Where cPanel/WHM is strong
cPanel/WHM is a mature, widely deployed platform with years of production history, an established ecosystem, and teams who already know it well. If it fits your stack and budget today, that experience is valuable.
Compare
cPanel/WHM vs PanelConfig
The most widely deployed commercial hosting panel, paired with WHM for server administration. Here is how the two platforms approach the same hosting problems.
Respectful, factual comparison
6 areas compared
Verify against current vendor docs
Where PanelConfig differs
PanelConfig folds billing, security, automation, and a modern product interface into one per-server installation — PCAdmin for operators, PCUser for customers, PCCLI and a scoped API for automation, with an audit trail underneath all of it.
Side by side
Area-by-area comparison.
| Area | cPanel/WHM | PanelConfig |
|---|---|---|
| Licensing model | Account-based pricing tiers that grow with the number of hosted accounts. | Per-server plans with unlimited hosting accounts within your server resources. |
| Admin and customer separation | WHM for administrators, cPanel for customers. | PCAdmin for administrators and resellers, PCUser for hosting customers — the same proven split with a modern interface. |
| Billing | Typically paired with external billing software. | Native plans, subscriptions, invoices, payments, and license records built in. |
| Command line | WHM API and cPanel scripts. | PCCLI: one consistent pc command with an allowlist model and full audit logging. |
| Interface | A long-established interface with deep feature history. | A focused, modern layout with global search, quick actions, and resource visibility on every dashboard. |
| Operating systems | Primarily RHEL-family Linux. | Current Ubuntu LTS and Debian stable releases. |
Comparison reflects publicly documented product behavior at the time of writing. Verify details against each vendor's current documentation for your scenario.
What stays familiar
Switching shouldn't mean retraining your customers.
Same mental model
Accounts, domains, email, databases, SSL, backups, and cron live where hosting customers expect them.
Admin / customer split
PCAdmin and PCUser preserve the operator/customer separation providers rely on for support and security.
Terminal-first option
Everything an operator does in the panel has a PCCLI counterpart with the same permissions and audit trail.
Evaluating a move
How providers usually test PanelConfig.
1. Stand up a test server
One command on a fresh Ubuntu LTS or Debian VM gives you the full platform — panels, CLI, API, and billing.
2. Move one real site
Bring over a single account — files, database, DNS, email, SSL — and run it side by side with production.
3. Compare the operations
Walk your support and billing workflows in PCAdmin, then check the audit log to see every step recorded.
Evaluate PanelConfig on a test server.
One command on a fresh Ubuntu or Debian server gives you the full platform to compare hands-on.
$
Read the install guide
All comparisons
bash <(curl -sSL https://install.panelconfig.com/latest.sh)