Are you looking for a Free Plesk Alternative?
Plesk is a widely popular control panel in the US. By capturing the 75-80 percent of the European market, Plesk is one of the topmost players among the hosting panel tools.
The Plesk has separate versions for Linux and Windows, and several editions, each one modified for the specific type of hosting.
In comparison between cPanel and Plesk, Plesk does have a cleaner interface. However, both of them have similar features and used by large organizations.
Small-Medium businesses use both cPanel and Plesk; however, if you are looking for free Plesk alternative, this list of free, open-source Plesk alternatives will help you.
NOTE:The Plesk or any Plesk Alternative is not an ideal option for an eCommerce store. Why?
Best Free Plesk Alternative:
Here are top 10 Plesk Alternative:
- Ajenti
- CentOS Web Panel
- Cloudron
- Froxlor
- iMSCP
- ISPConfig
- Sentora
- TinyCP
- Vesta Control Panel
- Webmin
1. Ajenti
Ajenti is an open-source control panel that can manage the different types of server and their management tasks. There are in-built functions in Ajenti to install packages, run commands, getting information such as RAM in use, disk space, bandwidth, etc.
Ajenti is web-based software and is accessible via a web browser.
There are several add-on packages to enhance functionality. One of them is Ajenti V that allows you to supervise multiple websites from one control panel.
Features of Ajenti:
- Clean Web Interface
- High performance
- GUI based on Google’sGoogle’s AngularJS
- Embedded webserver
- Single-page AJAX-based frontend
2. CentOS Web Panel
CentOS web panel is a free control panel made to quick and easy management of the servers. Instead of going around the SSH commands, the users can easily make changes and control the various elements of the hosting account from the dashboard.
Supported by an active community, the CentOS web panel is regularly updated open-source Plesk alternative.
Features of CentOS:
- Monitor the MySQL process live
- SSL certificate manager
- Hardware monitoring from the dashboard
- SPF & DKIM Integration
- Easy user management interface.
3. Cloudron
Cloudron makes the process of installing, managing, and securing web apps on your server easy.
After installing the Cloudron on the server of your choice (AWS, Digital Ocean, etc.), you can attach the domain name and start installing apps in few clicks. In the backend, the Cloudron automates the tasks of installing databases, DNS set up, and certificate management.
With a centralized way to manage users, you can specify which user gets access to what apps. Cloudron also has a backup solution to backup and restore each app individually.
Features of Cloudron:
- Different kind of User Accessibility
- Ability to modify the UI for the Brand
- Passwords for the Apps
- Import-Export option of the Apps
4. Froxlor
Foxlor is a light-weight server management panel but a powerful tool. It is written in PHP, free and open-source.
Froxlor is an amazing software for creating and managing shared web hosting servers. One of the problems is, there is no pre-installed LAMP, but that makes it very light-weight. It displays the Store dedicated HTTP, FTP, and Mail traffic and interactive graphs.
Froxlor also lets you install SSL security certificate in from Let’s Encrypt from within the dashboard.
Features of Froxlor:
- Different IP address and Port for each domain
- Separate php.ini file for each domain
- Support from Let’s Encrypt for SSL
- Quota for shared hosting
- Set a limit to multiple resources for Resellers and Customers
5. i-MSCP
i-MSCP is short for the Internet Multi Server Control panel helps in managing the hosting account on the Linux server for shared hosting providers.
This open-source Plesk alternative comes with plenty of modules for different services such as Dovecot, ProFTPd, Apache2, bind9, etc. However, the functions can be extended with the listener files or plugins using the event-based API.
The easy-to-use interface of the i-MSCP lets the users, including clients, resellers, and administrators, efficiently manage the servers, without any manual intervention.
Features of i-MSCP:
- External Mail Server support
- Remote SQL Server
- Plugins for frontend and backend
- Web-based UI
6. ISPConfig
ISPConfig 3 is another excellent Plesk alternative hosting panel for Linux. This tool is capable of managing multiple servers from one control panel.
ISPConfig is open source under the BSD license. The new responsive user interface is made of the Bootstrap framework. The responsive design of ISPConfig makes it accessible on phone devices.
Skim integration with ISPConfig allows the digital signing of the emails.
Features of ISPConfig:
- Manage multiple servers from one control panel
- One control panel manage multiple servers
- Web Server Management (Apache2 and Nginx)
- Management of Mail Servers
- DNS Server Management
- Administrator, reseller and client login
7. Sentora
Another fantastic Plesk Alternative is Sentora. It is free to download, open-source software, that means, free upgrades as well as the ability to extend and share.
