cPanel

cPanel is a web hosting control panel for Linux servers, licensed per server by WebPros for cloud and VPS rather than shared hosting.

cPanel is a web hosting control panel for Linux servers, licensed per server, that gives a hosting company one place to create accounts, manage domains and hand every customer a panel of their own. It pairs two interfaces: cPanel for the site owner and WHM for the administrator who runs the machine. The product dates to 1997 and is owned by WebPros. It is sold as a licence for cloud and VPS servers rather than as hosting. WHM creates and suspends accounts, sets their limits, configures backups and manages DNS zones. cPanel puts file management, databases, mailboxes and subdomains in front of the end user. WP Toolkit installs and updates WordPress, Sitejet Builder covers sites built without a CMS, and AutoSSL issues and renews certificates. Malware scanning with ClamAV sits in the security tools, and self-guided migration tools bring accounts across from another server. The Meridian release adds AI-guided onboarding and an in-panel AI Assistant, servers can be connected to AI agents over MCP, and partners administer their licences in Manage2. cPanel is built for hosting providers, data centres and enterprise hosting operations that sell accounts on hardware they run themselves. Agencies and freelancers with a single cloud server use it to keep client sites apart without scripting server administration. Application developers and small dev shops get shell and Git access beside the graphical panel. A buyer takes one licence per server, and the tier follows how many accounts that server holds. In practice cPanel runs on a VPS or cloud instance at whichever provider the buyer already uses, and it sits beside WHMCS for provisioning and billing when that server is part of a hosting business. Day to day it is the tool for opening an account, pointing a domain, issuing a certificate, restoring a file from a backup and working out why mail is not being delivered. Migration services move existing accounts in, website monitoring watches the sites once they are live, and paid Extensions cover what the core panel leaves to third parties. A no-cost trial runs on a server before any licence is bought.