Harrison 
In the world of web hosting, control panels come in all shapes and sizes, and while their tools are often similar, each has its own following for different reasons.
In this article, we will compare two control panels offered by InMotion Hosting for managing your WordPress installations: cPanel and their newest product, Platform InMotion for WordPress VPS hosting.
A quick comparison guide between cPanel and Platform InMotion
Both products are discussed in more detail below, but this table provides an overview of cPanel and Platform InMotion, primarily for users who are interested in the differences between the tools.
| Features | Shared WordPress hosting | platform in motion |
|---|---|---|
| Domain and DNS management | yes | yes |
| email management | yes | yes* |
| file management | yes | yes |
| Server optimization settings | yes | yes |
| One Click WordPress install | Available via Softaculous |
automatic |
| WordPress core update | WP Toolkit | yes |
| Themes and plugins management | WP Toolkit | yes |
| Site health monitor | no | yes |
| playground | no | yes |
| snap | no | yes |
| Other CMS management | yes | WordPress only |
| PHP version control | yes | yes |
| Number of hosted websites | Varies by plan | One per plan |
| Backup options | yes* | yes* |
| root access | no | yes |
| team | no | yes |
| Billing management | no | yes |
What is a web hosting control panel?
Simply put, Control Panel is a graphical user interface (GUI) that helps users manage website and server configurations.
The aspects controlled by the control panel are:
- domain management
- file management
- database management
- Email settings
- security settings
- etc.
Web hosting companies offer control panels to assist customers who lack technical expertise or are concerned about connecting to a command terminal. These panels allow you to easily manage various tools. Additionally, many hosting plans offer SSH or Root access for users who prefer a more advanced approach.
What is c-panel?
Although cPanel only holds about 7% of the control panel market share, it is the second most used control panel in the world. cPanel offers a wide range of tools and features and has a very intuitive user interface that will help those new to web hosting.
Note: Managed VPS and Managed Dedicated Server customers can access WebHost Manager (WHM) to create and manage multiple cPanel accounts on their servers, but this article specifically covers cPanel for WordPress website management. Focus on functionality.
cPanel’s extensive documentation and community support make it a popular choice for both web hosting providers and users, streamlining website management and improving the overall hosting experience.
cPanel features
cPanel is popular among users due to its extensive documentation and interface. Its features include:
- One-click WordPress installation: cPanel offers a seamless one-click installation process for WordPress via Softaculous or WP Toolkit, making it quick and easy to set up a WordPress website without any technical knowledge.
- File and database management: cPanel’s file manager allows users to easily manage their WordPress files by uploading, editing, organizing, and more. It also provides access to her PHPMyAdmin for managing your WordPress database.
- Email management: cPanel allows users to create and manage email accounts associated with websites. This includes email forwarding, autoresponders, and spam filter settings.
- security settings: cPanel offers various security features such as SSL/TLS management, password protection, IP blocking, and firewall settings to provide robust security measures for your WordPress website.
- Note: Some security settings may be available only through WHM.
- Backup management: cPanel allows users to manually perform backups of their WordPress website’s files, database, and configuration to ensure data protection.
- Note: InMotion Hosting allows cPanel users to add a backup manager. automatic backup For website files and databases. These backups are stored on a separate server, so you won’t lose any data if your website’s servers experience problems. Users can still take advantage of common manual backups in cPanel.
- Website statistics: cPanel provides detailed website statistics and analytics through AWStats, including visitor logs, bandwidth usage, and resource statistics, giving users insight into their WordPress website’s performance and traffic.
- CMS support: Apart from WordPress, cPanel supports installing and managing other content management systems (CMS), such as Drupal and Joomla hosting, allowing users to access multiple websites with one account.
These features make cPanel a reliable and efficient tool for managing your WordPress website, offering convenience, security, and performance optimization.
What is All-in-One Dashboard?
As explained above, Control Panel focuses on the technical aspects of hosting and provides specialized tools for managing your server and website.