The Sentora software can turn any server into an easy-to-use web hosting server. You can create a reseller account with Sentora, enabling your clients to resell the hosting you provide.
The users can create and manage any number of services, such as mailboxes and domains. Available in many languages, Sentora is available and recognized across the globe.
Designed for hosting and managing multiple clients on a single server, it is one of the best tools for setting up a shared hosting environment.
Its app-store has several modules that can improve its performance.
Features of Sentora:
- Multi-client environment
- Ability to set Quota for each client
- Multiple API integrations
- App stores have many modules
- Customization to replicate the Brand Image
8. TinyCP
TinyCP is a new control panel for managing Linux systems and is now only available for Debian/Ubuntu-based systems. The software is still in beta version and looking for suggestions to improve the software.
What makes it different from other Plesk Alternatives is its extremely light-weight.
Features of TinyCP:
- Domain management
- Multiple Server Management
- Cross-platform desktop application
- Separated client-side application.
9. Vesta Control Panel
Vesta Control Panel or VestaCP is a free web hosting control panel to managed multiple websites from one dashboard. The user can create and manage email accounts, FTP accounts, MySQL databases, and manage DNS records.
With a clean interface and support of the latest innovative technologies, Vesta CP is an excellent choice for novice users. It is so easy to use. Anyone can use it to manage the sites from the dashboard.
Features of Vesta Control Panel:
- Clean and simple graphical interface
- DKIM support feature
- Inbuilt Antivirus/Antispam
- Fast backups feature
10. Webmin
Webmin is web-based Plesk alternative software for Unix-like systems. You can setup user accounts, Apache, DNS, file sharing, and much more with a web browser.
Webmin makes it possible to configure operating system internals, such as users, disk quotas, services, or configuration files. You can also modify and control open-source apps, such as the Apache HTTP Server, PHP, or MySQL.
Features of Webmin:
- Faster Mobile user Interface
- Flexible design for branding
- Concise and readable system data
Standard Features of Control Panels:
Most of the control panels do have a similar set of features as they all perform the same functions.
Few of them would have few features less than the other or would have additional modules, but overall, they all work to achieve one target.
To let the users manage web apps and servers quickly and easily.
Few standard features of them are:
Domain Name management:
It is the feature that lets you add the domains you purchased to the apps installed on the hosting. DNS management works as the bridge between the hosting and domain names.
You can also create multiple sub-domains and manage all of them from here.
Email System management
Another primary feature that all the Plesk Alternative provides is Email Management function.
You can create, edit, delete, and manage the email accounts that can be accessed by the webmail or any other mail programs. Having mail after your domain is essential for branding.
Email management is vital for corporate mails.
FTP Management
The hosting web panel allows the admin to give various access permissions to each user. You can also set up quotas and passwords for each user.
FTP is used by the user that does not interact with CMS directly and use CMS to update the content of their site.
Database Management
Many web sites come with the database, like WordPress, Joomla, etc.
The web hosting panels have a separate space to manage these databases from the dashboard. So, the user doesn’t have to meddle through the backend to make changes in the tables.
Logfile Access and Reporting
All the web hosting panels do have metric tools to monitor the bandwidths, disk usage, and another memory-related aspect of the server and web apps.
The panel keeps records of all activities of the site. Users can access them at any time.
3rd Party Apps
You do not have to touch a single line of code to install a script or app on the server. The panel lets you install the packages in the one-click process.
Why Plesk and Plesk Alternative are not the ideal options for Online stores?
Plesk, or cPanel, or any other control panel for hosting works great for shared hosting providers, or WordPress blogs. But when it comes to running an online store, you need the security and manual monitoring of the server all the time.
For the eCommerce store, you need Managed Hosting.
With managed hosting, you will get high performance, total security, and fast loading speed for your site.
ServerGuy is helping eCommerce store in scaling their business with the dedicated managed hosting.
Be it WordPress or Magento, our dedicated team is only a message away. Contact Now.
Final Words
In this article, I mentioned the top 10 Plesk Alternative. The open-source web hosting panel solutions for server management.
However, don’t pick a random one from the list. You should analyze your requirements, and then see which one is most suitable for you.
If there is any questions or doubt, leave it in comments.
FAQs
Is there a free version of Plesk? ›
Plesk Web Admin Edition is FREE - best to manage a website for an employer, a business, or for yourself. You need simple website, domain and server management - without all of the additional overhead, like management of customers, resellers or subscriptions.
