0

15 Best Cloudron Alternatives and Competitors for 2023

Cloudron is a versatile cloud panel like ServerPilot and RunCloud that offers lots of advanced features in one place. But, the limitations with the starter plan, no application-level firewall support, and limited plans/pricing could easily make one look for Cloudron alternatives. So, what are the top Cloudron competitors and similar services? That’s what we will find out today.

For instance, we’ll take you through detailed reviews on cloud panels similar to Cloudron to help you find out a suitable option. We’ll also explain why you actually need a cloud panel like Cloudron.

Ready?

Let’s roll in.

What is Cloudron?

Cloudron is a cloud control panel that makes server administration easy and convenient with the help of automation. It offers easy solutions to run apps on your own cloud servers. The easy installation of apps and usability are the highlights of the company.

The provider has been around for quite a while and now has thousands of users around the world. One of the reasons users love Cloudron is the support for a variety of apps. In fact, an average user may barely experience Cloudron not supporting the application he wants to install.

The support for emails is also a fantastic benefit of Cloudron. It helps you to take care of your emails from the same place you manage your servers. In fact, you can manage the emails of all your sites on the servers from one place.

Some other advantages of Cloudron include the up-to-date fixes for apps. The platform keeps bringing out updated features to make sure everything’s working fine. Even the official users like this part of Cloudron.

Cloudron also brings forth the user management feature that lets you create multiple accounts for your team. The feature is very helpful for agencies and helps them to manage their servers in a convenient way. Moreover, sharing files and ideas becomes easier this way.

Where Cloudron has many good points, it also has some drawbacks. Firstly, there have been a lot of complaints regarding inconsistent performance. Another common issue people face is that staging your servers at Cloudron gets exhausting at times, especially if you’re a beginner.

Aside from that, the requirement of a default domain and the availability of self-support only are some other downsides of Cloudron. To be honest, Cloudron is not a platform for beginners and some of its policies make its services very limited.

That said, why do you need to look out for Cloudron’s similar services? Let’s find out.

Why Cloudron Alternatives?

Of course, there’s no all-in-one solution that fits the needs of everyone. Cloudron comes with certain drawbacks and limitations that could urge you to look for a Cloudron alternative service. Below are the major reasons to look out for Cloudron substitutes.

Poor Performance

Our testing reveals that Cloudron’s performance is mediocre and inconsistent. If you’re willing to host crucial business websites or applications on the servers, Cloudron can cause problems.

Firstly, know that Cloudron generally integrates with Vultr unless you connect it to another cloud provider. On combining with Vultr’s SSD cloud servers, Clouron was found to handle 140-150 users smoothly.

In comparison to Cloudron alternatives, the amount of users it handles is pretty low. The page load time of Cloudron is also considerably slower at an average of 3.9 seconds. If you’re willing to perform well in search engine rankings or want to offer a good user experience, it’s recommended to keep the page loading speed below 3 seconds.

Usability is Not That Great

Of course, Cloudron is optimized for user experience. But, on comparing it with other hosting panels, you’ll see that it lacks some powerful features that help to boost productivity.

Most importantly, Cloudron restricts you from managing your servers and applications one by one. Though it offers a breakdown of all your active connected servers, you don’t get the option to manage them at once.

Support Could’ve Been Better

On testing Cloudron’s customer support, our review experts found out that it’s not that reachable. If your business is critical and you cannot bear unresponsive support, Cloudron is a big NO.

However, though it takes a considerable amount of time to reach the support agent, the community forum is pretty great. Every time, there are dozens of (if not hundreds) experts available on the community forum that could help get your issue solved. But overall, Cloudron is not that good regarding customer assistance.

That said, what are some great cloud panels like Cloudron?

Let’s find out.

Top Cloudron Alternatives and Competitors for 2023

1. KamateraExpress – Overall Best for Cloud Servers and Panel

KamateraExpress is the best alternative to Cloudron, hands down. It offers a much faster speed with more flexibility and lots of additional benefits that Cloudron lacks. Just to back up, Kamatera is a popular cloud hosting provider offering an elegant API, server management tools, and cloud panel. In other words, Kamatera is an all-in-one solution for renting cloud servers and getting a powerful control portal.

What’s extraordinary about Kamatera is the performance, as mentioned before. Firstly, deploying a server is simple and quick. It barely takes 60 seconds to get your cloud instance ready for operation.

