CloudPanel Beginner

What is CloudPanel? Guide for UnderHost VPS users

CloudPanel is a free, modern server control panel for VPS hosting. Manage multiple websites, PHP versions, SSL certificates, databases, SSH users,

UnderHost NOC Network Operations

5 min read Updated June 2026

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What is CloudPanel?
Who it is for
Key features
Technology stack
CloudPanel vs cPanel
Limitations to know

CloudPanel is a free, open-source control panel designed specifically for VPS servers. It provides a clean, modern interface for managing websites, PHP applications, Node.js apps, databases, SSL certificates, SSH users, and a built-in firewall-all without the per-domain licence cost of cPanel.

What is CloudPanel?

Unlike cPanel (which runs on shared hosting servers managed by the host), CloudPanel runs on your VPS server. You are responsible for the server itself. CloudPanel handles the web server configuration (Nginx), PHP-FPM pools, SSL automation, and user management-saving you from editing config files manually.

UnderHost offers VPS plans with CloudPanel pre-installed. If you order a CloudPanel VPS image, the panel is ready to use at first boot.

Who CloudPanel is for

CloudPanel is a good fit if:

You want to host multiple WordPress sites on a VPS without paying cPanel licensing fees
You are comfortable with basic server concepts (domains, DNS, SSH) but do not want to configure Nginx manually
You need per-site PHP version control and isolated PHP-FPM pools
You want a fast, Nginx-based setup optimised for PHP applications
You are migrating from cPanel shared hosting to a VPS and want a familiar panel approach

CloudPanel is not ideal if you need full email server hosting built into the panel-email is not a core CloudPanel feature. For email-heavy setups, consider cPanel shared hosting or add an external email service.

Key features

Feature	Details
Site types	PHP, WordPress, Node.js, Python, Static HTML, Reverse Proxy
PHP versions	Multiple versions selectable per site (7.1 through 8.3+)
Web server	Nginx with PHP-FPM-isolated pool per site
SSL	Let's Encrypt auto-issue and renewal per site
Database	MySQL / MariaDB with phpMyAdmin
SSH users	Per-site SSH users with key-based authentication
Firewall	UFW-based firewall UI-open/close ports from the panel
Cron jobs	System cron manager per site
Two-factor auth	TOTP-based 2FA for panel login
Backups	File and database backup to local storage or cloud

Technology stack

CloudPanel is built on top of:

Nginx-web server (not Apache)
PHP-FPM-separate pool per site for isolation
MySQL / MariaDB-database server
Let's Encrypt / acme.sh-SSL automation
UFW-Linux firewall management

Because CloudPanel uses Nginx rather than Apache, some Apache-specific features like .htaccess are not available. Nginx rules are configured through the vHost editor in the panel.

CloudPanel vs cPanel

	CloudPanel	cPanel
Cost	Free	Licensed (included in shared plan pricing)
Hosting type	VPS (you own the server)	Shared or VPS
Web server	Nginx only	Apache or LiteSpeed
Email hosting	Not built-in	Full email stack
Interface style	Modern, minimal	Feature-dense icon grid
PHP management	Per-site PHP-FPM pools	MultiPHP per domain

Limitations to know

No .htaccess support-Nginx does not read .htaccess files. WordPress redirects and rules are handled differently
Email not built-in-CloudPanel does not include a mail server. Use an external email provider or ask about add-on mail services
Requires a VPS-CloudPanel cannot be installed on shared hosting
You manage the server-on unmanaged VPS plans, you are responsible for OS updates, security patches, and server-level troubleshooting
Apache-only plugins-some WordPress performance plugins (e.g., those relying on mod_rewrite rules) may behave differently on Nginx. Most modern plugins work correctly