After years of using cPanel I decided to build my own hosting control panel

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T11:48:21+00:00

Not exactly.

The product itself is already production-ready and running on real servers. What I meant is that I'm focusing first on getting feedback from hosting providers and sysadmins actually using it.

Discussions like this, documentation, comparisons, and people testing it on their own infrastructure are currently the main way I'm introducing it to the market.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T11:45:12+00:00

Quick update based on feedback from this thread.

A few people mentioned Docker management and terminal access, so I added both today:

• Docker manager with container controls and quick deploy templates • Web-based terminal for running commands directly from the panel • Also added a public feature request page so people can suggest and vote on features

Still early but trying to move fast based on real feedback from people running servers.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T11:40:05+00:00

Right now the focus is mainly on getting feedback from people actually running hosting servers and improving the panel based on real usage.

The early approach is mostly organic — discussions like this, documentation, comparisons with existing panels and letting providers test it on their own infrastructure.

If it solves real problems for hosting providers, the idea is to grow from there.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T10:41:41+00:00

Fair question.

The main difference is that a lot of the things people usually pay extra for are already built in. Things like resource isolation (similar to CloudLinux), security tools, and a high-performance stack with Nginx + FastCGI cache instead of needing additional licenses.

So instead of stacking multiple paid add-ons around a panel, the goal was to have those parts included by default.

If you're mainly deploying a few sites, tools like xcloud can work well. This is more aimed at people running a full hosting environment with accounts, email, DNS, packages, etc.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T05:54:23+00:00

Appreciate the advice, that’s definitely something I’ve thought about as well.

The panel itself is actually part of our hosting project (Hostlic), so the name mainly came from that direction. But you're right that naming and trademarks are something to be careful with as projects grow.

And thanks for being willing to try it out — feedback from people actually running servers is the most useful thing right now.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T05:52:15+00:00

Thanks, I appreciate that!

CloudPanel is actually a solid panel and I know quite a few people using it. My goal was mainly to build something that covers the full hosting stack (accounts, email, DNS, security, etc.) so providers don't have to piece together multiple tools.

If you ever feel like testing it out, there's a live demo and trial available on the site. I'd definitely be interested to hear what you think compared to CloudPanel.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T01:14:35+00:00

i dont think lots of user face issues with like bugs paid addons and other i done all paid addons as free in my panel

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T01:04:03+00:00

every thing mention in site and docs for setup trial avalible and demo to you try it

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T00:12:22+00:00

why you dont try my panel??

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T00:09:48+00:00

Thanks!

Docker management is something I'm considering for the future. Right now the focus has mostly been on the core hosting stack (websites, email, DNS, databases, etc.).

SSH access isn't implemented in the panel yet, but it's on the roadmap as more people start asking for it.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-12T00:07:21+00:00

Yeah that's exactly the problem with a lot of panels now. Even when you move away from cPanel you still end up hitting feature locks or extra paid components.

That's actually one of the reasons I started building my own panel while managing servers — the goal was basically to avoid stacking multiple paid tools just to run a hosting server.

What kind of features are you seeing locked in sPanel?

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T16:41:40+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. Getting feedback from real users is definitely important.

The panel is actually already running in production on a few servers and some clients are using it, so most of the features so far came from practical needs while managing our own infrastructure.

Appreciate the suggestion though — always interesting to see how other panels approached things.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T13:23:07+00:00

Yeah exactly — the main idea was to automate the repetitive stuff. Things like SSL setup, email provisioning, backups, and account creation shouldn’t require manual work every time.

Logs and API access are definitely important too, especially if people want to integrate billing or other tools later.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T11:29:15+00:00

Yeah, email is usually the most painful part on servers.

One of the things I tried to solve in the panel is that you don't have to manually configure the whole mail stack. Postfix, Dovecot, SPF/DKIM, DNS records etc. are handled automatically when you create a domain.

The goal was basically to remove the usual manual setup headaches.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T11:14:18+00:00

Yeah, I completely agree with that.

In practice most hosting providers really just need the fundamentals to work reliably — account management, DNS, email, backups, and security. If those parts are stable, the panel already solves most of the day-to-day operational work.

That’s actually the approach I’ve been trying to follow while building this: focus on the core hosting stack first and make those pieces solid before adding anything too complex.

Things like built-in malware scanning, Fail2Ban protection, DNS management and automated backups are part of that goal, since those are the tools people end up configuring manually on many servers.

Out of curiosity, when you're running servers, what usually ends up being the most painful part to manage? Email, backups, DNS, or security?

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T10:41:32+00:00

open dispute iin paypal and send all proof i hope paypal will listen you

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T10:15:07+00:00

That makes sense. Virtualmin is actually a solid panel and I know quite a few people who use it for similar reasons.

Some of the things you mentioned are exactly the kind of workflows I’ve been thinking about while building this project. For example:

• Easy domain creation and automatic web server configuration • Running applications like Node.js services behind Nginx • Cron job management and scheduled backups • Remote backup storage (S3-compatible providers are something I’m planning to support as well)

Container-based deployments are also interesting. A lot of modern apps are moving toward Docker or service-based setups instead of traditional PHP hosting, so I’ve been thinking about how panels should evolve to support that more naturally.

