The cPanel alternative that costs $10 a server.
Vanta Panel is a self-hosted cPanel/WHM alternative that you install on your own Ubuntu or Debian VPS with one command. It keeps the two-panel model cPanel users know (vWHM for the admin, vPanel for each customer) but charges $10 per server for unlimited accounts instead of $0.49 per account above 100.
Free for 1 account no card no trial clock
curl -fsSL https://get.vantapanel.com | sudo bashSide by side
How does Vanta Panel compare with cPanel and the others?
Vanta Panel matches cPanel & WHM on the hosting stack (a mail server, authoritative DNS, private nameservers and a login for every customer) at $10 a month instead of $118.99 for 200 accounts. HestiaCP has the same stack for free; CloudPanel and RunCloud are deploy tools without mail or authoritative DNS.
| Capability | Vanta Panel | cPanel & WHM | HestiaCP | CloudPanel | RunCloud |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price per server, per month | |||||
| Pricing model | Flat per server: Free, $5 or $10 a month; never per accountDetails: Vanta Panel, Pricing model | Per-server licence priced by account count; $0.49 per account above 100Source: cPanel & WHM, Pricing model | Free; the project relies on donationsSource: HestiaCP, Pricing model | FreeSource: CloudPanel, Pricing model | SaaS subscription by number of servers managed; unlimited web applications, no per-account feeSource: RunCloud, Pricing model |
| Licence at 30 accounts | $10/mo (Unlimited)Details: Vanta Panel, Licence at 30 accounts | $53.99/mo (Pro)Source: cPanel & WHM, Licence at 30 accounts | $0Source: HestiaCP, Licence at 30 accounts | $0Source: CloudPanel, Licence at 30 accounts | $9/mo (Essentials, 1 server)Note 1Source: RunCloud, Licence at 30 accounts |
| Licence at 200 accounts | $10/mo (Unlimited)Details: Vanta Panel, Licence at 200 accounts | $118.99/mo (Premier $69.99 + 100 x $0.49)Source: cPanel & WHM, Licence at 200 accounts | $0Source: HestiaCP, Licence at 200 accounts | $0Source: CloudPanel, Licence at 200 accounts | $9/mo (Essentials, 1 server)Note 1Source: RunCloud, Licence at 200 accounts |
| Hosting stack | |||||
| Mail server and webmail | Yes: Postfix and Dovecot, with Roundcube webmailDocs: Vanta Panel, Mail server and webmail | Yes: Exim and DovecotSource: cPanel & WHM, Mail server and webmail | Yes: Exim 4 and Dovecot, with Roundcube webmailSource: HestiaCP, Mail server and webmail | No: CloudPanel doesn’t provide e-mailSource: CloudPanel, Mail server and webmail | No: RunCloud does not provide email hostingSource: RunCloud, Mail server and webmail |
| Authoritative DNS server | Yes: PowerDNS on your server, with a zone editorDocs: Vanta Panel, Authoritative DNS server | Yes: PowerDNS (the default) or BIND (BIND is not available on Ubuntu)Source: cPanel & WHM, Authoritative DNS server | Yes: its own DNS server (BIND), with DNS clusters and DNSSECSource: HestiaCP, Authoritative DNS server | No: there is no DNS server in CloudPanel’s technology stackSource: CloudPanel, Authoritative DNS server | No DNS server: its DNS Manager edits zones on Cloudflare (Cloudflare DNS integration from the Business plan)Source: RunCloud, Authoritative DNS server |
| Private nameservers on your brand | Yes: ns1 and ns2 on your own brand, answering from your VPSDocs: Vanta Panel, Private nameservers on your brand | Yes: the server’s own nameservers are set in WHM Basic WebHost Manager SetupSource: cPanel & WHM, Private nameservers on your brand | Yes: “Create your own nameservers” (child-ns zone template)Source: HestiaCP, Private nameservers on your brand | No: with no DNS server there is nothing to answer for ns1/ns2Source: CloudPanel, Private nameservers on your brand | No: zones use the nameservers Cloudflare assignsSource: RunCloud, Private nameservers on your brand |
| Free SSL | Yes: Let’s Encrypt on every domain, renewed automaticallyDocs: Vanta Panel, Free SSL | Yes: SSL certificates are included in every planSource: cPanel & WHM, Free SSL | Yes: Let’s Encrypt for web and mail domainsSource: HestiaCP, Free SSL | Yes: Let’s Encrypt in one click, renewed automaticallySource: CloudPanel, Free SSL | Yes: 1-click Let’s Encrypt certificates on every planSource: RunCloud, Free SSL |
