CloudPanel is the sexiest cleanest free control panel right now!
- Let’s go over what I liked, didn’t like, and who I think should use it.
Things I liked about CloudPanel
Super clean interface
Beautiful. Sleek, minimal. Useful and friendly for ADMINS and END USERS. So clean and simple. Lots of white space and very intuitive where to look for things.
The way the settings are layered and tucked away are perfect! Everything you need to see is readily available. Things you rarely need access to are just a click away. It really is beautiful. Bravo and well-done!
Admin-friendly
- Server resource charts on admin dashboard.
- phpMyAdmin logged in automatically
- Access and error logs shown in panel
- Redis enabled by default
I think any server admin would love this panel. The clean organized UI helps you manage the most common server tasks. Easy to see server loads right away when you log in. Can get into phpMyAdmin without having to dig for your mysql root pass. Can see access and error logs right from your panel (in case of application issues or during attacks). Redis is installed by default instead of requiring extra confirmation during panel install.
I think too many panels out there are confused about which users they serve best. Some are designed only for admins, others for resellers/business-people, and some only for end users. CloudPanel is definitely an admin-centric panel but still very easy for end users.
Also to clarify, I think CloudPanel is a single-user control panel. It’s intended for one admin (and looks super simple because of that). You don’t have to deal with different settings areas for end users and such.
High performance – Debian, NGINX & Percona stack
The stack felt very fast and responsive. Not only in the panel but the sites running on it. For sure anything running on NGINX will be fast. I’m still a diehard LiteSpeed guy so I hope they’ll have OpenLiteSpeed support one day. This would be such a dream!
Really interesting that they used Debian and Percona as those are less common. Most NGINX panels I see out there are using Ubuntu and MariaDB. Anyway, I do like choices. 🙂
Ways to improve CloudPanel
File Manager
It seems many control panels take this shortcut not to include a File Manager. This feature alone (and probably with phpMyAdmin auto-login) is what makes server panels truly end user-friendly for me or not. Without it, you’re forced to go through FTP to upload files or SSH to unpack and install simple apps. Ughhh, that’s so many more clicks and that much more of a hassle when managing multiple servers.
A developer managing their own sites might not care, but a busy admin like me managing multiple servers and sites on each server, it’s a big deal.
1-click app installation (for WordPress)
They were sooooooo close. The NGINX vhost configs were already there…and yet you still have to manually download and unpack things on the command line to install WordPress. ARGHHHHh…if you’re not gonna give me this, at least give me a working File Manager to ease the pain!
Keep left panel text labels showing
I do appreciate the panel’s minimal interface but hiding the text labels on the left panel makes my brain work harder to “read” the icons. Or let’s be frank…the icons are too ambiguous. Please keep the text labels showing. Otherwise I’m constantly hovering my mouse over them to make sure I’m clicking the right one. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE! This isn’t a mobile app.
Process list
Would have been great to see a list of running processes somewhere. Without this, I probably wouldn’t use it for a server with so many sites.
Terminal
GUI-based terminal would have been nice. But so far I (and most admins) don’t really need it.
The name “CloudPanel” could have been better
I thought the name was terrible branding. They have such an awesome panel and instead called it something so generic. “Cloud” and “Panel” are among the most ubiquitous keywords you’ll find in the cloud hosting industry today. And to put them in that order, you get a common acronym “CP” which is already used for CyberPanel or even cPanel. Not to mention other panels like VestaCP or HestiaCP.
I wish they called theirs something quirky like WhitePanel, SpacePanel, SmokePanel or anything distinctly different. But instead they took a unique product and named it like a cheap generic product. *The traditional marketer in me cringes.*
Tiny things
- Leave PHP time limit settings in seconds (instead of minutes)
- PHP timezone didn’t automatically match server timezone
- Not mobile-responsible.
None of these are important or even a deal-breaker. I’m only making notes of little things I saw. Will add more to this as I get more familiar with CloudPanel.
Who should use CloudPanel
CloudPanel is best for admins wanting a clean solo-user control panel, and don’t need email or file manager.
It’s beautiful, fast, it’s free! What else do you want?! You can’t have end users on here so kiss your low-cost reseller dreams goodbye but it’s fantastic for running a lean clean BS-free NGINX server.
- Extremely admin-centric.
- Auto-login for phpMyAdmin (root pass not required).
- No file manager, email or end-user login.
Try CloudPanel (it’s free and installs in only 5 minutes)
oh yeah i totally agree with this, the lack of a filemanager, auto installer for apps is a real miss, else would even use it in production enviroment for our vps servers
which is the best panel for 512 ram ?
I suppose CloudPanel would be a great minimal panel for that requirement.
I don’t think there is a panel suitable for 512 MB
What do you advice for 10 personal website, cyberpanel with openlitespeed or cloupanel?
Can’t go wrong with either. CyberPanel has more features I would like but CloudPanel is really nice and lean too. Really depends on your workflow. I can’t tell you what to pick just as I wouldn’t tell you what to wear.
Hi, Thanks for a good review. Kindly can you try version 2 (https://www.cloudpanel.io/docs/v2/introduction/) and Update your review. It might be helpful for your Blog followers like me. Thanks
I’ll take a look when I have the chance. I generally like CloudPanel even though I don’t use it.
My Cloudpanel lost its rights. Any insight on how to get it back. Not seem to be getting any support from Discord
OUCH! I’m so sorry and also disappointed to hear this.
“Oh yeah, absolutely spot on with this observation. It’s baffling that there’s still a lack of a file manager and an auto-installer for apps. These are basic necessities, especially for managing VPS servers in a production environment. Without them, it’s like trying to navigate through a maze blindfolded. It’s frustrating because this platform has so much potential, but without these key features, it’s falling short of being a go-to choice for serious hosting needs. Let’s hope the developers prioritize addressing these deficiencies soon because with them in place, this platform could truly shine in the hosting market.”
Thanks to you, I learned about Cloudpanel and used it.
Since I’ve been using Cloudpanel since last year, I’ve found it great so far.
The v2 version of cloudpanel has a built-in File manager and automatically installs WordPress.
Great review of CloudPanel! I appreciate the detailed insights on its features and usability. It seems like a solid choice for managing servers, especially with its user-friendly interface. Looking forward to giving it a try!