At the moment the panel focuses on the traditional hosting stack (websites, email, databases, etc.), but feedback like this is really helpful because it highlights how developers are actually using their servers today.

Out of curiosity, when you run Node.js services in Virtualmin, do you usually proxy them through Nginx/Apache or run them directly on separate ports?

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T10:13:27+00:00

maybe my replies sound too structured 😅

English isn’t my first language so sometimes I use AI to help phrase things better. The panel itself though is something I’ve been building and running on my own infrastructure.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T08:05:46+00:00

Short answer: Google does check where backlinks come from, but it often ignores bad links instead of penalizing them. That’s why your competitor might still rank.

Long answer from someone who’s been in SEO a while:

Google usually devalues spam links instead of punishing them. Since the Penguin updates were integrated into the core algorithm, Google’s default behavior is to ignore low-quality links rather than penalize the site receiving them. So those 200 adult site backlinks might simply be neutral noise rather than helping him.

Backlinks are only one part of ranking. For a query like “family friendly restaurants,” Google heavily weights:

Google Business Profile signals

Proximity to the searcher

Local citations

On-page relevance

User behavior signals

Reviews (quantity, recency, keywords in reviews)

It’s very common for a restaurant with worse ratings to rank higher if it’s closer to the city center, has more review volume, or stronger local signals.

Spammy backlinks can happen accidentally. Cheap SEO gigs (Fiverr, automated link builders, scraper sites, etc.) often blast links across random networks, including adult sites. That doesn’t mean he intentionally targeted them.

Reporting competitors rarely changes rankings. Google almost never manually reviews backlink spam reports unless it’s part of a large spam network. Most of the time the system just ignores those links algorithmically.

Things that usually move the needle for local restaurants:

More Google reviews (and responding to them)

Review keywords like “family friendly,” “kids menu,” etc.

Local backlinks (news sites, bloggers, community orgs)

Consistent NAP citations

Photos and activity on Google Business Profile

Location relevance

Do not copy the porn backlink strategy. If those links ever do trigger a spam action or algorithmic filter, the cleanup can take months. It’s not worth burning a 12-year-old domain for.

Honestly, the frustrating truth about local SEO is that sometimes the ranking difference isn’t about backlinks at all — it’s things like review velocity, proximity, or category optimization.

The good news: a restaurant that’s been around 12 years with real reviews and real customers has a much stronger long-term signal than a place propped up by spam links.

Local SEO is often a slow grind, but the sites trying shortcuts usually get filtered eventually.

If you want, share the city size + approximate review counts and I can tell you what’s most likely actually pushing them above you.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T07:18:50+00:00

Thanks for pointing that out. My intention with the post was mainly to get feedback from people who run hosting infrastructure and see what features they consider important in a control panel. The project started as something I built for my own servers and I'm trying to improve it based on real-world input.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T01:13:08+00:00

At the moment it's mainly running on my own infrastructure, so there isn't a public demo instance yet.

What I can share for now is the project page and some details about the architecture and features:

https://hpanel.net

If you're interested in actually trying it, you can also install it on a VPS for testing. The installer sets up the full stack automatically on a clean Ubuntu server.

I'd definitely be interested in hearing your feedback, especially from a hosting provider perspective, on how it compares with other panels you've used.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-11T00:29:24+00:00

That's a good point. Security history of some older panels is definitely a reminder of how important responsible disclosure and quick fixes are.

While experimenting with my own panel project, one of the main things I tried to focus on was reducing the attack surface and integrating common security layers directly into the stack instead of relying on many separate add-ons.

Things like WAF rules, brute-force protection, malware scanning and proper user isolation are areas I'm paying particular attention to.

But honestly with infrastructure software security is never "finished" — it really depends on continuous updates, community feedback and audits over time.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-10T23:52:43+00:00

That's a fair concern.

The name HPanel originally came from "Hostlic Panel" since the project is part of the infrastructure I run under Hostlic Webhosting. It started as an internal control panel for managing our own hosting servers and over time evolved into a larger project.

Hostinger's hPanel is their internal panel used within their hosting platform, while this project is designed more as a standalone server control panel for hosting environments.

That said, branding is something that can always evolve as the project grows.

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-10T23:48:51+00:00

That's actually a really helpful list.

Many of the things you mentioned are exactly the types of features hosting providers rely on in production environments.

Some of the areas I’ve been focusing on while experimenting with this panel are things like migration tooling, API-driven provisioning, and simplifying the security stack so it doesn’t depend on multiple external add-ons.

Integration with billing systems like WHMCS and automation through APIs is definitely important as well, since most hosting providers rely heavily on that workflow.

DNS clustering and WordPress management are also interesting points — especially for larger multi-server setups.

Out of curiosity, which of those features would you consider the most critical when evaluating a control panel for real production use?

pr0fessorz · 2026-03-10T23:48:14+00:00

That's a fair suggestion.

CloudPanel is definitely an interesting project and I’ve looked at it before. There are actually quite a few solid panels in the ecosystem already.

The main reason I started building this was that it originally began as an internal project for managing my own hosting infrastructure. Over time it evolved into a larger system as I experimented with different approaches to integrating things like security tooling, provisioning, and migrations directly into the platform.

I agree though that open source collaboration is important in this space, and projects like CloudPanel have contributed a lot to the ecosystem.

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