1. Direct Admin
It’s available for Linux and BSD systems. It is one of the easiest, fastest and most stable panels. Its interface is very user-friendly. Plus, it’s one of the cheapest as well.
All of the options are categorized and located on the top. This control panel also supports multiple access levels: Administrator, User, and Reseller. In addition, it has built-in anti-spam tools. Moreover, it is possible to view the complete usage statistics of each resource. Basically, it has a lot of options and features, such as DNS management, database creation, and management, reseller account creation and management, backup creation, file management etc. But the main peculiarity of this panel is its simplicity. You don’t have to be tech-savvy at all to understand and use it.
2. Webmin
This web panel is available for all Unix systems, including but not limited to BSD systems, all Linux and Solaris systems. Moreover, it is partially available for Windows OS. This means that it is possible to install Webmin on Windows, however, not all of the functions will be displayed.
It’s obvious that Webmin’s design cannot be called extremely user-friendly and simple, though, it is highly customizable. For example, it has an Apache web server to configure Apache directives and features. Furthermore, Webmin developers created several panels based on Webmin cPanel to match different purposes and hosting types:
- Usermin – web interface for managing emails, setting up mail filters and password etc;
- Cloudmin – the user interface for managing virtual servers;
- Virtualmin – used to manage multiple virtual hosts (like Plesk).
Webmin may not be as comfortable as other panels described in this article but it is absolutely free and can be installed on the majority of operating systems.
3. ISPmanager
It is a Linux-based control panel widely used among Eastern European hosting companies. Has a very simple and basic design but that does not make it less comfortable.
There are two versions of this web panel: Lite and Business. The first one, Lite, apart from other features that are more or less common for each panel, can be used for web-server management, creating users with different access levels, importing data from remote servers etc. Due to this, the Lite panel is mostly used for Dedicated and VPS servers. As for Business ISPmanager version, it’s better for shared or reseller hosting as it allows to manage multiple servers (clusters) and easily create and manage user accounts.
4. Core-admin
Core-Admin is a complete and extensible solution to manage your servers in a global manner. Now you will be able to connect your end users with your servers’ resources with a few clicks. At the same time, it will provide a global view of all your system while allowing you to manage instantly each server connected.
General features:
- Centralized design
- Powerful permission system
- Core-Admin ISP ready
- Powerful monitoring system
- BEEP and WebSocket ready
- Security options
- Integrated real-time log watching
- Integrated real-time file-system watching
- Connection security: TLS
- Lots of ready to use apps
- Extended browser support
- Integrated updating system
- Multilingual support
- Extensible platform!
5. InterWorx
InterWorx comes in two package versions: NodeWorx (to manage a server) and SiteWorx (to manage a site). InterWorx has a nice plugin system, which allows for quick installs of applications, much like the Softaculous web package manager. InterWorx also has a command line interface.
6. i-MSCP
i-MSCP is open-sourced and aims to be a good multi-server control panel for both personal and professional (i.e., hosting providers) usage. There is no one particularly outstanding facet of this web panel, but there is an active community around it.
7. Froxlor
Froxlor is an open-source web control panel with a very clean interface. There is IPv6 support, a ticketing system, and an integrated reseller-customer messaging system. It is ideal for ISPs and similar organizations.
Features:
- True Multistack
- Advanced SSL
- PHP-configuration
- Traffic calculation
- Themeable interface
- Manage reseller resources and limit
- API based
- Let's Encrypt
- MySQL management
- Directory protection & settings
- Quota management
8. Sentora
Sentora is a fork of ZPanel. This fork happened after Zpanel’s sale to a US-based company. Sentora brands itself as the “community version” of ZPanel. The team behind Sentora also offers subscription-based, premium support.
9. ZPanel
Zpanel (hasn’t been updated since March 3, 2014 and may no longer be maintained) is open-sourced and aims to be an “enterprise-class web hosting control panel with support for unlimited resellers.” The interface is compact and highly functional. Zpanel has support for many operating systems, including Linux, Windows, MacOS, and FreeBSD.
10. Ajenti
Ajenti is a Python-based web control panel system, which makes it stand out from all PHP-based panels. Its website claims there are more than 55,000 active users of Ajenti. The interface is very well-designed. Ajenti runs on various Linux distributions and FreeBSD.
11. BlueOnyx
BlueOnyx is an open-source web control panel that only runs on the CentOS and Scientific Linux distributions. In 2007 we forked the Sausalito code that so far had been maintained by BlueQuartz.org and in 2008 released BlueOnyx 5106R on CentOS5. Since then versions for CentOS6 and Scientific Linux 6 (both 32-bit and 64-bit) have followed. 5209R for CentOS 7 is the latest and most advanced version of BlueOnyx. Its interface may show its age a bit, but there is a good support for multi-user setups among many other features.
BlueOnyx 520XR (Chorizo) Features:
- Provides an enterprise Linux with control panel for virtual hosting (CentOS or Scientific Linux).
- IPv4, IPv6 and dual-stack support (BlueOnyx 5209R)
- Easy to install via provided ISO images.
- Includes preconfigured Apache, ProFTPd, Sendmail, Dovecot, MySQL/MariaDB, Mailman and more.
- Optional Nginx SSL proxy for HTTP/2 support included.
- Modern GUI interface with multiple access control levels to administer all aspects.
- GDPR (EU-DSGVO) tools included helping to comply with EU regulations.
- Reseller management to allow resellers to create virtual sites and users.
- Ability to host an unlimited amount of virtual sites, mailing lists and users.
- Each reseller, site admin and the end user has its own GUI access to manage his services.
- And much more...
12. CentOS Web Panel
CentOS Web Panel – a Free Web Hosting control panel designed for quick and easy management of (Dedicated & VPS) servers minus the chore and effort to use ssh console for every time you want to do something, offers a huge number of options and features for server management in its control panel package.
An open-source web panel for the CentOS Linux distribution. It has a solid feature set that can match most of the other web panels, though it lacks multi-server support.
Installation and Configuration characteristics:
– Apache Web Server (Mod Security + Automatic updated rules optional)
– PHP 5.6 (suPHP, SuExec + PHP version switcher)
– MySQL/MariaDB + phpMyAdmin
– Postfix + Dovecot + roundcube webmail (Antivirus, Spamassassin optional)
– CSF Firewall
– File System Lock (no more website hacking, all your files are locked from changes)
– Backups (optional)
– AutoFixer for server configuration
13. Virtualmin
Virtualmin is a uniquely powerful and flexible web server administration tool. It is unmatched in features and ease of use. It is a popular and open-source control panel offered in three product versions:
Virtualmin GPL is the core web control panel software with a solid feature set and a pleasant user interface. This product is also available in Webmin module form. Virtualmin offers four methods for managing your server: from the Web, mobile, command line, and through a remote HTTP API.
Virtualmin Professional makes it easier to install and update many other applications (e.g. WordPress, Joomla, Magento, NodeJS) and comes with commercial support.
Cloudmin Professional is a multi-server control panel based on Virtualmin, to enable the building of cloud services for use by enterprises and service providers. Cloudmin has support for Xen, vserver, Solaris Zones, and Amazon EC2 instances.
