A good web hosting control panel is crucial for managing your server and other hosted services. This is more so the case if you are using a VPS or dedicated server. A control panel that’s lacking in terms of functionality will leave you crippled and limit you from using your servers to the fullest extent. This is why we have put together a list of the best free web hosting control panels to help you out.
Why Use A Top Free Web Hosting Control Panel
Different web hosting providers offer different control panels for server and website management. One such popular control panel software is cPanel. However, it is a paid tool, and the hosting provider which offers it will either charge you extra or include its pricing in the hosting plans.
But with that being said, there are plenty of awesome free web hosting control panels out there which are functionally similar and can help you save a lot of money in the long run.
From server and database management to dedicated email clients, FTP clients, and much more, these control panels are backed with everything you need to maintain your web projects. Furthermore, if you run a dedicated server or VPS hosting, then you can install these control panels yourself without depending on what your hosting provider gives to you.
Our collection of the best free web hosting control panels will give you a lot of flexibility and options to properly manage your web projects. And so, without further ado, let’s get started:
Best Free Web Hosting Control Panels
1. CyberPanel
Starting off our list of the best free web hosting control panels, we have CyberPanel. It is a powerful, feature-packed cPanel powered by OpenLiteSpeed. There are a lot of powerful tools integrated into the system including a lightweight DNS server – PowerDNS, Rainloop Webmail, ModSecurity antivirus, FirewallD, and much more.
You will be able to auto-install your favorite CMS including WordPress and Joomla with a single click. And for the developers, the control panel comes with attached GIT repos to help deploy apps using GIT Webhooks. There is also a dedicated Command Line Terminal for users who prefer the option.
Features:
- Powered by OpenLiteSpeed.
- Get access to the powerful and lightweight PowerDNS server.
- Rainloop Webmail bundled in to help you send and receive emails.
- Comes with a custom Command Line Interface.
- ModSecurity, FirewallD and SpamAssassin integration for advanced cyber protection.
- MariaDB database server included.
- Auto-Installer for WordPress, Joomla, and Prestashop.
And much more.
2. ISPConfig
Next up on our list, we have the ISPConfig – a popular open-source control panel with over 40,000 downloads per month. It gives users access to a web-based interface fully equipped with all the necessary options and settings to handle much of the typical tasks. Attention is given to the UI to keep things as user-friendly as possible.
The control panel is ideal for multilingual VPS hosting as it supports over 20 language translations. On the technical side of things, you get access to Apache and NGINX integration for site routing and content hosting. On top of that, it comes with built-in tools to manage one or more servers and even mirrored clusters with relative ease.
Features:
- Powerful tools to help you with single and multi-server management tasks.
- OpenVZ virtual machine integrated for client-side.
- Built-in tiered access level for admins, resellers, and clients.
- Support for Apache and NGINX to handle site routing and content hosting.
- Dedicated Email server with support for SMTP Postfix, POP/IMAP.
- PureFTPD built-in to help with file transfers.
- Completely Open Source with a lot of documentation and enterprise-level support.
And much more.
3. Webmin
Webmin has become very popular over the years, thanks to its flexibility. Much like ISPConfig it is also an open source control panel, but also available in a commercial variant. The tool is filled with a wealth of modules that can help you with Server and Email management, domain handling, file transfers, and much more.
The UI is very sleek and modern with a focus on usability and intuitiveness. And much unlike the other entries on the list, Webmin is designed using the high-level dynamic Perl programming language. The control panel was originally designed to work on Unix based servers, but now also supports Windows.
Features:
- Dedicated web and email management system.
- Support for single and multiple server management.
- Designed using high-level dynamic Perl programming language.
- Virtualmin integration – a module for managing multiple virtual hosts.
- Tons of extensions available to add extra functionalities into the mix.
And much more.
4. CentOS
CentOS is another popular community-driven control panel with a focus on delivering a “robust open-source ecosystem.” It has been designed on top of Linux and supports CentOS/RHEL 6.x and CloudLinux distribution. As such, the tool comes in with tons of web hosting management tools and advanced features to give you extended control over the hosting environment.