Secondly, the company offers powerful Intel Xeon processors paired with SSD storage drives and top-notch networking to boast a smooth performance. And thirdly, the platform lets you choose from 13 server locations around the globe. Selecting the one nearest to your target audience ensures enhanced server performance as it helps to retrieve data faster because of low latency. Kamatera utilizes all these features to provide the fastest cloud hosting servers with unparalleled efficiency.

The cloud server plans at Kamatera start from as low as $4/mo, it offers primary hardware resources of 1GB RAM, 1 vCPU core, 20GB SSD storage, and 1TB bandwidth. Moreover, 1 Public IP and the choice of datacenter location are standard for all plans. There are nine pre-made plans along with a flexible custom option.

The best part of KamateraExpress is that you can build a custom server, thanks to the customized feature. Unlike other providers that restrict you from getting specific resources depending upon the plan, Kamatera lets you create your own server with desired specifications. It enables you to choose anything from CPU, RAM, storage, and operating systems to add-ons. Furthermore, extra functions like daily backup and managed service are also available.

Another point to be noted is the redundancy of versatile hardware resources offered by the company. From over 104 CPU cores to 4 TB SSD storage, it provides flexible resources choice to entertain businesses of any kind.

The instant scalability is also a highlight of Kamatera. If you think that your website or app will grow and you’ll eventually need a more powerful server, Kamatera has you covered. It lets you upgrade or degrade the server resources at any time with the click of a button.

It’s no secret that customer support is beneficial at times. Thankfully, Kamatera has managed to put together a friendly, knowledgeable, and fast customer support team available 24/7 to help you with queries, issues, and errors.

Are you still confused about whether KamateraExpress is a good service or not? You can sign up for a 30-day free trial account to test if it fulfills your business needs. You should give it a try.

Pros

• Reliable and friendly control panel
• 24/7 Quick customer support
• 13 Datacenters worldwide
• Modern hardware utilization
• On the go scalability
• Redundant top tier network connectivity
• Affordable pricing
• 30-Days free trial

Cons

• You must have some technical know-how
• Expensive managed cloud plans
• Credit card is required for a trial account
• Extra charges for daily backups

2. Vultr – Best Cheap Cloudron Alternative

If affordability is your utmost concern when finding a great alternative to Cloudron, Vultr is your call. The company is primarily defined for its cheap cloud servers backed by enterprise-class hardware. The best part is, this lower price doesn’t bring the drawbacks like long-term commitments or compromise in performance.

The entry SSD cloud plan at Vultr only costs $2.50 per month with an elegant control panel which is absolutely free. It offers 1GB RAM, 10GB SSD storage, 1 CPU core, and 1TB data bandwidth. You can go for up to 1600GB SSD storage, 15TB bandwidth, 96GB RAM, and 24 CPU cores per instance for General Compute.

You also get the option to pay at an hourly rate depending upon the hours you use the server. That means Vultr allows its customers to pay either monthly or hourly for the used resources only. The inclusion of IPv6 addresses with each server is also a notable plus.

The availability of diverse server configurations and types of servers at Vultr is pretty diverse. A wide range of purpose-oriented servers like General Compute, High Frequency Compute, and BareMetal servers are available to suit your needs. Their High Frequency Comput plans come with ultimate CPU clock speed and fastest NVMe storage and range between $6/month to $250/month.

Resources scalability at Vultr is flexible too, thanks to on-the-fly upgrades within minutes. You can always switch between different plans with the click of a button. Plus, instant server deployment in under 60 seconds is also a great feature to help you set up a cloud instance promptly.

Vultr also supports various operating systems and different Linux distros, including Windows, Debian, Linux, Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, and so on. With full root access, you get the flexibility to upload a custom ISO for OS installation as well. Other than operating systems, the platform also maintains a wide range of one-click apps. Whether you want to install WordPress, cPanel, Magneto, or any other popular application, Vultr has your back.

Each instance is built with 100% SSD drives and Intel CPUs to ensure the fastest cloud servers across the world. SSDs are generally many times faster compared to traditional hard drives. The choice of 19 global data center locations is also a plus to maximize performance by reducing data latency.

