What Exactly is cPanel Web Hosting?
For your info, it's good to know that most of the cPanel-based Web Hosting offers on the contemporary web hosting market are furnished by a very insubstantial business niche (when it comes to annual cash flow) dubbed hosting reseller. Reseller hosting is a type of a small-scale marketing segment, which generates an immense quantity of different web hosting brand names, yet providing literally the same services: chiefly cPanel web hosting solutions. This is bad news for everyone. Why? Because of the fact that at least 98% of the web hosting offers on the whole website hosting marketplace provide the very same solution: cPanel. There's no variety at all. Even the cPanel Web Hosting price tags are identical. Very identical. Giving those who require a top web hosting service virtually no other web hosting platform/website hosting Control Panel alternative. So, there is only one fact: out of more than 200,000 website hosting brands in the world, the non-cPanel based ones are less than 2 percent! Less than 2%, mark that one...
200k "Web Hosting distributors", all cPanel-based, yet differently dubbed
The Web Hosting "variety" and the web hosting "offers" Google shows to all of us come down to merely one thing: cPanel. Under 100's of thousands of different web hosting trademarked names. Assume you are simply a normal person who's not very well acquainted with (as most of us) with the site making processes and the website hosting platforms, which in fact power the various domain names and sites. Are you prepared to make your web hosting pick? Is there any web hosting alternative you can select? Of course there is, at present there are more than 200k website hosting vendors in existence. Formally. Then where is the problem? Here's where: more than ninety eight percent of these 200,000+ unique website hosting brands across the world will give you absolutely the same cPanel web hosting CP and platform, named in a different way, with strictly the same price tags! WOW! That's how immense the diversity on the contemporary web hosting marketplace is... Full stop.
The Web Hosting LOTTO we are all participating in
Simple arithmetic reveals that to choose a non-cPanel based web hosting service provider is a big stroke of luck. There is a less than 1 in 50 chance that something like that will occur! Less than 1 in fifty...
The advantages and disadvantages of the cPanel-based Web Hosting solution
Let's not be cruel with cPanel. At least, in the years 2001-2004 cPanel was trendy and presumably met all website hosting industry preconditions. In short, cPanel can achieve the desired result if you have only one domain to host. But, if you have more domains...
Inconvenience Number 1: A stupid domain folder system
If you have 2 or more domains, however, be ultra careful not to remove entirely the add-on ones (that's how cPanel will refer to each next hosted domain name, which is not the default one: an add-on domain). The files of the add-on domain names are very simple to delete on the server, because they all are situated into the root folder of the default domain, which is the quite popular public_html folder. Each add-on domain name is a folder placed inside the folder of the default domain name. Like a sub-folder. Next time try not to delete the files of the add-on domains, please. Decide for yourself how fabulous cPanel's domain folder system is:
public_html (here my-default-domain.com is situated)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 name)
public_html/my-third-domain.com (an add-on domain)
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 perplexed? We surely are!
Weak Point Number 2: The very same email folder arrangement
The email folder structure on the hosting server is exactly the same as that of the domains... Repeating the same mistake twice?!? The sysadmin boys strongly strengthen their faith in God when handling the mail folders on the e-mail server, hoping not to bungle things up too irreparably.
Negative Sign Number Three: An utter shortage of domain manipulation options
Do we have to refer to the total absence of a contemporary domain management menu - a location where you can: register/relocate/renew/park or manage domain names, edit domains' Whois info, shield the Whois details, alter/set up nameservers (DNS) and Domain Name System records? cPanel does not include such a "contemporary" section at all. That's a big problem. An unforgettable one, we wish to add...
Disadvantage No.4: Multiple login locations (minimum two, maximum three)
How about the need for an additional login to access the invoicing, domain name and tech support administration interface? That's apart from the cPanel user account login credentials you've been already provided by the cPanel Web Hosting supplier. Now and then, on the basis of the invoicing transaction platform (particularly meant for cPanel solely) the cPanel Web Hosting provider is using, the keen customers can wind up with two extra logins (1: the billing transaction/domain administration platform; 2: the ticket support system), winding up with an aggregate of three login locations (counting cPanel).
Negative Side No.5: 120+ CP sections to become familiar with... quickly
cPanel presents to your attention more than 120 departments inside the Control Panel. It's a wonderful idea to memorize each and every one of them. And you'd better get familiar with them fast... That's extremely impudent on cPanel's side.
With all due recognition, we have a rhetorical question for all cPanel Web Hosting providers:
As far as we know, it's not the year 2001, is it? Remark 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 |
| C$8.37 / month | C$12.82 / month | C$17.58 / month | C$6.32 / month |