| Business | |||||
| A panel your hosting customers log into | Yes: vPanel, a login for every hosting accountDocs: Vanta Panel, A panel your hosting customers log into | Yes: each account has its own cPanel loginSource: cPanel & WHM, A panel your hosting customers log into | Yes: each user has their own control panel loginSource: HestiaCP, A panel your hosting customers log into | Partial: Admin, Site Manager and User roles; a User sees only the sites assigned to itSource: CloudPanel, A panel your hosting customers log into | Partial: team members, clients included, get permissioned access to servers in RunCloud’s dashboard; team seats from the Business planNote 2Source: RunCloud, A panel your hosting customers log into |
| WHMCS provisioning module | Yes: first-party and free, on every tierDetails: Vanta Panel, WHMCS provisioning module | Yes: WHMCS ships a cPanel server module (create, suspend, unsuspend, terminate, change package)Source: cPanel & WHM, WHMCS provisioning module | No HestiaCP module of its own: a forum admin points to the legacy VestaCP module, and users share community modulesNote 3Source: HestiaCP, WHMCS provisioning module | No official module: a WHMCS module or API is an open request on its feature boardNote 4Source: CloudPanel, WHMCS provisioning module | No module in the current plans; WHMCS integration is announced for RunCloud Arch (waitlist)Source: RunCloud, WHMCS provisioning module |
| Import cPanel accounts | Yes: Import from cPanel, a screen in vWHMDocs: Vanta Panel, Import cPanel accounts | Not applicable: this is cPanel | Yes, from the command line: v-import-cpanel restores a cPanel backup as a new userSource: HestiaCP, Import cPanel accounts | Not verified | No importerSource: RunCloud, Import cPanel accounts |
| Openness | |||||
| Where it runs | Self-hosted on your own VPS; sites, mail and DNS keep serving if a licence lapsesDetails: Vanta Panel, Where it runs | Self-hosted on your server, against a licence cPanel verifies; if the licence expires, mail clients can no longer authenticateSource: cPanel & WHM, Where it runs | Self-hosted: an install script on a fresh serverSource: HestiaCP, Where it runs | Self-hosted: an installer runs on your server; activation needs a CloudPanel user account tied to the server IDSource: CloudPanel, Where it runs | SaaS: the dashboard is run by RunCloud; an agent is installed on your serverSource: RunCloud, Where it runs |
| Licence and source | Commercial licence; the panel is PHP source on your own server, not OSI open sourceDetails: Vanta Panel, Licence and source | Proprietary, commercial (cPanel & WHM End User License Agreement)Source: cPanel & WHM, Licence and source | Open source (GPLv3)Source: HestiaCP, Licence and source | Proprietary freeware: MGT-COMMERCE licence terms; the source code is a trade secret, not open sourceSource: CloudPanel, Licence and source | Proprietary SaaS subscriptionSource: RunCloud, Licence and source |
Notes
Note 1, RunCloud: RunCloud does not count hosting accounts: Essentials covers one server with unlimited web applications. Team seats, which is how clients get a login, start on the Business plan ($49/mo). Back to: RunCloud, Licence at 30 accounts, RunCloud, Licence at 200 accounts
Note 2, RunCloud: A white-label customer dashboard is announced for RunCloud Arch (waitlist). Back to the table: RunCloud, A panel your hosting customers log into
Note 3, HestiaCP: Hestia’s REST API docs say the API is used “to integrate the WHMCS billing system”. WHMCS’s own server-module list has no HestiaCP entry. Third-party modules exist, for example PUQ’s HestiaCP provisioning module on the WHMCS Marketplace, sold under a commercial licence. Back to the table: HestiaCP, WHMCS provisioning module
Note 4, CloudPanel: WHMCS’s own server-module list has no CloudPanel entry. Back to the table: CloudPanel, WHMCS provisioning module
The full table, with runtimes Vanta Panel vs HestiaCP Vanta Panel vs CloudPanel
Where each one wins
When should you pick cPanel, HestiaCP, CloudPanel or RunCloud instead?
