cPanel and Plesk price rises for 2027: prices and options
cPanel's prices rise on 16 December 2026, Plesk's on 1 January 2027: the published figures, the cost at 30 to 200 accounts, and per-server alternatives.
In this guide 7 sections
Both of the big commercial hosting panels have announced price rises for the coming year. cPanel's new prices take effect on 16 December 2026; Plesk's on 1 January 2027. This post lists the published figures, works out what they mean for a server with 30, 100 or 200 hosting accounts, and sets out the alternatives, including ours. Every number links to the vendor's own page.
What are cPanel's new prices?
cPanel's 2027 Store Licensing Guide, valid from 16 December 2026, and its customer FAQ give these monthly list prices for self-managed cloud and VPS licences, excluding VAT:
| Tier | Accounts | Today | From 16 December 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo | 1 | $29.99 | $32.99 |
| Admin | up to 5 | $35.99 | $38.99 |
| Pro | up to 30 | $53.99 | $58.99 |
| Premier | up to 100 | $69.99 | $76.99 |
| Each account above 100 | $0.49 | $0.55 |
cPanel says the new prices apply "for all new orders and for all existing cPanel accounts, subscriptions, and services that begin on December 16th, 2026", and that "Bulk Account pricing starts at the 101st cPanel Account at the price of fifty-five cents per additional cPanel Account". Partner (NOC) prices are set separately and are not public.
The same quarter, cPanel's documentation changed its Rocky Linux page to say cPanel can no longer be installed on Rocky Linux, leaving AlmaLinux, CloudLinux and Ubuntu 24.04 as the supported systems.
What are Plesk's new prices?
Plesk has not published the 2027 figures on its pricing page. Its FAQ says "The new pricing will come into effect on January 1st, 2027" and that it is "adjusting the pricing on all Plesk license-related products and select extensions", with "the exact increase" depending on the product. The pricing page currently shows a limited-time offer for new purchases until 1 December 2026:
| Edition (VPS licence) | Domains | Offer price until 1 December 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Web Admin | 10 (no customer accounts) | $15.57 a month |
| Web Pro | 30 | $27.49 a month |
| Web Host | unlimited | $57.74 a month |
A Plesk forum thread from 8 October 2026 quotes the renewal prices customers were sent for 2027 in pounds: Web Admin £17 to £19, Web Pro £30 to £34 and Web Host £63 to £74, which the poster puts at 12 to 17 per cent. Plesk's own FAQ gives no percentage, so treat those as one customer's figures.
Plesk's January 2026 change had already moved customers from annual to monthly billing, which, as a hosting news site put it, removed the possibility of locking in a yearly rate.
What does a server cost after the rise?
Licence only, per month, at list price, one server:
| Hosting accounts | cPanel today | cPanel from 16 Dec 2026 | Plesk today (VPS) | Vanta Panel |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $29.99 | $32.99 | $15.57 (Web Admin, no customer accounts) | $0 |
| 5 | $35.99 | $38.99 | $27.49 (Web Pro) | $5 |
| 30 | $53.99 | $58.99 | $27.49 (Web Pro, one domain each) | $10 |
| 100 | $69.99 | $76.99 | $57.74 (Web Host) | $10 |
| 200 | $118.99 | $131.99 | $57.74 (Web Host) | $10 |
| 500 | $265.99 | $296.99 | $57.74 (Web Host) | $10 |
cPanel at 200 accounts is Premier plus 100 bulk accounts: $76.99 + 100 × $0.55 = $131.99 a month from 16 December, or $1,583.88 a year, up from $1,427.88. Plesk counts domains rather than accounts, so a customer with two sites uses two of Web Pro's 30. Vanta Panel's Unlimited tier is $10 a month for any number of accounts and domains; the free tier covers one account and Basic covers five for $5.
What are the options?
Stay and budget for it. cPanel and Plesk are mature products your customers know. If the licence is a small share of what you charge, the rise may not be worth a migration. cPanel's annual billing still takes roughly 8 per cent off the monthly price on Solo, Admin and Pro.
Move to a panel that charges per server. Several panels have the same hosting stack as cPanel (a mail server, authoritative DNS, a login for every customer, a WHMCS module) without per-account pricing:
- Vanta Panel (ours): $10 a month per server for unlimited accounts, on Ubuntu or Debian, with mail, DNS, resellers, a first-party WHMCS module and a cPanel importer in the admin panel. Free for one account. Vanta Panel vs cPanel & WHM.
- DirectAdmin: $29 a month per server for unlimited accounts, on Red Hat-family Linux as well as Debian and Ubuntu, with a WHMCS module shipped by WHMCS and a cPanel conversion script. Vanta Panel vs DirectAdmin.
- HestiaCP: free and GPLv3, with a command-line cPanel importer; no WHMCS module of its own. Vanta Panel vs HestiaCP.
- Virtualmin: free GPL edition, Pro from $7.50 a month by domain count, with an importer for cPanel, Plesk and DirectAdmin backups. Vanta Panel vs Virtualmin.
The full comparison of twelve panels, with every price sourced and dated, is at the best cPanel alternatives.
Move between the two. Plesk Migrator imports accounts from cPanel 11.5 and later, so a cPanel shop that must have Windows or Plesk's extensions can move without rebuilding. There is no supported path the other way inside cPanel.
How do I move accounts off cPanel without downtime?
The method is the same for any panel with a cPanel importer:
- Lower the DNS TTLs on the domains you are moving a day ahead.
- Install the new panel on a fresh VPS and create a full cPanel backup of one account.
- Import the backup. In Vanta Panel this is vWHM → Import from cPanel; it recreates the Linux user, home directory, primary domain, databases, mailboxes and cron jobs, and never touches the old server.
- Test the site and mail against the new server using your hosts file.
- Point the A and MX records at the new server, issue SSL, and move the next account.
The migration guide covers what transfers and what does not.
Frequently asked questions
When do cPanel's new prices start?
On 16 December 2026, for new orders and for every existing subscription that renews on or after that date, according to cPanel's 2027 pricing FAQ and its Store Licensing Guide.
How much is cPanel going up?
Solo from $29.99 to $32.99, Admin from $35.99 to $38.99, Pro from $53.99 to $58.99 and Premier from $69.99 to $76.99 a month, and the charge for each account above 100 from $0.49 to $0.55.
When do Plesk's new prices start?
On 1 January 2027, for new orders and all renewals from that date, according to Plesk's pricing-adjustment FAQ. The exact increase per licence has not been published; a customer on Plesk's forum reported renewal quotes 12 to 17 per cent higher.
What is the cheapest alternative with the same features?
For a Linux server, Vanta Panel at $10 a month for unlimited accounts, with mail, DNS, resellers, WHMCS and a cPanel importer included; DirectAdmin at $29 is the most established commercial alternative; HestiaCP and Virtualmin GPL are free. Only Plesk runs on Windows.
Does switching panels mean my customers lose email?
Not if the new panel imports cPanel backups and you switch DNS after the mailboxes exist on the new server. Vanta Panel's importer recreates the account's mailboxes; move the MX record once you have tested delivery.
Sources
- cPanel Store Customer Licensing: 2027 Pricing FAQs
- cPanel Store Licensing Guide 2027 (PDF)
- cPanel pricing page
- cPanel system requirements: Rocky Linux
- Plesk Price Adjustment 2026–2027 FAQ
- Plesk pricing page
- Plesk forum: "I see the new inflated 2027 prices have arrived"
- Plesk Migrator: supported source platforms
- The best cPanel alternatives, compared
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