cPanel or Webuzo on your VPS: the differences that matter

VPS & Servers·· 15 views· 5 min read

The short answer: both are paid and are organised the same way: one panel for the server administrator and another for each account, with resellers. Choose cPanel if you want the same panel as our shared hosting and the standard your clients already know; choose Webuzo if the server is small (it starts with 1 GB, cPanel needs 2 GB), if you want Ubuntu 22.04 or Rocky Linux 8, or if you want to choose between Apache, Nginx and OpenLiteSpeed.

Side by side

What to compare cPanel and WHM Webuzo
Licence Paid. Solo Cloud (1 account), Admin Cloud (5), Pro Cloud (30) or Premier Cloud (100), when you order. Paid (the vendor gives a 15-day trial). Requested through a support ticket; not chosen when you order.
Systems you can order AlmaLinux 8 and 9 (9 recommended) and CloudLinux 8. Ubuntu only as 24.04, through a support ticket. Rocky Linux is no longer supported. AlmaLinux 8 and 9, Rocky Linux 8, CloudLinux 8, Ubuntu 20.04 and 22.04. Ubuntu 24.04 through a support ticket. Not Debian. SELinux off.
Web server Apache; NGINX can sit in front of Apache; LiteSpeed with a separate licence. Apache, Nginx, LiteSpeed or OpenLiteSpeed, or Nginx in front of Apache; switchable after install.
E-mail included Yes: Exim and Dovecot, with webmail. Yes: Exim and Dovecot (POP and IMAP), with SpamAssassin.
DNS Yes: its own nameserver (PowerDNS by default, or BIND; on Ubuntu, PowerDNS only). Yes: BIND, with DNS clustering.
Several accounts and reselling Yes: WHM creates cPanel accounts and resellers. The Solo licence serves 1 account, with no reselling. Yes: administrator, resellers and users, with plans and privileges.
WordPress WP Toolkit. WordPress Manager (install, update, staging, cloning) and Softaculous, with more than 350 applications.
Node.js and Python apps Application Manager: Node.js, Python and Ruby, through Phusion Passenger. Application Manager: Node.js, Python and Java, also through Passenger.
Backups In WHM: daily, weekly or monthly, compressed or incremental; on the server, over FTP, SFTP or Rsync, or on S3 and Google Drive. Scheduled and incremental, on the server or to S3, Google Drive, FTP and SFTP.
Minimum memory and disk 2 GB (4 GB recommended; 3 GB with ClamAV). Disk: 20 GB (40 GB recommended). 1 GB (2 GB recommended). Disk: 5 GB (10 GB recommended).
Learning curve Two interfaces: WHM for the server, cPanel for each account (the same as on our shared hosting). Two interfaces, as with cPanel: an admin panel and a user panel.
First login WHM at https://IP:2087, cPanel at :2083, webmail at :2096. Admin at https://IP:2005 (2004 without SSL), user panel at :2003 (2002 without SSL).

Choose cPanel if…

1 Your clients know cPanel, or come from our shared hosting: it is the same screen, with nothing to relearn.
2 You want Ruby as well as Node.js and Python in one manager: cPanel's Application Manager runs all three through Phusion Passenger.
3 You want incremental backups of the whole server, scheduled in WHM, to S3, Google Drive, SFTP or Rsync. How to install: installing cPanel and WHM.

Choose Webuzo if…

1 The server is short on memory. Webuzo needs 1 GB (2 GB recommended) and 5 GB of disk; cPanel needs 2 GB and 20 GB.
2 You want Ubuntu 22.04 or Rocky Linux 8. Of the systems offered at order time, cPanel runs only on AlmaLinux 8 and 9 and CloudLinux 8.
3 You want to choose the web server (Apache, Nginx or OpenLiteSpeed) or run Node.js, Python and Java apps through the Application Manager. How to install: installing Webuzo.
Webuzo has a converter that runs on the cPanel server itself: it uninstalls cPanel, installs Webuzo and converts domains, databases, mail, DNS, SSL and resellers, in 5 to 30 minutes. Take a full server backup first: if something goes wrong, that backup is the way back, because cPanel is already gone. It also imports accounts from another cPanel server (over SSH or through the API), but PostgreSQL and MongoDB databases move by hand, and mail in MDBOX format must be converted to MAILDIR in cPanel first. The reverse, from Webuzo to cPanel, is not in the cPanel documentation: expect to rebuild the accounts on a new server.
The cPanel licence is chosen when you order; the Webuzo licence is requested through a support ticket. For a licence bought from us, first-line help is ours, through a support ticket, and we escalate to the vendor. Both want a freshly installed system: the clean reinstall is also requested through a support ticket. Still weighing paid against free? See what the licence buys you, and all five panels in which panel to install.

Still torn between cPanel and Webuzo? Tell us the server size and how many accounts it will hold.

Open a support ticket

SEE ALSO

Installing cPanel and WHM on your VPS, step by step

Installing Webuzo on your VPS, step by step

Which control panel to install on your VPS: cPanel, Plesk, Webuzo, HestiaCP or CloudPanel

Free or paid control panel on your VPS: what the licence buys you

cPanel or Plesk on your VPS: the differences that matter

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