What is the best free cPanel? ›...
Following are some of the best cPanel alternatives:
- SPanel.
- Plesk.
- InterWorx.
- Cloudways.
- OviPanel.
- Cyberpanel.
- VestaCP.
- AaPanel.
Froxlor. If you like the open-source approach of WordPress and want to keep that line going through your hosting control panel, Froxlor is an excellent option as a cPanel alternative. The Froxlor interface. It's GPL-licensed, which means it's free to download and use on as many domains as you need.
What is alternative to cPanel hosting? ›Plesk is the best alternative to cPanel hosting. It has the same capabilities – graphical interface, multi-website management and a range of helpful features. Other alternatives to cPanel hosting include RunCloud, Interworx and DirectAdmin.
Is Plesk control panel free? ›Try Plesk For Free on Your Linux or Windows Server.
Is Plesk free on Lightsail? ›Plesk Hosting Stack on Ubuntu is available starting with the 10-dollar per month Lightsail plan. Under “Name your instance”, give your instance a recognizable name and specify the number of instances you want to deploy. Click Create instance. You have created the Plesk instance on Lightsail.
Which free hosting is best? ›- InfinityFree.
- Wix.
- ByetHost.
- HyperPHP.
- 000WebHost.
- Google Cloud Hosting.
- AwardSpace.
- Freehostia.
1. 000webhost. 000webhost, powered by Hostinger, is also one of the most popular free web hosting providers. In 000webhost free hosting, you will get a cPanel, a WordPress auto-installer, a website builder tool, etc.
Can cPanel be hacked? ›cPanel is the most secure hosting panel on the market, but without proper safety measures and settings, it can be vulnerable to attacks. The article goes over the following important questions: How Does cPanel Hack Look for Clients?
What is the difference between cPanel and Plesk? ›Plesk ONYX vs cPanel 2023 Market Share
cPanel creates a domain every 6 seconds and a hosting account every 14.5 seconds. cPanel is used by 7.3% of all the websites. More than 50% of the top 100 worldwide service providers use the Plesk control panel. It powers more than 10 million websites and applications.
Can I install cPanel for free? ›
cPanel is not free. However, test licenses are available for new users. For information about a test license, please e-mail cs@cpanel.net.
What is the best cPanel hosting? ›- HostGator: Best Overall cPanel Hosting.
- Bluehost: Best for WordPress Users.
- DreamHost: Best for Monthly Pricing.
- MochaHost: Best for a Lifetime Discount.
- InMotion: Best for Multiple Websites.
- TMDHosting:Best for a Full-Featured, Low-Cost Plan.
- GoDaddy: Best for À La Carte Features.
- Bluehost. Most popular multi-domain hosting with over 2M+ users worldwide. ...
- Hostinger. Most affordable multi-domain hosting. ...
- InMotion Hosting. Best performance-oriented hosting provider to host multiple websites. ...
- SiteGround. ...
- iPage. ...
- HostGator. ...
- A2 Hosting. ...
- WebHostFace.
- Hostinger – best and most reliable hosting for beginners.
- SiteGround – hosting for beginners with excellent performance.
- HostGator – beginner-friendly and wallet-friendly hosting.
- Bluehost – hosting for beginners with an intuitive interface.
hPanel is a user-friendly and intuitive control panel available exclusively with Hostinger's shared and cloud hosting plans. On the other hand, cPanel is a popular web hosting control panel. This video compares the two control panels' customer support and features.
Is Plesk a Russian company? ›It was developed by Plesk International GmbH, a company with headquarters in Toronto, Canada, and Schaffhausen, Switzerland, and offices in Barcelona, Spain, Cologne, Germany, Tokyo, Japan, and in the Siberian city of Novosibirsk, Russia, where it was originally created in 2000 by Dimitri Simonenko.
How do I install free Plesk? ›- Log In to Plesk for the First Time.
- Plesk Onyx 17.5.
- Choose the Interface Type.
- Configure the Server Hostname and IP Address.
- Change the Plesk Administrator Account Password.
- Enter the Plesk Administrator Information.
- Accept the End User Agreement.
- Install a Product License Key.
Note: The WordPress Toolkit extension is free with the Web Pro and the Web Host Plesk editions and is available for a fee for the Web Admin edition.
Is Lightsail good for Web Hosting? ›Lightsail is best suited for projects that require a few virtual private servers and users who prefer a simple management interface. Common use cases for Lightsail include running websites, web applications, blogs, e-commerce sites, simple software, and more.