A comparison that never concedes anything is one nobody believes. cPanel is the panel your customers already know, HestiaCP costs nothing and is open source, and CloudPanel and RunCloud are lighter if you host only your own apps. Vanta Panel is the pick when you sell hosting and want one flat price per server.
Pick cPanel & WHM if…
- Your customers or support staff ask for cPanel by name
- You run AlmaLinux, CloudLinux or Rocky Linux
- A licence that grows by $0.49 an account above 100 is acceptable
Pick HestiaCP if…
- The licence must cost $0
- An OSI open-source licence (GPLv3) is a hard requirement
- A third-party WHMCS module is good enough
Pick CloudPanel if…
- You host your own PHP, Node.js or Python apps
- You buy email and DNS elsewhere
- You want NGINX with Varnish Cache, for free
Pick RunCloud if…
- You are a developer or agency deploying apps, not a host selling accounts
- You want a hosted dashboard that manages many servers
- Your DNS is on Cloudflare
Pick Vanta Panel if…
- You sell hosting and want $10 per server for unlimited accounts
- Your customers need mailboxes, nameservers on your brand and a panel of their own
- You bill with WHMCS and want a first-party module, free
- You are moving accounts off cPanel and want a point-and-click importer
- You run Java, Kafka, Node.js or Python apps next to PHP sites
- You want to try the whole panel free on one account first
The part price cannot fix
Why can’t a panel without mail and DNS replace cPanel?
Price is why people leave cPanel; completeness is why most cheap replacements do not stick. A shared-hosting customer expects three things a deploy tool does not have, and Vanta Panel ships all three on your own server. HestiaCP is the exception among the free panels: it has them too, which is why it gets its own comparison.
Mailboxes on their own domain
Vanta Panel runs Postfix and Dovecot with Roundcube webmail, forwarders, autoresponders and spam filtering. CloudPanel and RunCloud run no mail server, so every customer mailbox becomes a bill from someone else.
Nameservers with your brand on them
PowerDNS answers from your own VPS, so ns1 and ns2 sit on your domain and customers point their registrars at you. CloudPanel has no DNS server; RunCloud edits zones on Cloudflare.
Somewhere for the customer to log in
Every account is isolated as its own Linux user with its own PHP‑FPM pool, and gets its own vPanel login; the free WHMCS module creates, suspends and terminates accounts from your billing. That is the difference between a server tool and a hosting business.
The arithmetic
What does the same server cost on cPanel?
cPanel prices its licence by how many accounts the server holds, and above 100 adds $0.49 a month for each one. Vanta Panel prices by server, so its column stops moving: $120 a year on Unlimited against $1,427.88 for cPanel at 200 accounts.
| Accounts | cPanel per year | Vanta Panel per year | You keep per year |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | $359.88Solo | $0Free | $359.88 |
| 5 | $431.88Admin | $60Basic | $371.88 |
| 30 | $647.88Pro | $120Unlimited | $527.88 |
| 100 | $839.88Premier | $120Unlimited | $719.88 |
| 200 | $1,427.88Premier + 100 | $120Unlimited | $1,307.88 |
| 500 | $3,191.88Premier + 400 | $120Unlimited | $3,071.88 |
| 1,000 | $6,131.88Premier + 900 | $120Unlimited | $6,011.88 |
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The saving is the pricing model, not a discount
It widens with every account you add. The table uses monthly list prices; cPanel takes roughly 8.4% off for annual billing.
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The free tier covers one account
A server with one account pays nothing for Vanta Panel, with every feature switched on.
- Work out your own numbers Running 50+ accounts? For hosting companies
Moving over
Can you import your cPanel accounts?
Yes. vWHM’s Import from cPanel tool takes a cPanel account backup and recreates the account on your Vanta Panel server: its Linux user, home directory, primary domain, databases, mailboxes and cron jobs. The old server is never modified, so you move accounts one at a time and point DNS when each one checks out.
