Website hosting and management have become surprisingly accessible, even for non-technical users. A big reason for this is the widespread availability of cPanel hosting. In this article, we’ll break down everything you need to know about cPanel hosting, including its features, advantages, and even some potential drawbacks.
👍 Plus, we’ll introduce the best cPanel hosting providers to help you take advantage of this powerful tool for your website.
In this article, you’ll learn:
What Is cPanel Hosting?
cPanel hosting is a type of web hosting that uses the cPanel control panel software. cPanel is a web hosting control panel that makes it easy to perform common administrative tasks via a user-friendly dashboard. You can think of it as a central hub where you can control various aspects of your website without needing extensive technical knowledge.
What you can do with cPanel:
Here are some of the things that cPanel, and by extension all cPanel hosting providers, allow you to do:
- Upload, download, and manage website files through a built-in file manager.
- Set up and manage databases (like MySQL) to store website data.
- Create and manage email accounts for your domain.
- Customize your domain name system (DNS) records.
- Enable security features, such as SSL certificates and two-factor authentication.
- Configure and manage FTP accounts to allow you or others to access and manage website files.
- Install applications like WordPress, Joomla, or Drupal with a single click.
- Schedule and manage backups so that your website data is saved and can be restored in case of data loss or corruption.
- View and analyze website statistics, such as visitor data and bandwidth usage.
As you can see, the list of what cPanel can do is long, and the above-highlighted capabilities are not nearly exhaustive.
cPanel Email Migration:
💡 Good to Know:
If you wish to migrate your (or your customer’s) emails from an existing mail server to cPanel (or vice versa), we’ve got good news for you: With MailJerry, you can easily migrate emails from or to cPanel!
How to Migrate Emails to cPanel:
1. Download MailJerry or open the email migration tool in your browser.
2. Click on “New Migration” and enter the mail server address, username and password for the existing email account.
3. Now enter the credentials for the new email account you created in cPanel (email address, password and server address).
4. Click on “Check Settings” and wait until both mailboxes were checked.
5. Now click on “Start Migration” and wait until your email migration to cPanel is complete (or start another migration in the meantime).
Pros & Cons:
Advantages & Disadvantages of cPanel Hosting
While cPanel is a popular choice for web hosting, it’s not the only web hosting control panel software available. Alternatives like Plesk, DirectAdmin, CyberPanel, and CWP offer similar capabilities. To decide if cPanel is the right choice for you, it’s important to be aware of its advantages and disadvantages:
Advantages of cPanel Hosting:
✅ Convenience:
As we’ve already explained, cPanel makes it easy to manage various aspects of your website, such as managing files, setting up databases, and creating email accounts, even without extensive technical knowledge.
✅ Reliability:
cPanel has been around since 1996 and is widely used by web hosting providers, so it has a proven track record of stability and reliability.
✅ Wide support:
Due to its popularity, a vast majority of web hosting providers offer cPanel hosting plans. This gives you ample choice and flexibility when selecting a hosting solution that fits your budget and specific requirements.
Disadvantages of cPanel Hosting:
👎 Linux-only environment:
cPanel is designed to work exclusively with Linux-based web servers. This is guaranteed to be an insurmountable obstacle if you have a specific preference for Windows servers.
👎 Potential security vulnerabilities:
Like any software, cPanel can be susceptible to security vulnerabilities. While the developers actively address these issues, a year doesn’t go by without a cPanel vulnerability being disclosed.
Top 3
Best cPanel Hosting Provider
Now that you understand the strengths and limitations of cPanel hosting, you might be wondering: “Who offers the best cPanel hosting?”
➡️ To help you select a provider you won’t want to leave, we’ve researched currently available options and selected the best ones based on their reliability, performance, customer support, and affordability.
Top 1
Namecheap
💰 Pricing: Shared hosting plans start at just $1.48/mo for the first year (then $4.48).
