In the world of web hosting, there are many choices when it comes to which web hosting control panels you can choose from. DirectAdmin and cPanel are the two most popular control panels offered in the world of hosting.

With that said, we decided to go ahead and rip each one of these apart in a side-by-side comparison to see which one will win our hearts over. It’s time to put your IT hat on.  Here goes nothing!

Complexity

This is something that’s very important, no matter if you’re a complete newbie or an experienced IT professional. The complexity of any software is always taken into consideration, especially when it comes to determining whether you want to get in-depth or not.

DirectAdmin is a lot more straight-forward than cPanel. When you login to DA, you will notice that you can switch between the different user levels (User, Reseller, and Administrator) with ease. Unlike with cPanel you use different pieces of software that are loosely connected with each other.

For those that are new to the art of web hosting, this may be a benefit. However, the simplicity does come with some drawbacks. For example, cPanel is more in-depth when it comes to the multiple tasks that an experienced IT professional may need to perform.

We’ll give you a better understanding throughout this showdown.

Email Tasks

When it comes to the various tasks that are now available with your own e-mail setup, there are more details then there has ever been before. From auto-responders to filtering the e-mail with certain information contained in the header of the email, your options are limitless.

Now that we have you in the right state of mind, we have to give cPanel props for providing the more in-depth as well as basic e-mail features. Right now, DirectAdmin only offers auto-responders, none of the techie stuff.

Security

When it comes to security this is usually our primary concern as one hack could bring down a whole bunch of your websites at once and maybe even cause you to lose money if you do business via your website or if you use your server for client communication.

cPanel really gets into details when it comes to the various tasks that you can perform in terms of security. DirectAdmin has the most basic security features, but nothing for those that want to really get down and dirty with securing their web hosting account from vulnerability.

Statistics

Analytics and statistics, the most interesting subject for many IT pros. When it comes down to it, visualizing an analysis of a website can provide one with the opportunity to get more of a feel of how their website is performing and whether it can or can’t be improved from its current state.

You get basic stats with DirectAdmin and more detailed stats that tells you more with cPanel. Also, with cPanel you have a choice of what stats software you want to use.

Update Capability

When it comes to running the necessary updates to keep your web hosting account(s) running in the best possible manner, you may want to know what the difference is with performing updates in DirectAdmin and cPanel.

When it comes down to it, cPanel offers a more in-depth way to make sure that you stay on top of all the necessary updates. DirectAdmin automatically updates certain files when prompted to do so. For the geeks, cPanel is the way to go. For those that demand simplicity, DirectAdmin may be a more viable option for you.

The Results

We’re not going to sit here and lie to you about which web hosting control panel seems to be the best to us. Now, keep in mind we do like getting technical, so our choice is based on the opinion of someone who has been doing web hosting as a job.

cPanel has to be the strongest and most popular web hosting control panel in the world. The reason that we’re saying this is because it allows you to dig deeper than DirectAdmin has ever been capable of allowing its users to do so.

Not only that, but cPanel seems to always be pushing out new features to make it the more user-friendly control panel. When it comes down to it, if you want to get technical, cPanel is the path that will do you the best. If you’re a beginner or don’t like getting too technical, DirectAdmin is targeted towards your audience.

Both of these web hosting control panels are well reputed and proven to provide you with results. Either way you choose to go, rest assured you’re going with the leaders in the web hosting control panel market.

Just as a side note, DirectAdmin is much cheaper than cPanel if you want to be budget-oriented.