Questions
What people ask before switching from cPanel
Something else? Ask support or read the docs.
What is the best cPanel alternative: Vanta Panel, HestiaCP or CloudPanel?
It depends on whether you sell hosting or host your own sites. Selling shared hosting needs a mail server, authoritative DNS and a panel login for every customer, which narrows the field to Vanta Panel, HestiaCP and cPanel itself; CloudPanel and RunCloud run neither a mail server nor authoritative DNS. Among those three, HestiaCP is free and open source, Vanta Panel is $10 per server per month for unlimited accounts with a first-party WHMCS module and managed Node.js, Python, Java and Kafka apps, and cPanel is the incumbent your customers already know but prices its licence by account count. If you only host your own applications, CloudPanel and RunCloud are lighter and perfectly good.
Is there a free cPanel alternative, and is Vanta Panel free?
Yes. HestiaCP and CloudPanel cost nothing, and Vanta Panel itself has a free tier that runs the complete panel on your own VPS for 1 account, 1 mailbox and 1 database. Nothing is held back on the Vanta Panel free tier: the mail server, authoritative DNS, free SSL and backups are all there, in the same build that Basic and Unlimited run, so a free install is a real evaluation rather than a demo.
Is Vanta Panel cheaper than cPanel?
Yes, and the gap grows with every account, because cPanel prices by account and Vanta Panel does not. At 200 accounts on one server, cPanel's list price is $118.99 a month against $10 for Vanta Panel Unlimited: $1,427.88 a year against $120. cPanel list price from cpanel.net/pricing, checked 24 Sep 2026.
How is Vanta Panel different from CloudPanel or RunCloud?
CloudPanel and RunCloud are deploy tools: they put sites and apps on a server. They do not run a mail server or authoritative DNS for your domains, and their team and site-user logins are not a panel where hosting customers manage their own email, DNS and backups. Vanta Panel ships all three, which is what selling shared hosting needs.
How does Vanta Panel compare with HestiaCP?
HestiaCP is the closest match: like Vanta Panel it is self-hosted, runs a real mail server and authoritative DNS with private nameservers, and gives every customer their own login. HestiaCP is free and GPLv3 open source, so on licence cost it wins outright. Vanta Panel charges $10 per server per month and adds a first-party WHMCS module, managed Node.js, Python, Java and Kafka apps, and a cPanel importer in the vWHM interface where HestiaCP's is a command-line tool.
Is Vanta Panel open source?
No. Vanta Panel is commercially licensed software. The panel is PHP source running on your own server, with nothing compiled or run off your machine, and every service it manages is stock open source: Apache, Postfix, Dovecot, PowerDNS, MariaDB and Let's Encrypt. If an OSI-approved licence is a hard requirement, HestiaCP is the honest recommendation.
What happens when a Vanta Panel licence lapses?
Nothing you host goes offline. Websites, email and DNS keep serving, because those are stock Apache, Postfix/Dovecot and PowerDNS running on your machine — the panel manages them, it does not sit in front of them. Management degrades on a published schedule instead. From day 0 the panel reverts to free-tier limits, so you cannot create new hosting accounts, mailboxes or databases, and a renewal banner appears in vWHM; nothing existing is ever deleted. On day 3 automated backups pause — restoring an existing backup keeps working the whole time. On day 7 your customers see a service notice in vPanel. On day 14 vWHM locks to the renewal screen. Paying restores everything on the next licence check, within minutes.
Is a cell wrong?
Tell us if a cell is wrong
Competitors change their products and prices. If a cell here is out of date, email support@vantapanel.com with a link to the vendor’s page and we will correct it, dated. Or use the contact page.
cPanel®, WHM®, WHMCS®, HestiaCP, CloudPanel and RunCloud are trademarks of their respective owners. Vanta Panel is an independent product and is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by any of them.
Leave the per-account bill behind.
One command on a fresh Ubuntu or Debian VPS installs vWHM and vPanel with mail, DNS, SSL and databases. Start free on one account, then $10 a server for unlimited accounts.
curl -fsSL https://get.vantapanel.com | sudo bash