A cPanel alternative that lowers the licence bill
cPanel licences are priced per server and per account, and cPanel has announced another increase from 16 December 2026. ctapanel moves cPanel accounts to DirectAdmin or Plesk on your own servers, then manages every server, whichever panel it runs, from one screen. DirectAdmin Standard costs $29 a month per server with no account limit. cPanel Premier costs $69.99 for 100 accounts plus $0.49 for each account above that.
What the move saves per month.
Enter the number of servers and the average number of accounts per server. The calculation uses the store price of each licence tier and the smallest ctapanel plan that covers the fleet.
Keeping cPanel and adding ctapanel costs $501.45 a month. ctapanel adds fleet management; the licence saving comes from the move.
- Store prices in US dollars, excluding VAT, checked October 2026. Partner (NOC) licence prices differ, so compare with your own invoice.
- DirectAdmin bulk discounts (15% to 40% from four Standard licences) are not included, so the actual saving can be larger.
- cPanel counts accounts, not domains. DirectAdmin Personal Plus is limited to 20 domains and Lite to 50.
- ctapanel Solo covers three servers and has no team or reseller management. Team covers 15 servers.
Sources:cPanel Store pricingcPanel prices from 16 Dec 2026 (HostScore)DirectAdmin pricing
Four ways to cut the cPanel bill.
Moving every account is not the only option. Most fleets combine these paths, server by server.
- Largest saving
01Move accounts to DirectAdmin
DirectAdmin Standard has no account limit, so the per-account charge disappears. ctapanel packages each account with pkgacct on the cPanel server, and DirectAdmin’s own cPanel converter turns the package into a DirectAdmin backup and restores it. No SSH connection between the servers is needed.
- Plesk Migrator
02Move accounts to Plesk
Plesk Migrator on the target server pulls the accounts from cPanel over SSH. ctapanel adds a temporary key that only the target’s address can use, and removes it when the transfer ends or after six hours at most.
- No panel licence
03Run support servers without a panel
Application and backup storage servers host no customer accounts, so they need no cPanel licence. Connect them without a panel: services, firewall, files, the terminal and Node.js or Python apps are managed through the agent, and the server can store backups for the rest of the fleet.
- Mixed fleet
04Keep cPanel where it pays off
Servers whose customers rely on cPanel can stay on it. They sit in the same list as DirectAdmin, Plesk and panel-less servers, with one account search, one alert list and one audit log.
cPanel & WHM against DirectAdmin with ctapanel
The same daily work on both sides. Where DirectAdmin or ctapanel cannot match cPanel, the table says so.
| Capability | cPanel & WHM | DirectAdmin + ctapanel |
|---|---|---|
| Licence, 100+ accounts | Premier $69.99 a month per server, plus $0.49 for each account above 100 | DirectAdmin Standard $29 a month per server with unlimited accounts. ctapanel from $9 a month for the fleet. |
| Licence, up to 30 accounts | Pro $53.99 a month per server | DirectAdmin Lite $15 up to 10 accounts, Standard $29 above that |
| Several servers | One WHM interface per server | Managed in ctapanelEvery server in one list: cPanel, DirectAdmin, Plesk and servers without a panel |
| Accounts and packages | WHM account functions | Managed in ctapanelCreated, suspended and changed in ctapanel through the DirectAdmin API |
| Resellers | WHM Reseller Center | Managed in ctapanelReseller usage, limits and suspension in ctapanel |
| DNS zones | WHM DNS functions | Managed in ctapanelctapanel DNS zone editor, with Cloudflare records alongside |
| PHP versions | MultiPHP Manager | Managed in ctapanelPer-site PHP version and settings in ctapanel |
| Mail queue | Mail Queue Manager | Managed in ctapanelExim queue in ctapanel through the agent: deliver, freeze or delete |
| SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks | Email Deliverability | Not available on DirectAdminNot available: DirectAdmin offers no source for these checks |
| Brute force protection | cPHulk | Works with limitsBrute Force Monitor, read-only: blocks and thresholds stay in DirectAdmin |
| WAF state | ModSecurity in WHM | Not available on DirectAdminImunify360 only; ModSecurity state cannot be read on DirectAdmin |
| Node.js and Python apps | Application Manager (Passenger) | Works with limitsRun under systemd, without DirectAdmin integration |
| Backups | WHM Backup Configuration | Managed in ctapanelDirectAdmin admin-backup through ctapanel, to ctabox, S3, Google Drive, Dropbox or another server |
Managed in ctapanelWorks with limitsNot available on DirectAdmin
How a cPanel account moves to DirectAdmin
Both servers stay in your fleet and run the ctapanel agent. Each account moves as one package, and the transfer screen shows where each one stands.
