cPanel vs. Pantheon

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
cPanel
Score 10.0 out of 10
N/A
cPanel headquartered in Houston provides website hosting providers with workload and server automation, as well as a management console for creating and launching websites, managing email and web files, and other administrative tasks.
$15.99
per month for 1 account
Pantheon
Score 8.6 out of 10
N/A
Pantheon is a WebOps platform where marketers and developers collaborate to drive results. The vendor states that with Pantheon, site owners maximize their capacity to update website design and functionality, responding to market trends, catering to consumer behavior, and adding real value to the business's bottom line. Today, companies compete on the basis of digital experiences, and the best results emerge from an agile build-test-learn process. Whether it's publishing content,…
$29
per month
Pricing
cPanelPantheon
Editions & Modules
cPanel Solo
$15.99
per month for 1 account
Admin
$24.99
per month up to 5 accounts
Pro
$35.99
per month up to 30 accounts
Premier (on cloud)
$53.99
per month up to 100 accounts
Premier (on metal)
$53.99
per month up to 100 accounts
Basic
$29
per month
Performance
$114
per month
Elite
Contact for quote
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
cPanelPantheon
Free Trial
NoYes
Free/Freemium Version
NoYes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoNo
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeOptional
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
cPanelPantheon
Considered Both Products
cPanel
Really there aren't many options. There is a free one that I haven't used but from what I hear is that it is very limited on functionality. I also have tried Plesk, never bought but tried it. It seemed easier in a few things but also seemed more simplistic and I like my …
Chose cPanel
I have used cPanel for a long time along with a few other hosting management platforms. cPanel from a feature and speed standpoint outranks the competition.
Chose cPanel
cPanel interface is not as appealing and straightforward as other hosting solutions, but it offers more features and is certainly more flexible in that regard.
Chose cPanel
cPanel is my least favorite option compared to others like Plesk and custom solutions developed by other companies such as Kinsta. However, my preference is towards serverless website builds but when a traditional server is required I prefer to directly manage it or use …
Chose cPanel
cPanel offers a more friendly to beginners experience compared to Ajenti. The latter is feature rich but you will need more technical know how to navigate. cPanel is more accessible and universal and for those reasons a great solution for my business needs. cPanel works best …
Chose cPanel
The direct server management tool access provided by cPanel hosting accounts is far superior to any shared or "standard" web site hosting packaged offered by any of the numerous web host providers I have used and or evaluated over the 20+ years of my experience working in the …
Chose cPanel
cPanel ease of use has by far surpassed other control panels such as Plesk and Webmin. It’s easy to understand. Easy to implement. And always functions correctly. Software support is great and they are always prompt in acknowledging and issues. Also online documentation is …
Chose cPanel
A long time ago we used HSphere, but development stopped when they were acquired. We had to find something else. We tried Plesk, but it was a nightmare. When we looked we wanted something kind of fault tolerant. cPanel is so easy to move and backup, if a server does go down, we …
Chose cPanel
cPanel is more user-friendly than many third-party website hosting interfaces, including Godaddy, Bluehost, and 1&1 Host. cPanel is the industry standard, and integrates well with common website software and third-party modules. Managing your website is effortless in cPanel, …
Chose cPanel
The typical alternative to cPanel when purchasing a hosting control panel option is Plesk. I have very little experience with Plesk, but there are different versions of it available depending on the features you need. The Webhost Edition, which seems to be most comparable to …
Chose cPanel
cPanel has a better interface than Webmin in my opinion, better themes, and better out-of-the-box support for other systems/platforms for hosting and integrations. It is also easier to create and control Apache configurations, and there is a wider selection of 3rd-party …
Pantheon
Chose Pantheon
Acquia was terrible. We use DigitalOcean for some all-purpose computing needs and Platform.sh for an application that does more computing and high-throughput processing where we do not want page views (API calls) to count against our usage.
Chose Pantheon
Although it may seem a good fit for a company that needs extra control over the deployment process and development process, for a firm that is mainly concentrating on SEO, it would be an overkill. Pantheon provides that sweet automation that allows us to shed some weight on …
Chose Pantheon
We use several hosting solutions depending on the client needs or what they were already setup on. Pantheon is very similar to them and offers similar services however one of the main features we use is the Multidev service which allows us to test pieces of work separately and …
Chose Pantheon
I found Cloudways to be a better solution for our needs in comparison to Pantheon. With their integration of multiple hosting providers we had a wider selection of locations to choose from and finally a server nearer to our core audience.