Of course, a cloud panel and a server are not all you need to run your business efficiently. Thankfully, Vultr also boasts additional services like load balancers for handling traffic spikes, backups and snapshots to help you protect your data from any incident.

The offering of a web-based firewall and DDoS protection is also an exceptional addition to security. If the best value for your money is your interest, Vultr worth’s considering. With a free trial available and 4.5 million cloud servers launched on Vultr, you certainly cannot go wrong with it.

Pros

• Free intuitive panel
• Affordable SSD-powered servers
• 100% SLA uptime guaranteed
• Intel processors
• 19 Datacenters in 4 continents
• No long term contracts
• Pay hourly or monthly
• Free trial account

Cons

• No live chat, but ticket support is quite fast

3. CloudWays – Best Managed Alternative to Cloudron

Cloudways is a managed cloud hosting platform known best for its simplicity and performance. It’s an innovative and competent cloud service offering lots of excellent benefits you’ll enjoy along the way.

First thing’s first, Cloudways is more of an all-in-one solution that has partnered up with top cloud providers to offer cloud hosting along with a custom-made management control panel. To make it clear, you get the choice to choose from one of the top cloud services, including DigitalOcean, Linode, Vultr, Amazon AWS, and Google Cloud.

The pricing of the servers, of course, depends upon the cloud provider you pick. But whichever you choose, it includes the console panel price. In other words, Cloudways doesn’t cost you extra for the control panel.

The major benefit of choosing Cloudways is the flexibility to install unlimited applications and support for all PHP apps. Furthermore, the control panel is pretty innovative and makes it easy to manage your account and servers conveniently.

As an experienced cloud platform, Cloudways understands the importance of customer satisfaction and values customers in various ways. Firstly, there’s the 24/7 quick support for a worry-free cloud computing experience.

Other than that, the company boasts managed security and automated backups to get you peace of mind.

Performance-wise, Cloudways easily rules out Cloudron. Though the speed depends upon the cloud platform you choose on Cloudways, it’s generally always good at Cloudways since it has partnered up with the best cloud services only.

Furthermore, Cloudways provides a built-in CDN and support for PHP 7.3+ versions to ensure the best performance. So, if performance is your utmost concern, Cloudways is worth considering. With the free trial that doesn’t even require a credit card, you cannot go wrong with Cloudways.

Another vital point to note is that Cloudways offers managed cloud services. Unlike the traditional unmanaged services, a managed service is much more convenient as many exhausting tasks are managed by the company experts themselves. These particularly include performance optimization, security, and updates.

The cloud instances at Cloudways are the cheapest if you choose any of DigitalOcean, Linode, or Vultr. DigitalOcean’s cloud servers at Cloudways start from as low as $12/mo. Fortunately, there’s no requirement for long-term commitment for benefiting this affordable price (for managed service).

The starter cloud plan yields 1GB of RAM, 1 CPU core, 25GB SSD storage, and 1TB monthly bandwidth. In addition, essential features like SSL certificates, CDN, and SSH access are standard in all plans.

As a value-packed managed cloud provider, Cloudways also extends a variety of premium features. Other than team management, these include auto-healing server technology, advanced-cache, dedicated firewall, and what not?

If you already have a site or server that you want to transfer to Cloudways, you’ll be pleased to know that the company confers free site migrations. Other than that, higher plans are also in place to suit all kinds of mid to large business needs. The hardware resources keep increasing as you go higher.

That said, if you’re looking for a great Cloudron alternative that’s easy-to-use and doesn’t require technical understanding, Cloudways is your call. With a dazzling 4.7 rating on TrustPilot, it’s a trustable platform to consider.

Pros

• Unlimited applications installations
• Intuitive custom control panel with built-in CDN
• 5 Premium cloud services compatibility
• Automatic backups and auto-heal mechanism
• Trustable and authoritative with thousands of third party users reviews
• One-click deployment
• 24/7/365 customer support

Cons

• No root access
• Lots of upsells
• It gets a bit expensive

4. RunCloud

RunCloud is a well known hosting control panel specialized for PHP cloud servers. Its highlights are incredible customer support, simple setup procedure, and hassle-free server management. The provider has been in operation for over seven years and knows what its users want very well.

RunCloud doesn’t offer virtual servers as it has not partnered up with any cloud services like CloudWays. However, similar to Cloudron, it supports DigitalOcean, AWS, and Google Cloud. So, you can use any of these platforms to rent a cloud server and manage with RunCloud.