An all-in-one dashboard, on the other hand, is a broader concept that includes not only hosting-related tasks but also other website management functions.
All-in-one dashboards typically include features such as account management, SEO optimization, analytics, billing and support, and more. This type of dashboard aims to provide a comprehensive solution for managing all aspects of your website in a single interface.
What is Platform in Motion?
Platform InMotion is InMotion Hosting’s newest offering. It is a powerful all-in-one dashboard with multiple site and account management features for the best possible user experience on a fully isolated VPS server.
Currently, Platform InMotion only supports WordPress websites. Its focus is to provide users with a highly optimized server environment for WordPress, ensuring fast performance.
Users with Platform InMotion accounts can also invite others to their projects for free via Teams. This makes it a great choice for agencies managing corporate websites or designers who want to know what their clients have to say about their current projects.
Platform InMotion is easy to use, powerful, and fast, making it a great choice for users looking for a premium managed WordPress hosting experience.
Platform InMotion features
As an all-in-one WordPress-focused dashboard, Platform InMotion features include:
- If WordPress is preinstalled: With Platform InMotion, you start with a server environment that comes pre-installed with the latest version of WordPress. However, you can easily create further WordPress installations by simply clicking a button in the project area.
- File and database management: Platform InMotion provides easy access to file and database managers. This feature is currently only available in Playground, but will soon be available in VPS environments as well. You can also access these through SSH access.
- Note: A premium key is required to access the GUI version of file and database management.
- WordPress management: Activate, deactivate, or update plugins and themes, check site status, and create backups without logging into your WordPress dashboard.
- Playground (Platform InMotion exclusive): Playground lets you safely stage, test, and redesign your website. You can use Playground to troubleshoot issues, fix errors, and add new features without interrupting your live site.
- Snap (Platform InMotion only): Snap makes it easy to create WordPress sites by creating blueprints for themes and plugins. This feature is ideal for agencies that build sites using a common set of plugins, eliminating the need to install each plugin separately. All Snap sites start in a Playground environment and are immediately ready to be deployed to a VPS production environment.
- Email management: Email management is now facilitated through cPanel and includes the ability to manage your email inbox and spam filter. Users can easily access their inbox through the Platform InMotion interface.
- Team (Platform InMotion only): Invite other users to view, manage, and collaborate on your projects at no additional charge.
- security settings: Each production server operates as a completely isolated container, eliminating the possibility of cross-infection from other customers. Additionally, Platform InMotion plans come with a web application firewall (WAF) with Modsec and protection from brute force and DDoS attacks.
- Backup management: Platform InMotion allows you to easily create a backup of your website or server within your dashboard. Use the Backup section under Maintenance to create a backup of your website and easily restore it. Alternatively, create a server snapshot to capture all server settings at a specific point in time and revert to these settings as needed.
- Website statistics: You can easily view your project’s website statistics in the Site Statistics section. Get a complete view of your visitors, site health recommendations, and overall WordPress settings.
- CMS support: Currently, Platform InMotion only supports WordPress websites, but this may change in the future.
- Manage your account and billing: Platform InMotion lets you assign resource ownership to project assets, view subscriptions and receipts, and customize billing information for each team.
Platform InMotion is the ideal solution for agencies, marketing teams, and web designers looking for a fast and easy way to manage their WordPress sites. Users can leverage her fully isolated VPS with lightning-fast performance, her Playground environment for testing, and WordPress management tools all from her one dashboard.
final thoughts
In conclusion, both cPanel and Platform InMotion offer unique feature sets and benefits to WordPress site owners.
cPanel provides a proven solution that has been widely used and trusted in the web hosting industry for many years. It offers comprehensive tools and features, making it suitable for users who prefer a traditional, feature-rich control panel.
Platform InMotion combines multiple functions into one dashboard to provide a streamlined and integrated approach. This option may be attractive to users who want simplicity and ease of use while leveraging a powerful infrastructure.
Ultimately, the decision between cPanel and Platform InMotion should be based on your personal needs, preferences, and your website’s specific requirements.