Is Lightsail expensive? ›Lightsail containers cost significantly more for the raw resources. The basic container service costs $7 per month for one-quarter virtual CPU with 512 MB of RAM and goes up to $160 per month for four vCPUs with 8 GB of RAM. An equivalent EC2 instance is $6.25 on the low end and $127 on the high end.
Is Lightsail fast? ›
Lightsail is fast, simple to use, easy to manage, cheap and scalable. We recommend it, especially if you already use AWS or if you think you will require any of their services in the future. It's fast, easy and painless. Very low!
What is the number 1 website hosting? ›1. Bluehost (www.bluehost.com) Bluehost is one of the most popular web hosting companies on the web, catering their services to different users with different websites and goals. For instance, if you're a beginner with not much money to spend, you can get a Bluehost plan for as low as $2.75 / month.
How can I completely host my website for free? ›- Create a GitHub account.
- Create a code repository.
- Upload your website files to your code repository.
- View your website online.
Registration services, such as Dot TK and Freenom, offer free domain names, and they'll get the job done provided that you don't mind a funky-looking URL extension. Web hosts, such as Hostgator and Squarespace, let you grab a free domain name, too, but with time-centric limitations.
Is Google web hosting free? ›Technically, Google does not provide free hosting solutions, but they do provide a Platform As A Service (PAAS) known as Google App Engine (GAE). This tutorial uses App Engine's 'Static files' feature to host a static HTML-CSS website on GAE's servers.
Is there a free web hosting company? ›x10Hosting is the free version of x10Premium and offers one of the few free web hosting services that give you ad-free websites with unlimited storage and bandwidth. x10's free plan includes a user-friendly website builder with more than 150 free templates, including e-commerce store designs.
Is Wix really free hosting? ›Wix gives you everything you need to create a stunning website, including free web hosting. You can choose to get even more benefits and features by upgrading to one of our Premium plans.
What code do hackers use? ›- Bash. UNIX and Linux operating systems come with Shell (SH) and the Bourne Again Shell (Bash) by default. ...
- C. ...
- C++ ...
- Java. ...
- JavaScript. ...
- Perl. ...
- PHP. ...
- Python.
Some of the warning signs that you've been hacked include:
You receive emails or text messages about login attempts, password resets, or two-factor authentication (2FA) codes that you didn't request. You see logins from devices and locations you don't recognize in your account activity or sign-in logs.
Some of the most famous hacking tools in the market are Nmap (Network Mapper), Nessus, Nikto, Kismet, NetStumbler, Acunetix, Netsparker, and Intruder, Nmap, Metasploit, Aircrack-Ng, etc.
Is GoDaddy cPanel free? ›
PRO TIP: No, cPanel is not free on GoDaddy. You will be charged a monthly fee for using cPanel on your GoDaddy account. The paid for service offers more features and control over your hosting environment. Overall, cPanel is a good control panel for hosting websites and email servers.
Which is better DirectAdmin or cPanel or Plesk? ›Both cPanel and Plesk offer more features than DirectAdmin in terms of functionality, user interface, and security. So, when it comes to choosing between cPanel and DirectAdmin for your Linux-based system, cPanel wins the game. But, if you are a beginner and budget is a constraint, you could think about DirectAdmin.
Can you run cPanel on Windows? ›Can I use cPanel on Windows? While cPanel can be accessed from any web browser with an internet connection, a server running cPanel can only be set up on a CentOS 7 or CloudLinux machine. cPanel is not supported on a Windows Server or any other Linux distro.
Can I create my own cPanel? ›Creating a cPanel
Click the icon Create a New Account. Under Domain Information enter the domain, username, password (twice) and the contact email address. In the Package section select the package your have already created. Settings is where the theme and language of the cPanel can be set.
1-2 GB of RAM
Around 2GB is sufficient for a small web hosting server. This could include running cPanel, Plesk, MySQL, LiteSpeed or Apache and the typical monitoring scripts and firewalls.
cPanel is the control panel used by the end users under a reseller of hosting provider. It is used by customers to manage their own hosting accounts. WHM provides resellers with root level access. cPanel only provides access to web hosting account on the server to its users.
Does GoDaddy still use cPanel? ›Most hosting services, including GoDaddy, make the WordPress installer available through your cPanel dashboard. These are the steps to an easy install: Log in to cPanel.