As an authoritative cloud panel, RunCloud has been featured in the top review websites like Forbes and HostAdvice. Runcloud’s rating on G2 is also pretty good, at 4.4 stars out of 5. That’s how it has reached to managing 246,542 applications around the world.

Besides server management, RunCloud offers additional benefits like backups to assure your data is protected. Additional features like choosing the team management and “zero-downtime guaranteed” deployment are some other advantages of RunCloud.

The platform offers a wide range of frameworks and applications to address almost all kinds of users. All the popular apps like WordPress, CakePHP, Yii Framework, Laravel, PHP, and Joomla are supported can be installed with a 1-click installer right from the dashboard. The custom user interface lets you view daily server data transfer, server health, and system load/Ram/storage for smooth operations. And in case of any emergency, it immediately displays a notification on the dashboard.

Furthermore, the server setup has been made pretty convenient. The host manages all the back-end operations like configurations, optimization, and on-time security updates. RunCloud also performs well in uptime. The application is available nearly always with minimal inaccessibility. If you are fearful regarding the provider’s commitments, consider using its 5-day free trial.

Pros

• Support almost all PHP based applications
• 5-day free trial without requiring a credit card
• Versatile apps compatibility
• Transparent commitments and pricing
• Performance-driven dashboard for quick tweaks
• Instant deployment with full control
• Easy to use panel

Cons

• Not that cheap
• You have to rent a server separately

5. ServerPilot

ServerPilot is a top-rated cloud panel specializing in WordPress hosting. Just like Vultr cloud, it’s also primarily defined for its value-packed services that appeal to agencies, developers, and individual webmasters to build WordPress websites. That’s why it has earned an excellent 4.7 rating on TrustPilot today.

The company supports some of the best cloud providers such as DigitalOcean, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure, and Amazon AWS. Whichever of these cloud platforms you choose to connect, the integration is straightforward with almost all features offered by Cloudron.

ServerPilot scores well in terms of security measures. It concedes automated updates to make sure all the apps are up-to-date and effective against attacks as well as viruses. The availability of a powerful firewall is another plus, enabling you to set rules and keep away from malicious stuff and snoopers.

The company also manages a simultaneous performance for your virtual servers with their blazing-fast stacks. These notably include Nginx, Apache, PHP-FPM, MySQL, HTTP/2, and Brotli.

Moreover, to help you feel comfortable, they house a 24/7 US-based support team. According to the official customer reviews, their support team is friendly and gets back to you in a hurry.

Aside from these nitty-gritty details, the cloud panel also offers some additional bonuses like 1-click SSL deployment for free. Regardless of how many servers you have with sites running on them, you can deploy SSL certificates right away.

The 1-click WordPress installation is also a great feature to start your new WordPress site without waiting another second. All it takes is 5 minutes to set up your server at ServerPilot; it’s quick and easy.

What’s unique about ServerPilot is the pricing structure. They don’t serve anything like unlimited servers management with a single plan, regardless of the plan you choose. Instead, you pay for each server and app at hand separately. However, each upgraded package comes with advanced features. They get better as you go higher, as a rule of thumb.

The Economy package starts from $5/server along with $0.50/app and offers all basic features. For instance, whether it’s about SSL certificates, firewall configuration, multiple PHP versions, or 1-click WordPress install, it has you covered.

If you choose the higher Business package, the pricing doubles at $10/server with $1/app. What sets it apart from the previous subscription is the priority support and a log viewer for easy tracking and resource usage stats.

The First Class package follows the same pricing pattern, it doubles compared to the previous at $20/server with $2/app. The unique features you get with this are top-priority customer support with per-app statuses monitoring.

However, you don’t have to take ServerPilot as an expensive deal if you’re a big player. The provider offers automatic 50% off as soon as you start paying $50/month. Unlike Cloudron, they have a 14-day trial option in place to help you decide if it’s worth your money.

Pros

• Lots of premium features with higher plans
• Fit for WordPress users
• Easy & quick setup
• Diverse support for apps and cloud providers
• A 14-day free trial

Cons

• The pricing policy doesn’t suit all
• Limited features with the starter plan
• No free account like Cloudron

6. Moss

Moss is another server management platform, but not just any other on the market. It’s got some unique features like making server management effortless and automated with loads of premium features offered at cheap rates. The platform is also incredible for its quick customer support, which doesn’t let you down.

