. But don’t worry we cover all of those pesky licensing fees!
DirectAdmin provides access to admin options, webmail, as well as a file manager, among others. The moment you log in, all the features would be displayed on the screen for you to see. DirectAdmin is a perfect choice for 99% of clients out there as it covers everything you might need in a Control Panel. Only some specialty modules are missing compared to cPanel. If you are not familiar with them you probably won’t need them.
cPanel
cPanel is one of the best web host control panels on the market. It is a more expensive control panel that most web hosting companies offer. It is the best control panel for beginners and advanced users due to its great features and ease of use. cPanel has more plugins and features than DirectAdmin. However, lately, DirectAdmin closed the gap quite substantially. cPanel is a solid choice nonetheless.
DirectAdmin VS. cPanel – Client Pricing
For the end user, as you pay a fixed price, the pricing difference is only visible in the product pricing itself. However, for us web-hosts cPanel is much more expensive to run and maintain. Therefore DirectAdmin has been slowly taking marketshare. You will see more and more DirectAdmin among web host offerings.
cPanel does have some more features but not much more and cPanel also became much more expensive than Directadmin in 2020. Both of them are user-friendly, and are suitable for all categories of users.
DirectAdmin Vs. cPanel – Expandability
While DirectAdmin is just as expandable as cPanel, adding new functionalities come at a server resource premium. DirectAdmin is generally more resource hungry. On the other hand, you can add as many plugins as you wish on cPanel without paying for it in terms of server resources. That’s not all; experienced users of cPanel can customize more options in the system.
DirectAdmin Vs. cPanel – Access & Usability
On your first login, DirectAdmin gives you the option of multiple menus; plus, it is not as overwhelming as cPanel. But, with cPanel, you will find most of the things that you need to get started right away. While things may seem overwhelming on your first login, cPanel usually split its features into categories for easy understanding. These categories include:
● Preferences
● Security
● Domains
● Files
● Logs
● And more
These categories are expandable and collapsible; as such, customizing the look of your panel would be easy. In fact, you can use the search function to search for any option or items under any of these categories. DirectAdmin, on the other hand, features only three main sections: Your Account, Advanced Features, as well as Email Management.
Final Thoughts
There is no clear winner when you compare cPanel and DirectAdmin. The reason is that cPanel is more expensive but has more features. On the other hand, DirectAdmin is cheaper and has fewer features.
Both of them are also great for beginners. They provide advanced customization options for experienced users. At this point, we believe you can differentiate between these two web host control panels.
If you are still in doubt, feel free to reach out to us, and we would be happy to help out.
Lastly, what was your experience using either cPanel or DirectAdmin? Let us know in the comments section.
Thanks for reading!