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon dashboard is leaner and faster. Pantheon cost is lower comparatively.
Chose Pantheon
Linode is good if you want to keep control of the infrastructure, webservers, etc. However, if you want to forget about it and focus in your website content; Pantheon will make your life much easier. acquia support system is terrible, it is slow and they send outdated …
Chose Pantheon
The differentiating advantage that Pantheon has is the incredibly intuitive workflow UI, with seamless GIT integrations between each environment: Dev, Test, and Live.
Chose Pantheon
Much more comfortable with Pantheon, more user-friendly and completely moved to the next generation development tools.
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon stacks up fairly equally, and we chose Pantheon originally because, at the time of making our decision, they were the best partner for our business size, and who could help us through challenges that VIP could not. Today, we are with VIP as that was a faster and more …
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon unlike the above platforms is very easy to use the features and even on initial features configuration and also the deployment on Cloud is excellent. Pantheon has great data and other marketing content management capabilities through Cloud services and the …
Chose Pantheon
A lot of the other providers on this list are different from each other with very different target audiences. The only thing Pantheon can compare with is managed WordPress hosting, WordPress-related support, and hosting on Google Compute Engine. Pantheon wins hands down in …
Chose Pantheon
GoDaddy can't compete with Pantheon's speed, support, and backed tools. We built a WordPress site for a client in Pantheon, they insisted on us moving it to their existing GoDaddy account, and within three months, they paid us to move it back to Pantheon because of the site's …
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon is great because I can do everything and anything needed as a developer to get my clients satisfied. Drupal is the main CMS we use on Pantheon, and my experience has been pretty positive so far. I manage WordPress sites on my own, and that's easier to maintain for most …
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon is leaps and bounds ahead of its competition in platform reliability, support, and platform features. The most important factor for us is uptime and support response times.
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon provides stellar premium hosting for Drupal and WordPress. The platform is highly performant. Support is responsive and knowledgeable. System-enforced best practices improve site stability alongside rock-solid platform reliability. However, Pantheon absolutely charges …
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon compares well with uptime but far exceeds RackSpace when it comes to ease of use.
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon offers an advantage over WP Engine and Flywheel by offering hosting support for both Drupal and WordPress websites. Pantheon's pricing model could be much more competitive, however. Pantheon ended up winning out over Media Temple in World Literature Today's hosting …
Chose Pantheon
Our former hosting company was Dreamhost. While we loved Dreamhost, especially since it was free for nonprofits, we were always flying by the seat of our pants developing and updating plugins on the live website. Pantheon's multi-dev platform allows us to work on several …
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon's use of Git is much better than WP Engine, and Pantheon's interface is better. However, Pantheon costs more and would likely suit medium to larger organizations.
GoDaddy's dedicated WordPress offering is much more restrictive compared with Pantheons and suits …
Chose Pantheon
Pantheon has been only the product I have had experience within my entire working career. It performs effectively with great ROI on the overall production of our company. The deployment process was easy, and all our team members had less time learning how it operates. I have …
Chose Pantheon
I have no experience with similar products though Pantheon has proven to be the best WebOps. It has all tools that we require in website infrastructure from development to launching. Our teamwork has enabled us to create websites that have boosted the growth of our organization …
Chose Pantheon
Bluehost, GoDaddy and Microsoft Azure
Chose Pantheon
Bluehost, GoDaddy and Microsoft Azure
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User Ratings
cPanelPantheon
Likelihood to Recommend
9.2
(0 ratings)
8.0
(0 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Usability
7.0
(0 ratings)
9.8
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
8.3
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
-
(0 ratings)
10.0
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
cPanelPantheon
Likelihood to Recommend
I would recommend cPanel as it is a good tool for a medium-sized business. The licensing costs can be a bit high but you mostly get what you pay for. If you have a bit more of a large or complex web site/structure, there is a bit of a learning curve for administrators. Once you know what you're doing, it does what it does very well.