Moss works very well with a variety of popular clouds you could be using. Where it maintains many cloud providers integration, installing your applications like WordPress, Laravel, PHP, and Bitbucker is also pretty convenient. Moss takes care of all optimization on their end to deliver the fastest performance for all hosted apps and sites, thanks to HTTP/2 and OCSP stapling optimizations.

But, what sets Moss apart from the competition?

No doubt, it’s their offering of unlimited servers and sites with every subscription. That’s why people are starting to explore this relatively young cloud panel. Another advantage of Moss is the availability of a free package. Yes, you heard it right. They permit you to connect your server for free and then shift to a premium package as you grow and need more resources.

In fact, the FREE plan offers up to 25 Git deployments, 1 integration, and basic assistance. What’s more, is the ability to add as many users as you want. Furthermore, the availability of firewall, cron jobs, and automatic server updates are extra perks.

Apart from this free package, the paid ones start from $9/month and go all the way up to $49/mo. The starter paid account yields 2 integrations along with 50 Git deployments and all free features. These limits keep expanding as you go higher as the Unlimited package concedes infinite integration and Git deploys along with priority support.

You can connect Amazon EC2, DigitalOcean, Slack, Google Cloud, and Vultr cloud servers. Unlike ServerPilot that costs each instance individually, Moss provides unlimited sites and servers deployment for all packages. For enhanced monitoring to keep an eye on your virtual machines, monitoring add-on costs an extra $5/month – it sends instant notifications if something goes wrong with your servers.

Pros

• Quick customer support
• Easy server management
• Free plan with one integration
• Unlimited servers & apps with the starter plan
• Pre-configured HTTP/2 and OSCP stapling
• Robust security with firewalls, SSH/SFTP, and security patches

Cons

• No support with the starter plan

7. Wodby

Although not as popular as some other Cloudron competitors on our list, Wodby is a solid platform to deploy managed stacks and applications. The company’s highlights comprise 1-click deployment with no configuration required – no coding, just click and done.

Wodby supports a wide range of popular stacks such as Drupal, WordPress, Static HTML, Elasticsearch, and what not? Plus, you also get the option to deploy a custom stack for setting up your own production environment.

The integration for cloud providers is similarly vast. Wodby is compatible with all well-known cloud services like Digital Ocean, AWS, Rackspace, Vultr, Google Cloud, Azure, and Linode. Even you can connect any custom server provider to manage your applications and websites through Wodby’s control panel.

As a server management control panel, Wodby aims to make things easy for you and developers with automation similar to Cloudron. The dashboard and control portal are easy-to-use according to real users and our own experience. All you have to do is pick your cloud provider, required stack (WordPress, Drupal, etc.), service/container (Redis, PHP, NGINX, MariaDB, etc.), and that’s it.

They also have ready-to-run stacks for your convenience. In other words, the stacks available don’t require configuration generally, helping you save time and focus more on developing projects. Furthermore, to ensure that Wodby is a reliable place to manage your servers, they regularly update its stacks regarding security and compatibility. Additional features include one-click SSL certificates and real-time log monitoring.

Wodby integrates your servers to third-party storage services for data backups. It helps with automatic data protection and for enabling backup mirroring. Agencies and large firms with a team of developers and coders can benefit from the team management feature by assigning individual roles to each member. That way, they can monitor project progress and maintain all contributors in one place.

There are three subscriptions at Wodby, named Developer, Team, and Business. The Developer costs nothing while offering unlimited stacks & integrations with the limit of 2 connected servers and a single user. Extras like stack upgrades and deployment tools are also included. However, the entry plan doesn’t offer official customer support. Instead, you get community support which is not that reliable.

The limits of connected servers and users dismiss as you upgrade to a higher package and packs advanced features like custom domains, 1-click HTTPS install, auto backups, and expert customer support.

The Team plan starts from $5 per app (environment) and brings unlimited stacks, unlimited integrations, and connected instances. Unfortunately, there’s a catch as it restricts a minimum of 10 instances which makes the starting price $50/month. It allows you to create five users, infrastructure upgrades, priority customer assistance along with auto backups and data mirroring. You’ll have to contact officials for the Business subscription as it’s not mentioned on the page.