Connect both servers
Add the cPanel server with a WHM API token and the DirectAdmin server with a login key, then install the agent on both. A transfer starts only when both agents are online.
Choose the accounts
Select up to 50 accounts per transfer. If the target already has the same username or main domain, the transfer is refused before anything is copied.
Package and upload
The source agent packages each account with pkgacct and uploads it through ctapanel in chunks. The package is checked against its SHA-256 sum and kept only while the transfer runs.
Convert and restore
On the DirectAdmin server, DirectAdmin’s own cPanel converter turns the package into a DirectAdmin backup, and DirectAdmin restores it as a user account.
Check, then switch DNS
Each account reports its own state and log line, and a failed account does not stop the others. Point the domain to the new server once the site checks out. Cloudflare records can be edited in ctapanel.
Before you start
- Both servers must be in your fleet with the agent installed. Imports from a cPanel host you do not control (remote panel, FTP or rsync) are not available yet.
- A server takes part in one transfer at a time. The next transfer waits until the current one closes.
- What the converter carries over is defined by DirectAdmin. Move one test account before moving a whole server.
The transfer as it runs
A cPanel to DirectAdmin transfer in ctapanel: the state of every account, the step the current account is on and the rule for failures.
- Accounts24
- Done15
- Moved38.4 GB
- Failed0
- pkgacct
- Upload · SHA-256
- cpanel_to_da
- DirectAdmin restore
One transfer per server at a time. A failed account keeps its log line, and the others continue.
When cPanel is still the better fit
A move pays off only if the target covers the work your customers rely on. In these cases, keeping cPanel on that server is the safer choice.
- Customers log in to cPanel themselves and rely on its interface, plugins and documentation.
- Node.js apps run through CloudLinux and Application Manager. On DirectAdmin they run under systemd, without panel integration.
- You need ctapanel’s SPF, DKIM and DMARC checks: they run on cPanel and Plesk servers, not on DirectAdmin.
- You manage brute force blocks and thresholds from ctapanel: this works through cPHulk and is read-only on DirectAdmin.
cPanel alternative questions
Q.01Is ctapanel a replacement for cPanel?
Not on its own. A server that hosts customer accounts still needs a hosting panel. ctapanel lets you choose that panel per server (cPanel, DirectAdmin or Plesk), moves accounts between them and manages all of them from one screen. Servers that host no customer accounts can run without a panel.
Q.02How much does moving from cPanel to DirectAdmin save?
It depends on the number of servers and accounts. A server with 150 accounts costs $94.49 a month on cPanel Premier and $29 on DirectAdmin Standard. For 5 such servers, including the ctapanel Team plan, the monthly difference is $298.45. The calculator on this page shows your own figures.
Q.03Can ctapanel move cPanel accounts to DirectAdmin?
Yes, between servers in your own fleet. Both servers need the ctapanel agent. The cPanel server packages each account with pkgacct, and DirectAdmin’s own converter restores it on the target. Up to 50 accounts go in one transfer, and each one reports its own state.
Q.04Do I need SSH access between the servers?
Not for DirectAdmin: packages travel through the ctapanel agents. For Plesk, Plesk Migrator connects to the cPanel server over SSH with a temporary key that ctapanel adds for the target’s address only and removes when the transfer ends.
Q.05Can I import accounts from a cPanel host I do not control?
Not yet. Today both servers must be connected to your ctapanel organisation with the agent installed. Imports from a remote panel, over FTP or with rsync are not available.
Q.06Is ctapanel affiliated with cPanel?
No. ctapanel is an independent product with no partnership with cPanel LLC, DirectAdmin or Plesk. Licence prices on this page are the vendors’ public store prices.
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