What Indeed is cPanel Hosting?
For your information, it's good to be aware that most of the cPanel-based Hosting offerings on the present website hosting market are supplied by a very inconsiderable marketing niche (as far as yearly cash flow is concerned) called hosting reseller. Reseller web hosting is a kind of a small-size marketing niche, which generates a big amount of different web hosting brand names, yet supplying the very same services: mostly cPanel web hosting services. This is bad news for everyone. Why? Because at least ninety eight percent of the web hosting offers on the whole website hosting market furnish the very same solution: cPanel. There's no variety at all. Even the cPanel-based Hosting price tags are identical. Very identical. Leaving for those who need a top web hosting service virtually no other website hosting platform/website hosting CP choice. Thus, there is simply one fact: out of more than two hundred thousand website hosting brand names worldwide, the non-cPanel based ones are less than 2, remark that one...
Two hundred thousand "Hosting vendors", all cPanel-based, yet uniquely named
The Hosting "diversity" and the web hosting "offerings" Google presents to all of us boil down to just one solution: cPanel. Under hundreds of thousands of different web hosting trademarked names. Imagine you are simply an average chap who's not very well familiar with (as most of us) with the web page development processes and the web hosting platforms, which in fact power the individual domain names and web pages. Are you prepared to make your web hosting decision? Is there any hosting alternative you can opt for? Sure there is, nowadays there are more than 200k website hosting providers in existence. Formally. Then where is the problem? Here's where: more than 98% of these 200k+ unique web hosting brand names across the world will give you absolutely the same cPanel website hosting Control Panel and platform, labeled differently, with exactly the same price tags! WOW! That's how vast the variety on the present-day website hosting market is... Period.
The Hosting LOTTERY we are all part of
Simple math demonstrates that to choose a non-cPanel based web hosting company is a big stroke of luck. There is a less than 1 in 50 chance that an event like that will take place! Less than 1 in fifty...
The strengths and weaknesses of the cPanel Hosting solution
Let's not be pitiless with cPanel. At least, in the years 2001-2004 cPanel was fashionable and presumably met most website hosting industry demands. In brief, cPanel can achieve the desired result if you have just one domain name to host. But, if you have more domain names...
Negative Sign Number One: A foolish domain folder arrangement
If you have two or more domain names, though, be extremely careful not to remove entirely the add-on ones (that's how cPanel will refer to each next hosted domain, which is not the default one: an add-on domain name). The files of the add-on domain names are very easy to erase on the web server, because they all are set up into the root folder of the default domain name, which is the very famous public_html folder. Each add-on domain is a folder situated inside the folder of the default domain. Like a sub-folder. Next time attempt not to remove the files of the add-on domains, please. Examine for yourself how marvelous cPanel's domain name folder arrangement is:
public_html (here my-default-domain.com is placed)public_html/my-family (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/my-second-domain.com (an add-on domain)
public_html/my-second-wife (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/my-second-wife.net (an add-on domain)
public_html/my-third-domain.com (an add-on domain name)
public_html/my-third-wife (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/my-third-wife.net (an add-on domain name)
public_html/rebeka (a folder part of my-default-domain.com)
public_html/rebeka.my-third-wife.net (a sub-domain of an add-on domain name)
Are you getting baffled? We surely are!
Weak Side Number Two: The same email folder setup
The electronic mail folder configuration on the server is absolutely the same as that of the domain names... Making the very same error twice?!? The admin blokes strongly reinforce their faith in God when managing the e-mail folders on the electronic mail server, praying not to muck things up too gravely.
Weak Point No.3: A sheer lack of domain manipulation sections
Do we have to mention the absolute lack of a modern domain name administration platform - a location where you can: register/move/renew/park or manage domains, change domains' Whois info, shield the Whois info, change/set up nameservers (DNS) and DNS resource records? cPanel does not contain such a "contemporary" user interface at all. That's a great shortcoming. An unjustifiable one, we wish to point out...
Disadvantage Number Four: Many login locations (minimum 2, maximum 3)
How about the necessity for another login to make use of the invoice transaction, domain name and technical support management software? That's beside the cPanel login credentials you've been already supplied by the cPanel-based Hosting distributor. Sometimes, on the basis of the billing transaction system (especially intended for cPanel exclusively) the cPanel Hosting firm is availing of, the ardent customers can end up with 2 extra logins (1: the billing transaction/domain name management software platform; 2: the trouble ticket support menu), winding up with an aggregate of three login locations (counting cPanel).
Weak Point No.5: 120+ website hosting CP areas to get familiar with... rapidly
cPanel presents to your attention more than 120 departments inside the web hosting CP. It's a wonderful idea to become acquainted with each one of them. And you'd better pick them up swiftly... That's very impudent on cPanel's side.
With all due recognition, we have a rhetorical question for all cPanel-based Hosting suppliers:
As far as we know, it's not the year 2001, is it? Mark that one too...
| Regular | Advanced | Professional | Simple |
| Unlimited storage | Unlimited storage | Unlimited storage | Unlimited storage |
| Unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth | Unlimited bandwidth |
| 5 websites hosted | Unlimited websites hosted | Unlimited websites hosted | 1 website hosted |
| 30-Day Free Trial | 30-Day Free Trial | 30-Day Free Trial | 30-Day Free Trial |
| $8.33 / month | $12.50 / month | $20.83 / month | $7.50 / month |