Lastly, for high-end scalability, ultimate availability, and fault tolerance services, they also offer managed Kubernetes container-based clusters through AWS, GCP, and Azure.

Pros

• Easy SSL certification by Let’s Encrypt
• Managed Kubernetes and Docker clusters
• Free Plan forever for managing two servers
• API and SDK for continuous code delivery
• Ready-to-use stacks with regular updates
• Easy upgrades in one click
• 3rd Party auto data backups

Cons

• Pricing is not transparent
• Lots of restrictions with plans

8. DigitalOcean

DigitalOcean is a developer-friendly cloud solutions provider that offers various cloud solutions under one roof. It is currently managing more than 600k active users and serving over 185 countries. Operating since 2011 and is now considered among the top cloud services for webmasters, developers, and agencies.

The company offers a variety of cloud services and developer tools to serve a wide range of users. What we’ll talk about are the droplets at DigitalOcean, otherwise known as cloud VPS servers. They come with an easy-to-use custom panel at a low price.

DigitalOcean has many data center locations and lets you choose any depending on your targeted audience. It currently serves through 8-14 data centers spread across the world – availability of data center locations depends on your plan/type of cloud. Choosing a nearby location leads to better performance. If you run a business, you should select a location near your target audience, as mentioned earlier.

Moreover, the host keeps you away from the exhausting server installations and configurations you would face. Instead, you get to the deployment phase right away, after signing up on DigitalOcean.

Unlike many competitive options on the market, DigitalOcean packs a plethora of plans that include basic purpose droplets, CPU-optimized, storage-optimized, Kubernetes computes, dedicated GPUs, and RAM-optimized computes to suit the needs of anyone. Whether you are looking for cloud VMs for big data processing, website hosting, video streaming hosting, app storing solutions, or SaaS services, DigitalOcean has everything. Further, they also have gaming development and cloud VPN servers with ultimate on-demand scaling.

Getting started with an operating system is also pretty easy with the 1-click installation. A variety of scripts like MySQL, Node.js, MongoDB, etc., also come with a quick install. Plus, DigitalOcean also boasts numerous advanced tools with a control panel to bring comfort to your life. For instance, the monitoring feature gives a clean breakdown of your instance performance. The best part? It doesn’t cost extra!

The availability of cloud firewalls is also a perk to ensure better security & protection. In addition, they also offer team management functionality for better team collaboration and server management. Extras features for data protection like backups and server snapshots are obtainable too. Backups cost 20% of your server’s rent and snapshots cost $0.05 per gigabyte per month.

But where DigitalOcean offers lots of benefits, it also has some drawbacks. There’s no CDN available which tends to improve performance drastically. Besides, the customer support is not that great and unreachable at times.

Even though DigitalOcean maintains a massive library of 3000+ tutorials, but sometimes these are not that convenient because many tutorials are outdated. Other than that, DigitalOcean is an ideal platform for affordable clouds with an aristocratic control panel, making it a great Cloudron alternative.

The droplets at DigitalOcean start from as low as $5 per month; pricing varies depending on the type of storage and processor you pick. For instance, premium hardware droplets cost slightly more compared to general computing droplets.

Pros

• Refined console center with easy navigation
• Fair and affordable pricing
• Various computing solutions optimized for specific purposes
• Instant deployment

Cons

• Mediocre customer support
• Poor documentation

9. cPanel – Best for Linux Servers

cPanel is a widely popular and powerful panel tool for hosting management. Where it’s extensively used for shared hosting management, it also makes a perfect fit for virtual private servers (VPS) and dedicated servers, thus making it a tangible Cloudron competitor.

The business has been around for well over 20 years and comes with the aim of bringing automation to hosting management. Many of the top hosting providers like Bluehost offer cPanel with all their shared plans. However, using it to manage your VPS will cost separately, just like Cloudron, where you first purchase a server and then connect it with Cloudron panel.

The most exciting part about cPanel is the powerful and advanced tools it packs with. These include a variety of apps used for backups, domain management, website migrations, file transfers, databases, cron jobs, DNS editing, and so on. That’s how it has become the top hosting panel for Linux servers.

cPanel supports several premium plugins such as LiteSpeed, KernelCare, CloudLinux OS, WordPress Toolkit Deluxe, Imunify360, etc., that can be utilized for maximum server efficiency. We personally found cPanel and its features helpful for setting up virtual private servers and cloud instances.

