WHM and cPanel: What Are the Differences?

Introduction

WHM and cPanel are often confused because they go hand in hand, but they don’t do the same thing and aren’t for the same type of customer. In one sentence: WHM manages the server and every account on it, cPanel manages a single hosting account. Here’s what each one does and which one you need.

What is WHM?

WHM (Web Host Manager) is the panel used to manage and create hosting accounts on a server. It’s the panel our reseller hosting customers get: whoever has access to WHM can set up an independent cPanel account for each client or project they manage.

Some of WHM’s most notable features:

• Manage the entire server.
• Create, suspend or delete hosting accounts.
• Configure server-wide settings (PHP, resource limits, hosting packages…).
• Add domains and assign them to the right accounts.
• Restore cPanel accounts from a backup.
• White-label the panel to resell it under your own brand.

Every time you create a hosting account from WHM, you’re actually creating a cPanel account inside it. That’s why the two panels are almost always talked about together: neither replaces the other, WHM is simply the layer above.

What is cPanel?

cPanel is the control panel for a single hosting account. It’s the one our cPanel hosting customers use directly to manage their website day to day.

Tasks you can do from cPanel include:

• Manage the account’s files (file manager, FTP).
• Edit the domain’s DNS records.
• Install web apps (WordPress, PrestaShop, Joomla…) via Softaculous.
• Manage additional domains and subdomains.
• Check the website’s traffic and stats.
• Back up and restore the account.
• Create and manage MySQL databases.
• Manage email accounts.

WHM vs cPanel: the difference at a glance

	WHM	cPanel
Manages	The whole server and every account on it	A single hosting account
Built for	Resellers and hosting providers	The owner or webmaster of a website
Accounts it handles	Several, one per client or project	Its own
Used by our	Reseller hosting customers	cPanel hosting customers

Which one do I need?

• You have one website (or several, but you manage them yourself): cPanel is all you need. No need for WHM.
• You manage hosting for several different clients or projects, each with its own independent account: you need WHM — typical of an agency, a web designer hosting client sites, or anyone reselling hosting under their own brand.

Frequently asked questions

Can I have WHM without cPanel?

Not in practice: every account you create from WHM is a cPanel account. WHM is the management layer above it, not a replacement.

Do WHM and cPanel cost the same?

No. Reseller hosting with WHM access is a different service aimed at people reselling or managing several accounts, priced differently from a single cPanel hosting plan.

If I get reseller hosting, do I lose access to cPanel?

No. From WHM you can still log into each individual cPanel account you’ve created, on top of managing the server as a whole.

Conclusion

The difference comes down to this: WHM manages the server and every hosting account on it, cPanel manages one specific account. If you only run your own website, cPanel is more than enough. If you need to create and manage independent accounts for different clients or projects, you need reseller hosting with WHM access.

Still have questions? Write to us at ayuda@mihosting.com and we’ll help you pick the right plan.