cPanel Raises Prices: How You Could Be Affected

The hosting world collectively balked on June 27, 2019, when cPanel, the world’s most popular control panel, announced their new pricing structure. Instantly a storm of criticism whipped itself into a frenzy, where reactions from both hosting providers and users ranged from simply irritated to downright outraged. 

Nevertheless, only months after being acquired by Oakley Capital, a venture capitalist tech company, cPanel announced that rather than sticking with the per-server-based pricing they have always used, they would instead focus on a per-user structure. Today we attempt to look beyond the sheer outrage to determine exactly how cPanel pricing has changed and how you may be affected in the near future. 

What exactly did cPanel change?

cPanel has traditionally charged based on a per-server basis. Each server pays for a license, typically $45 per month or $425 per year, that can then be shared amongst however many users the server hosts. The number of users on a server can easily range between one and one thousand. 

The recent announcement states that cPanel has decided to bill on a per-user basis instead of per-server. A first glance, the price increase doesn’t seem to be as drastic as users proclaim. However, when you factor in how many accounts are on a server, the price change can be as high as a 1000% increase. 

New cPanel Pricing

You can see cPanel’s new Account Tier pricing in the image below. Note that the Solo, Admin, and Pro accounts are for cloud usage only. Only the Premier account is approved for metal servers. The sticker states, “Up to 1000 Accounts – Each Account after 100 Accounts $0.20 each.” 

Many web hosting providers and users can expect a huge increase in their cPanel bill. A Hosting Review article explains how the fees can quickly accumulate, “Many companies tend to put more than a hundred accounts on one cPanel server; some have up to a thousand users on a machine. Clearly, this change will have a massive effect on them. The more users per server a company will have, the bigger the price increase will be.”

How will you be affected?

cPanel’s unprecedented pricing change has shocked the industry, and the changes are such that no provider or user will be left unaffected. Unfortunately, the increase is so steep that companies will be forced to pass the price to the end-user, although exactly how much more you will be paying depends on your current hosting infrastructure. Shared hosting clients will probably only experience a small increase, while dedicated hosting clients can expect a bit more change in their hosting bill. You will most likely see a restructuring of your hosting bill in the upcoming weeks and months, if not already.

Was this change anticipated? 

When an author from Hostinor was asked if cPanel changes were expected, they responded with “Absolutely not. As mentioned here, we expected to see a price increase as part of the acquisition but not nearly to this extent. The expectation was that we would see an approximate 20% increase, but had planned to take a hit for around 50 – 70% without the need for ‘restructuring’.”

While acquisitions in the technology industry happen regularly, very few result in shock waves that affect so many within any one industry. Keep in mind, though, that there are options outside of cPanel. However, this may lead to a bit of a learning curve, and you may be left disappointed with the functionality, support, and coverage offered by the substitute control panel. 

If you have questions about the recent changes to cPanel’s prices or any other concerns regarding your UK2.NET hosting account, please do not hesitate to contact our technical support staff at your earliest convenience. We are available 24 hours a day to answer any questions you may have.