The panel also offers customer support through live chat and ticketing channels. Unfortunately, in our tests, the live chat support wasn’t that useful. However, the official customer reviews show that the ticketing and documentations are worth it.

cPanel plans start from $15/mo (Solo) and go all the way up to $48/mo (Premier). The starter package suits small businesses, freelancers, and individuals very well as it only offers a single cPanel account. The features and limitations keep expanding as you go higher.

Pros

• Advanced features
• Friendly interface
• All-in-one suite for VPS and clouds
• Supports various premium plugins

Cons

• Live chat support can be improved
• Expensive

10. Plesk – Best for Windows Servers

Plesk is a robust alternative to cPanel and fits Windows-based servers well. The company got into the business back in 2000 and has been on a bumpy ride ever since. It now operates over 380,000 servers globally, making a total of 11+ million websites along with 15+ million email boxes.

Plesk could be a great Cloudron competitor with that sort of popularity if you are a Plesk panel user. The best part about it is the ability to manage all your servers and even sites running on it from a single dashboard. In fact, you can also control their updates and track performance simultaneously.

Plesk also supports many popular cloud services like Linode, AWS, DigitalOcean, Vultr, Google Cloud, and what not? Moreover, they have partnered up with many companies like Microsoft to give you the best Windows server management experience. Plesk has over 100 extensions to expand its functionality like Email SpamExperts, Advisor, WebTotem Security, Git, Docker, Node.js, WordPress Pack, Joomla, eCommerce, Imunify360, SEO Toolkit, etc.

The pricing of the Plesk panel depends on whether you’re willing to manage VPS or dedicated servers. It also changes with switching between month-to-month and yearly billing cycles.

The starting price is $10.08/mo (Web Admin Edition) for managing VPS servers and a 1-year contract. On choosing the monthly plan, it jumps to $11/mo, not much of a difference. It concedes ten domains, Let’s Encrypt SSL certificates, Atomiccorp security, and a WordPress toolkit.

If you’re concerned about advanced features like subscription, account, and reseller management, know that these features are restricted to higher plans only. The number of domains you can manage also increases as you upgrade the subscription. Bear in mind, there are many add-ons (sold separately) to enhance control panel functionalities available for all subscriptions.

On the other hand, dedicated server packages don’t have much of a difference. The plans start from $10.08/mo with an annual subscription and jump to $11/mo with a month-to-month cycle.

Since there’s no free plan, the provider boasts a 2-week free trial with no credit card required. It’s highly advised to try first if you’re considering Plesk since not all the users like the way it works.

For instance, we’ve seen people complaining about mediocre support services. So, we ran a test and asked a query using email & never got a reply. But with a remarkable 81.60% market share, it still is an authoritative and popular management panel.

Pros

• Powerful management panel
• Trustable platform
• Fit for managing Windows-based servers
• Dozens of function enhanced plugins

Cons

• Email support lacks

11. CloudStick

CloudStick is a relatively young cloud panel that came out back in 2019. By the date, it manages over 100 servers running over 238 websites in total. All of this makes it a relatively less authoritative cloud panel compared to other services on our list. However, they offer great value for your money with a free plan.

The server management with CloudStick is pretty hassle-free, thanks to the central dashboard that offer a good user experience with everything getting done in a double-quick. CloudStick suits advanced users well with a variety of server & database supervision features available.

Whether you’re willing to use WordPress, Joomla, or Node.js as a CMS, CloudStick has your back. It offers 1-click CMS installations with flexibility with various applications. It also supports major clouds like Amazon AWS, Linode, Vultr, DigitalOcean, GCP, etc.

One of the significant benefits of choosing CloudStick is the advanced statics and reports regarding the server logs and metrics. If you’re willing to manage servers with your team, this feature might be pretty helpful. With the help of an advanced firewall feature, you can block malicious files on your VMs and sites. The firewall lets you set custom rules for robust protection and security.

One of the critical features that some cloud panels lack is backups. There’s nothing more helpful than backups in case of a data loss. Luckily, CloudStick boasts automated backups that you can schedule and get peace of mind knowing your data is safe somewhere.