Notable features include powerful security modules including CSF firewall, support for live monitoring, IP access control, automated backups, complete database management, and much more. You will also get access to a dedicated file system lock feature as an extra level of protection against hackers.
Features:
- A powerful Linux based control panel with support for CentOS/RHEL 6.x and CloudLinux distribution.
- Supports MySQL and phpMyAdmin panel.
- Comes with postfix, dovecot mailbox, and Roundcube interface to handle email management.
- Advanced security features including CSF firewall.
- Dedicated database management features and file system lockers.
And much more.
5. Vesta Control Panel
Vesta is another popular control panel up in the ranks with Webmin. It boasts a simple and lightweight body paired with an intuitive UI which makes it a solid control panel for your server management needs. It is an excellent option if you want a fast and snappy control panel to manage all your web hosting tasks. However, that doesn’t mean it’s lacking in terms of features.
You will get access to all the necessary options to help you create and manage your server functions, domains, and databases. It also comes with support for Apache and NGINX along with SSL protocol, SNI, and DKIM. It also has a powerful backup and restores functionality bundled in.
Features:
- Super lightweight and fast control panel.
- Apache and NGINX integration.
- Advanced security features including SpamAssassin and ClamAV antivirus.
- Dovecot email server and RoundCube email client bundled in.
- Comes with MySQL + phpMyAdmin and PostgreSQL + phpPgAdmin.
- Supports over 26 languages.
And much more.
6. Kloxo
Kloxo MR is a fork of Kloxo and boasts many additional bells and whistles to improve the UI and UX. It has a special niche following, thanks to its super-intuitive and easy to use UI along with NGINX web server support. Furthermore, it is designed to work with RedHat and CentOS – two very popular Linux Distros, which also adds to its popularity.
Some of its notable features include support for dual and multi-web servers, dedicated billing support through WHMCS, AWBS, and Hostbill integration, built-in database managers including phpMyAdmin, Adminer, MyWebSql and so on. You will also get support for several web clients to help you send and receive emails.
Features:
- Support for multiple web servers – NGINX, NGINX-proxy, Lighttpd-proxy, and so on.
- Offers support for dual and multi-web servers.
- Billing Support – AWBS, WHMCS, HostBill, BoxBilling, and many more.
- Built-in database managers – phpMyAdmin, Adminer, MyWebSql, and SqlBuddy.
- Supports several webmail clients like RoundCube, Rainloop, Squirrelmail, and so on.
- Designed to work with Redhat and CentOS.
And much more.
7. aaPanel
And for the final entry in our list of the best free web hosting control panels, we have aaPanel. It is also very popular, especially in the Asian market with over 2,100,000 server installations. The control panel gives you access to a super-intuitive GUI with user-friendly features including the option to one-click install LNMP/LAMP development environment.
It is designed to work with various Linux Distros, namely CentOS, Debian, and Ubuntu, and bundles in a lot of useful features including options to easily manage websites, databases, FTP accounts, and much more. It also offers a dedicated mail server and mail client to help you send and receive emails.
Features:
- All necessary features to help you manage your website, domain, database, and FTP accounts.
- Email server and email client bundled in.
- Easy one-click options to deploy various software.
- It comes with an LNMP/LAMP development environment.
- Inbuilt GUI with graphs and charts to help monitor server I/O.
- Advanced firewall built-in to provide extra security and protection.
- Dedicated file management and database management system.
- Works with various Linux Distros like Debian, Ubuntu, and CentOS.
And much more.
In Conclusion
So these were our picks for the best free web hosting control panels for managing your servers and websites. As you can see, we have made sure to include a variety of control panels that support different operating systems, comes with various database and server management tools, advanced security options, and dedicated email clients.
But with that being said, this by no means, is an exhaustive list of the best free web hosting control panels. As such, if you want to suggest your recommendations, then feel free to do so in the comments section. Your insights will be highly appreciated, and it might even help out a fellow reader.
That’s it! Now you may also want to check out this handpicked list of the 8 Best WordPress support and maintenance services to manage your WordPress website.