CloudPanel vs aaPanel: Which Free Hosting Panel for Your VPS (Tested)
CloudPanel and aaPanel are two popular free control panels for hosting sites on a VPS. Based on two real deployments: requirements, first login, ports and which one fits which use.
CloudPanel and aaPanel are two popular free control panels for hosting sites on a VPS. Based on two real deployments: requirements, first login, ports and which one fits which use.
When one server hosts several sites, a control panel beats hand-configuring Nginx, PHP and databases. CloudPanel and aaPanel are both free, but they aim at different users.
Tested side by side
| CloudPanel | aaPanel | |
|---|---|---|
| Panel URL | https://IP:8443 | https://IP:7800 (as shown by bt default) |
| First login | Opens straight to "create admin user" | SSH in and run bt default for URL, username and password |
| Smallest one-click plan | 2 GB RAM ($11/month) | 1 GB RAM ($6.60/month) |
| Ready in our test | Vultr, ~7 min | DigitalOcean, ~2 min |
| Style | Lean, focused on hosting (PHP, Node.js, Python, static) | Feature-rich with a plugin store |
Which to pick
- You want an all-in-one panel with file manager, cron and plugins: aaPanel.
- You only host websites and want a light, clean panel: CloudPanel.
- Lowest budget: aaPanel runs on a 1 GB plan.
Security for either panel
Until you create CloudPanel's admin, anyone who opens :8443 can, so do it immediately. Change aaPanel's panel port and default credentials early. Keep both updated and, where possible, restrict the panel port to your own IP.