cPanel alternative: one panel for all your servers, priced by server
4 min read
Looking for a cPanel alternative? Zefily manages all your servers from one hosted panel, priced by server instead of by account, with malware scanning, AI bot blocking and a free plan.
cPanel is the classic hosting control panel: installed on a server, licensed per server and priced by the number of hosting accounts on it. It was built for companies that sell shared hosting. If you run your own sites and client projects on your own servers, a modern server management panel such as Zefily usually fits better and costs less.
In short
- Zefily is priced by servers, not accounts: free for 1 server and 2 sites, $8 a month for 3 servers with unlimited sites.
- One panel for all your servers, instead of a license and a panel on every server.
- Security goes further: every job is signed twice, sites are scanned for malware with a quarantine, and AI crawlers can be blocked per site.
- WordPress, Laravel and PHP 7.3–8.5 run next to Node.js, Python and containers.
At a glance
| cPanel | Zefily | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Per server license by accounts: Solo $29.99 (1), Admin $35.99 (5), Pro $53.99 (30), Premier $69.99 (100) | Free for 1 server and 2 sites, no time limit; from $8/month for 3 servers |
| Where the panel runs | Installed on each server, with its own web login | Hosted panel; a small agent on each server, no admin port |
| Servers | One panel per server | Every server, at any provider, in one panel |
| Apps | Built around PHP hosting accounts | PHP 7.3–8.5, Node.js, Python, Go, Java, .NET, Ruby, Bun, Deno, containers |
| Email hosting | Mail server and webmail included | No mailboxes; outgoing mail through your SMTP service |
Competitor details are taken from their own pages in October 2026 and may change. Zefily prices are in US dollars, excluding VAT.
What you get with Zefily
All your servers in one place
One panel for every server at any provider: Hetzner, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode and AWS can even be connected so Zefily creates, snapshots and power-cycles servers for you, and a site can be moved to another server in two steps.
Malware scanning with quarantine
ClamAV scans every site's files on demand, daily or weekly, and can move what it finds to a root-only quarantine. Upload scanning checks every file the moment it is written (SFTP, deploys, plugin installs, upload forms) and quarantines infected files at once. Scans need a server with 2 GB of memory, upload scanning 4 GB. More on our security tools.
Block AI crawlers and countries
One switch per site refuses GPTBot, ClaudeBot, CCBot, PerplexityBot, Bytespider and other AI crawlers while search engines keep indexing; you can also block or allow countries (nginx), block addresses, and turn on the web application firewall (ModSecurity with the OWASP Core Rule Set).
Signed jobs and passkey approvals
Every change to a server is signed by the panel and by a separate signing service on its own machine; risky actions (a root terminal, deleting a site or database, opening a database port) also need your passkey. A stolen session, or even a compromised panel, cannot quietly change your servers. How it works.
More than PHP
WordPress, Laravel and PHP sites run next to Node.js and Python apps, Go, Java, .NET, Ruby, Bun and Deno, rootless containers and Compose files, each as its own Linux user. One-click apps such as Ghost, Nextcloud, Uptime Kuma and Supabase are upgraded one major version at a time, with a backup taken first.
A web stack we build and patch
Zefily ships its own nginx build with HTTP/3 and Brotli, and its own signed PHP packages so PHP 7.3–8.5 run even on Ubuntu 26.04 (amd64 and arm64). Security fixes for PHP, nginx, OpenLiteSpeed and PostgreSQL install automatically, and you can switch a running server between nginx and OpenLiteSpeed in place.
Backups you own
Encrypted restic backups to your own S3, Google Drive, SFTP or FTP storage, with your own repository password, restorable without Zefily. Why that matters.
When cPanel may still be the right fit
If you sell shared hosting accounts with mailboxes to end customers, a hosting panel like cPanel is built for that job. For mailboxes with Zefily, use a dedicated email provider; your servers send mail through the SMTP service you choose.
Moving from cPanel to Zefily
- Connect a server to Zefily: a fresh Ubuntu or Debian server at any provider works best, since Zefily does not take over software it did not install.
- Create the site with the PHP version (or runtime) it uses today.
- Copy the files over SFTP and import the database in the site's database section.
- Test on the site's free
zefily.appaddress before you touch DNS. - Switch DNS; the certificate is issued automatically.
- Move mailboxes to an email provider before you cancel the cPanel license, if it hosted your mail.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best cPanel alternative for developers?
For developers and agencies who run their own sites, a hosted server management panel such as Zefily: one panel for all servers, pricing by server instead of by account, modern app support and a free plan for 1 server.
How much does cPanel cost in 2026?
cPanel's pricing page (October 2026) lists Solo at $29.99 a month for 1 account, Admin at $35.99 for up to 5, Pro at $53.99 for up to 30 and Premier at $69.99 for up to 100, per server. Zefily is free for 1 server and costs $8 a month for 3 servers with unlimited sites.
Can I move WordPress from cPanel to Zefily?
Yes. Create the site on a server connected to Zefily, copy its files over SFTP, export the database in cPanel's phpMyAdmin and import it, test on the free zefily.app address, then switch DNS.
Does Zefily scan sites for malware?
Yes. Zefily scans every site with ClamAV on demand, daily or weekly, quarantines what it finds, and can scan every uploaded file the moment it is written.
Is Zefily free?
Yes, for 1 server and 2 sites with no time limit. Paid plans start at $8 a month for 3 servers.
Start free with one server: no time limit, and your first site can be live on a free zefily.app address in minutes.