Hi,
I've started a new hosting company, but I would like to know which software is better or that people like the most?

cPanel

or

DirectAdmin

Which one is more user friendly, etc..

Please give me your suggestions!
Thank you,
Pat

cPanel is more popular and has more features.

I've only ever used the demo on DA's site, but I'd love to have Direct Admin instead....unfortuanly I use what sells.

Also, this it the wrong forum...I've told a moderator and hopfully they'll move it for you :)

http://www.webhostingtalk.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=9

Moved to Hosting Software and ControlPanels.

Sorry about the wrong forum!

Be in no doubt that both are good control panels, and you should be fine whichever you choose. It really depends on your and your clients.

Although DirectAdmin is newer, it is still a good control panel and has lots of features. cPanel, of course, is cPanel and doesn’t need much further comment. Personally, out of the two, I like cPanel and also my clients prefer it.

However, if I were you, I’d also look into Plesk and InterWorx – both great control panels.

DirectAdmin is solid and reliable. They seem to be doing a good job keep plugging away with new little features and fixing odd bugs etc. One of our projects has 100s of new users and they love DirectAdmin as it's well thought out.

Originally posted by affordahost
cPanel .... has more features.


Like what?

To summarize:

DirectAdmin - Very stable, has very fews 'bugs'.
cPanel - More buggy, but has a lot more features and development going for it.

Far more potential customers will request cPanel than DirectAdmin.

I hate it when people say CPanel has more features than DA because of Fantastico...has anybody here heard of Installatron? Anything that is available in CPanel can easily be added into DA....Just my .02. I personally moved away from CPanel and am with DirectAdmin couldn't be happier :).

The only reason CPanel is highly requested is because when people think of control panel they think CPanel and they think that is the official CP of choice.

If you are going to use a FreeBSD server then stability wise nothing can compare with DA+FreeBSD.

Originally posted by Senad
I hate it when people say CPanel has more features than DA because of Fantastico...has anybody here heard of Installatron?

Joe Sixpack looking for cheap hosting hasn't. cPanel+Fantastico has a lot of "mindshare" at the moment because it has been around a while and a lot of people have experience of it.

Doesn't make it better, but it does make it easier to sell!

Don't you then think the problem may not be with the clients but maybe with the hosts themselves then? I mean it isn't the client that forces the host to offer the control panel after all.

Most clients, according to what you say dspillettt, are therefore uneducated in the purchase choices. Shouldn't hosts try to educate clients by offering a more stable product then? I mean in a way isn't it the hosts fault to teaching them about CPanel since so many choose to start off with it to make the quick buck here and there? As a host do you also want something less buggy and more reliable? So why on earth would you, as a host, choose a buggier CPanel over something more stable? Higher uptimes and support = Happier customers. All of my clients are very happy about DirectAdmin after we made the move and I haven't even installed installatron on there yet.

Been using cpanel for last 5 years, I'd say it's better, and I do actively look into other control panel from time to time.

Originally posted by Senad
Don't you then think the problem may not be with the clients but maybe with the hosts themselves then? I mean it isn't the client that forces the host to offer the control panel after all.

Chicken, meet egg. Egg, Chicken.

If the customer thinks he/she must have cPanel, many hosts would rather just sell them that than spend time extoling the virtues of an alternative.

There is also the factor of the hosting provider themselves being more familiar with cPanel form an admin/support point of view reducing retraining costs.

Essentially the same arguements that keep a lot of people using Windows rather than an alternative. Like it or not, it is the way many people think and that won't change overnight.

Obiviously it won't change overnight :D. I'm just saying that the industry itself sets the standards. Take for instance Gas Prices. Customers don't WANT to pay such high prices but yet companies don't care. IPOD doesn't have to be soo expensive but Apple likes money in their pocket. The only reason that people use windows is because currently the mass is not educated in regards to system administration and there is no competition. Like I always say, licenses should not only be given just for cars but for using computers as well after all :D.

In the Control Panel sense there is competition and customers are slowly being educated and moving away from just using CPanel.

I've used cPanel for quite some time and am very happy to have moved do DirectAdmin. It's a lot faster, less buggier, has good support and all of the essential features a user expects in a control panel. Also, the new skin is very pretty (check their demo). Unless you need some feature that cPanel has and DirectAdmin lacks, I'd recommend going with DirectAdmin.

I think alot of the problem is with the hosts, they advertise C-PANEL!!!! like it is the greatest thing since the wheel. I am in the midst of redesigning my page and I don't plan to make much mention of the control panel at all other than a page dedicated to explaining it (hsphere). Slathering cpanel and fantastico icons all over a page is just silly. I personally recommend choosing an option that is stable, secure, has add ons, and that you are comfortable administering.

If hsphere was not around I would choose direct admin in a second

Well I would just say, these days DA is getting more popular and many people are willingly migrating from cpanel to DA.

I guess this explains the story itself !