Namecheap is not only one of the largest independent domain registrars in the world (it has over 17 million domains under management), but it’s also our favorite cPanel hosting service.
Beginners and those with modest web hosting needs can start with its affordably priced shared hosting plans. We recommend the Stellar Plus shared hosting plan ($2.38/mo for the first year and then $6.48/mo), which includes a domain name, unlimited websites, unmetered SSD, unlimited mailboxes, AutoBackup, and a website builder.
➡️ All shared hosting plans come with cPanel, which you can use to, among other things, deploy WordPress in seconds thanks to the provided Softaculous app installer.
🚨 All Namecheap customers get to enjoy 24/7 live support via live chat, and it rarely takes more than a few minutes for a customer support agent to become available. Unfortunately, phone support isn’t available. That said, you probably won’t need to contact customer support too often, as even Namecheap’s most affordable shared hosting plans offer great reliability and a 100% uptime guarantee.
Pros:
✅ Affordable pricing
✅ Free domain name with privacy protection
✅ Well-integrated cPanel with Softaculous app installer
✅ Many payment methods are available, including Bitcoin
✅ Fast and helpful customer support via live chat
Cons:
⛔️ No phone supportTop 2
A2 Hosting
💰 Pricing: Shared hosting plans start at $2.99/mo for the first year (then $8.99).
A2 Hosting is another popular web hosting provider that offers a range of hosting plans, including shared hosting, WordPress hosting, VPS hosting, and dedicated hosting. If Namecheap’s biggest downside, the lack of phone support, is a major turn-off for you, then A2 Hosting may just be the right choice for you.
🚨 One of the standout features of A2 Hosting is its extensive customer support options. You can choose between a live chat, a support ticket system, and a variety of phone numbers, including numbers for the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Singapore, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
💰 As far as web hosting plans go, A2 Hosting always offers very attractive introductory prices, but their renewal prices can be higher than some other providers. For example, their Drive shared hosting plan, which is comparable with Namecheap’s Stellar plan, starts at $5.99/mo but renews at $15.99/mo.
Pros:
✅ Broad range of cPanel plans to choose from
✅ Fantastic customer support via phone, live chat, and ticket system
✅ Unlimited storage and bandwidth on higher-tier shared plans
✅ Good introductory prices
Cons:
⛔️ Significantly higher renewal pricesTop 3
Bluehost
💰 Pricing: Shared hosting plans start at $2.95/mo for the first year (then $8.99).
Bluehost is often recognized as the best of the Newfold Digital-owned hosts (formerly Endurance International Group). Other members of Newfold Digital include Domain.com, FastDomain, Homestead, HostGator, or iPage, just to give a few examples. These hosting businesses share the same support agents, so it’s probably no surprise that they’re commonly criticized for the same reasons.
👍 So, what makes Bluehost different from the rest of the pack? Well, Bluehost has a long-standing reputation in the industry and is even recommended by WordPress.org as one of the best web hosting providers for WordPress websites. It also offers a range of professional services designed to help businesses enhance their online presence and maximize their digital strategies.
👎 Just know that Bluehost web hosting infrastructure is limited to a single location: the United States. This can be a problem if you want to target audiences in other regions, as the distance between your server and your visitors can affect website loading speeds and overall performance.
Pros:
✅ User-friendly interface and website builder
✅ Additional services, including SEO, PPC, and personalized web design
✅ Free domain name for the first year, SSL certificate, and CDN
✅ 24/7 customer support via phone, live chat, and support ticket
Cons:
⛔️ Servers only in the US (Utah
Summary
cPanel hosting is a great option for those who are seeking a user-friendly way to manage their websites because cPanel makes it easy to upload files, create databases, manage email accounts, and more.
Namecheap, A2 Hosting, and Bluehost are among the most popular providers offering reliable cPanel hosting solutions, but your options certainly don’t end there.
➡️ By considering factors like reliability, performance, customer support, and affordability, you can find the right cPanel hosting provider that aligns perfectly with your specific needs.
