Web Hosting Control Panels That Rock

Your control panel is the most important interface you’re going to work with when it comes to your hosting account.    From that single dashboard, you can oversee and manage every aspect of your hosting, from your domains to your email to your individual websites.

Simply put, a control panel “that rocks” will make your life easier.  A lame one can leave you doing extra work that you really shouldn’t be spending you time on.  Before signing up with a host, make sure that you know what kind of control panel they’re using.  If they’re using a proprietary one, ask if you can try it out for a couple of minutes to see how easy it will be to operate.

Most hosting companies, though, will be using one of the several industry-standard control panels, the most popular of which we list below.

cPanel. It has been the number one control panel used throughout the web for good reason: it has tons of features, offers easy operation and is inexpensive to boot.  If you’re going to purchase Linux hosting, you might as well look for one that offers cPanel on board.

Helm. Possibly the most popular control panel on Windows web hosting platforms, Helm has user-friendly features, along with some special functions you can’t find in similar interfaces.

Hosting Accelerator. This is a great control panel for seasoned webmasters who know their way around the servers but can prove a nightmare for newbies getting their feet wet in the game.  Many Windows hosting plans come with Hosting Accelerator as the default interface.

Interworx. With one of the cleanest dashboard interfaces you can find in hosting control panels, it’s a bit of surprise that Interworx hasn’t seen more adoption.  However, with such a formidable competitor in cPanel, this software will have to offer something insanely extraordinary to really hit it big.  If your host offers it, you might want to give it a whirl.

Plesk. A control panel that can work with both Linux and Windows web hosting, Plesk offers an XP-like interface as well as great integration with many critical features.  Adoption has been restricted due to its limiting cost.

H-Sphere. While not as thorough in features as Plesk or cPanel, H-Sphere offers some key features, including plenty of automation, that might make it a great choice for certain segments of the web hosting market.