What is a control panel?
A control panel is a dashboard in your browser. You use it to manage your website, email, files and databases. It saves you from typing commands. Both Plesk and cPanel do this job.
Which one you get depends on your hosting plan. Ask Hostvento support what your plan includes.
Quick comparison
| Topic | cPanel | Plesk |
|---|---|---|
| Works on | Linux servers | Linux and Windows servers |
| Look | Many icons on one page, grouped by topic | Menu on the left, one screen per domain |
| Windows apps (ASP.NET, MS SQL) | Not supported | Supported on Windows servers |
| Website folder | public_html | httpdocs |
| One-click apps | Often through Softaculous | Through its Applications catalog or extensions |
| Learning curve | Easy and well known | Easy once you know the menu |
Things to think about
What does your website use?
If your site uses ASP.NET or MS SQL, you need a Windows server, so you need Plesk. For WordPress or PHP, both work well.
How do you like to work?
cPanel shows many tools as icons at once. Some people like this. Plesk groups tools under each domain. Some people find this tidier when they run many sites.
Do you run many sites?
Both can host many domains. Plesk has a clear per-domain view. cPanel uses addon domains for the same job.
Do you want extra tools?
Both have extras like backups, security tools and Git tools. Which ones you get depends on your plan and your host.
How to choose
- List what your site needs, such as the language it is written in.
- Check whether it needs Windows.
- Ask Hostvento which control panel your plan has.
- Try the one you get. The basic tasks are the same: upload files, add email, create databases.
Not sure what to pick? Open a support ticket and ask.
Quick recap
- Both panels manage sites, email, files and databases.
- cPanel runs on Linux only. Plesk runs on Linux and Windows.
- Pick Plesk if you need Windows features.
- For PHP or WordPress, either one works well.