Which hosting is best in 2022? ›Bluehost is our pick of the best web hosting services (opens in new tab), thanks to excellent tools and features across competitively-priced packages. High reliability, excellent scalability, knowledgeable and responsive customer service and support, and a 60-day money-back guarantee all ensure that it ranks first.
How much does it cost to host with cPanel? ›Pricing will vary based on usage: 0 to 5 Accounts: Included (no fee) 6 to 30 Accounts: $10.40/mo. 31 to 50 Accounts: $14.30/mo.
What are the 3 types of web hosting? ›- Dedicated hosting: A dedicated server signifies that you rent the entire web server where your website lives. ...
- Cloud hosting: Cloud hosting involves a virtual server composed of other singular web servers. ...
- Shared hosting: Shared hosting plans are the most common of these types of hosting.
What is the most affordable type of web hosting? ›
- Hostinger.
- Bluehost.
- A2 Hosting.
- SiteGround.
- DreamHost.
- HostGator.
- InMotion Hosting.
- #1 Bluehost.
- #1 HostGator.
- #1 SiteGround.
- #4 Hostinger.
- #4 A2 Hosting.
- #4 Ionos.
- #4 DreamHost.
- #8 GreenGeeks Web Hosting.
If you are planning to manage your single website or server via the VPS hosting plan, then 1GB to 2GB of RAM should be sufficient for your needs.
Why is Hostinger the best? ›They offer affordable hosting, 24/7 live chat support, and a robust platform to host your website. Hostinger comes with automatic 1-click WordPress install, managed automatic updates, enhanced security, free CDN, WordPress speed acceleration, and free site migration.
Is Hostinger better than WordPress? ›Conclusion. Overall, Hostinger is a strong choice for both experienced WordPress developers and newbies. It offers fast speeds and knowledgeable customer support. However, while its performance is solid overall, you may experience performance blips now and again on heavy-traffic sites.
Is cPanel necessary for hosting? ›cPanel is important because it lets you access many hosting features and configurations without the need of technical knowledge. cPanel allows non-savvy users to manage their websites, domains, emails and other aspects of their hosting account.
What happens when Plesk license expires? ›After you install Plesk, a trial license key for 14 days is installed by default. To continue using Plesk after the trial license key expires, you should obtain a lease license key or purchase a permanent license key.
What is the difference between Plesk and cPanel? ›The main difference between Plesk and cPanel lies in their user interface and web servers they support. Plesk user interface is similar to the WordPress admin panel and supports both Linux & Windows servers. cPanel has a graphical interface and is compatible with only Linux web servers.
How do I get a Plesk license? ›To get a paid license key, go to the Plesk online store (shop.plesk.com), select, and then purchase a necessary license key. Once you purchase the key, you will receive an activation email with your activation code.
How much RAM does Plesk use? ›The minimum amount of RAM required for installing and running Plesk on Linux is 1 GB + 1 GB swap. On Windows – 2 GB of RAM.
Why do people use Plesk? ›
Plesk will save time and money as it makes the daily tasks of managing a server easy. The automation with Plesk will cut time in website, email, and database management. All extensions are “1-click” installs.
Is Plesk easy to use? ›Being from the healthcare industry Plesk provides an easy to use interface for managing and configuring websites, applications, and databases.
Which cPanel is best? ›- HostGator: Best Overall cPanel Hosting.
- Bluehost: Best for WordPress Users.
- DreamHost: Best for Monthly Pricing.
- MochaHost: Best for a Lifetime Discount.
- InMotion: Best for Multiple Websites.
- TMDHosting:Best for a Full-Featured, Low-Cost Plan.
- GoDaddy: Best for À La Carte Features.
One-click installation is a fast and hassle-free way of getting a Plesk server with default configuration up and running.
Is WordPress free on Plesk? ›Note: The WordPress Toolkit extension is free with the Web Pro and the Web Host Plesk editions and is available for a fee for the Web Admin edition.
What OS does Plesk run on? ›Plesk only supports Debian and Ubuntu servers running the systemd init system. Compatibility with sysvinit has not been tested and is not guaranteed. Plesk supports Debian 11, however, a number of limitations exist. You can use the dist-upgrade procedure to upgrade your OS from Debian 10 to Debian 11.
Does Plesk have a firewall? ›The firewall component allows you to protect a server from incoming network connections that could be used to compromise the server's security.
What database does Plesk use? ›Plesk for Windows supports the following database servers: MariaDB, Microsoft SQL, and MySQL. MariaDB is installed by default and is used for the Plesk database and for customers' websites. Various versions of Microsoft SQL Server are shipped with Plesk by default.