Read full review
Great Cloud-based coordination platform which offers the team excellent capabilities on easy workflow management, multiple project activity tracking and easy to monitor all the project assets from one desk. Pantheon offers the best content management tools, strategic on development project life cycle management is excellent and the reporting features with Pantheon are effective and useful real-time data analytical capability.
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Pros
  • cPanel nicely organizes functions into categories on its main first screen for easy location.
  • cPanel works nativity with WHM (Web Host Manager) to easily create new web hosting accounts.
  • cPanel integrates well with common website technologies like WordPress, Joomla, or Magento.
Read full review
  • Effective use of our codebase deployment and implementation.
  • The dashboard functionality and general stability and security are excellent.
  • The server is quite consistent, and if you need assistance from the support team, they are very quick to respond.
  • Automatic updates let me ensure that my customers have safe websites without increasing my own expense.
  • The team offers excellent assistance and help for chat.
Read full review
Cons
  • The costs can be a limiting factor for some businesses if you are not using a web hosting company that uses it. I have been experimenting with Cloud hosting, which can be very daunting for the novice. There is an option to install it on the cloud but it is expensive.
Read full review
  • Pricing structure has too large of a jump between Basic and Performance plans
  • Have run into issues with prescribed WP updates not working through dashboard and having to do manually.
  • Pantheon site dashboard occasionally is unavailable (the site is never affected though)
Read full review
Likelihood to Renew
No answers on this topic
The environment is stable and we have not had any issues/downtime. The annual cost is reasonable.
Read full review
Usability
Although it can be a little bit bloated with a lot of options and configurations, it's very straightforward to use and maintain. So it's a great option even if you don't have large experience in hosting configuration. The WHM tool is more suited to heavy users since it requires more expertise, so it has a steep learning curve to better understand how to use it.
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Monitoring of project development is very easy using a dashboard with its integration capability, showing all processes in a single screen which is easy to use and also easy to navigate through. A powerful tool that allows testing to be carried on without the user noticing any changes to the system and a highly interactive tool for groups and project members.
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Support Rating
The documentation available for all cPanel features and functionality is vast, comprehensive, and covers all the basics required to manage the web site hosting environment. User support forums are very helpful, and are packed with years of content and comments answering any questions or answers I have ever had. When needed, direct customer support has been quick and efficient.
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Even tier 1 Pantheon chat and ticket support are knowledgeable, competent, and useful. They routinely understand and promptly resolve urgent, complex, and/or unusual issues that other hosts need to escalate to tier 2 or tier 3 support personnel. I honestly can't think of a truly negative or disappointing support experience in the years I've used Pantheon hosting for client websites.
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Implementation Rating
No answers on this topic
Once the environments were up and running, the implementation was easy to synchronize with latest data prior to switchover.
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Alternatives Considered
Really there aren't many options. There is a free one that I haven't used but from what I hear is that it is very limited on functionality. I also have tried Plesk, never bought but tried it. It seemed easier in a few things but also seemed more simplistic and I like my workflow with cPanel better and it works well with litespeed server.
Read full review
Acquia was terrible. We use DigitalOcean for some all-purpose computing needs and Platform.sh for an application that does more computing and high-throughput processing where we do not want page views (API calls) to count against our usage.
Read full review
Return on Investment
  • Saved hundreds of hours of labor and expense due to the excellent backups of each site. Sites crash so backups are a must and this platform delivers.
  • Streamlined domain management allows me to quickly put up sites and profit.
  • Eliminated the cost of outsourcing monitoring websites with the tools inside the panel.
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  • Pantheon allows ordinary sites to excel esp if there is consistent development going on behind the scenes.
  • Website management is super easy and the hosting fee gets paid off as you save on developer hours.
  • Expensive for those who are not consistently developing on the platform, there are other options out there at better price points.
Read full review
ScreenShots

Pantheon Screenshots

Screenshot of Find out in seconds if your site is ready to launch. Use Launch Check to get recommendations and discover site issues fast with our report based on over 50 automated checks.Screenshot of Our Developer Dashboard has everything you need to build, launch, and run Drupal and WordPress sites. Interface via SFTP or Git, deploy and scale your sites, and access tools like backups and one-click core updates. Easily add team members and control access.