There are three main plans at CloudStick. The starter one is free but comes with the limits like one server, one hosting account, lack of Git deployment, and so on. However, it’s still a great addition since it shows you what to expect from CloudStick and whether its services are a fit or not.

The starter paid package costs $6.67/mo with a yearly billing and jumps to $8/mo for a monthly cycle. It still comes with the restriction of a single server but unlimited hosted apps. Advanced features like Git Deployment, SFTP accounts, etc., are included.

The highest PRO package is priced at $12.5/mo for a yearly and $15/mo for a monthly cycle.  It brings all premium features you could ask for, along with unlimited servers. The additionals include team management, server transfer, SSH keys management, and so on.

CloudStick gives exceptional value for your money overall. But not being such an authoritative and trustable platform is a big downside. Nevertheless, you can still use their free plan or free trial to conclude if CloudStick fits your needs.

Pros

• Advanced firewall and management
• User-friendly interface
• Easy-to-track statics
• Supports many cloud providers

Cons

• Not that trustable

12. LaravelForge

Laravel Forge is another best Cloudron alternative and a potent server panel designed for Laravel and PHP servers. The provider supports multiple cloud providers and a straightforward interface to make server management a piece of cake.

The main selling point of LaravelForge is the easy fluid-like developments it boasts. That’s why people use it especially for managing PHP applications that don’t necessarily need a specialized infrastructure – this has helped LaravelForge to manage over 424,049 applications.

Whichever cloud panel plan you choose at LaravelForge, each offers 1-click SSL deployment, that too, for free. If you’re an experienced professional, you might know that SSL certificates are crucial for websites for building trust in visitors. LaravelForge lets you review and deploy SSL certificates on all your websites running on any of the servers you’re managing with the click of a button.

The isolation feature is another notable addition that lets you ensure that an application running on a server doesn’t allow any sort of access to others on the same server. The platform maintains a powerful API to help programmers manage their VPS/VMs at an advanced level.

Aside from that, the business plans at Forge also offer secure backups stored on AWS S3 or DigitalOcean cloud servers. Whichever server provider you connect with LaravelForge, it will offer SSH access too. SSH is a secure way to log in to your server for administration. In addition, a pre-configured firewall security layer is an added measure of protection.

But what makes LaravelForge stand out? Well, the control panel provides automated security updates to ensure maximum protection against malicious files and snoopers. It also has the push-to-deploy feature to make things easy for beginners as well as help advanced users be more productive.

Whichever PHP application you integrate with LaravelForge, it’s automatically updated to ensure the best compatibility. Moreover, you can conveniently install Nginx, PHP, MySQL, Postgres, and Redis (and more) through the platform.

The packages start from $12/mo (Hobby) and go all the way up to $39/month (Business). The entry plan permits you to manage a single server with unlimited websites/deployments and push-to-deploy functionality.

You get to manage unlimited virtual servers at the price of $19/mo with the Growth plan. While their Business package costs $39/month, which is also the highest one, grants access to advanced options like server metric monitoring, team management, and backups.

Pros

• Push to deploy with each account
• Easy server integration
• Best for PHP applications
• Unlimited deployments

Cons

• The business plan is pricey

13. BunnyShell

If an advanced alternative to Cloudron is your concern, you might want to consider BunnyShell. The platform supports lots of advanced technologies and apps that many similar services lack. Though it’s a pretty much new company founded in 2018, the value it offers makes it worth a try.

One of the primary reasons people love BunnyShell is it makes their tasks easy with automation. Compared to hiring a dedicated engineer for server administration, companies with tight budgets have found it a good way around.

BunnyShell monitors your server environments, tracks their usage, and automatically scales up/down resources to offer you the best value for your money. Another significant addition of BunnyShell is maintaining a stable uptime so you can rely on the platform, knowing it’s always up to manage your instances.

Moreover, BunnyShell is designed to handle your deployments and virtual machine environments themselves, taking away the exhausting DevOps. So, you have a control tool that helps you save time and focus on what really matters.

As mentioned before, BunnyShell has an extensive list of technologies it holds. Whether you’re willing to work closely with PHP, Nginx, Ruby, MySQL, or Apache, the company has you covered. It also works with both Kubernetes and cloud/VPS servers seamlessly.

Starting with BunnyShell doesn’t have to be complicated as it offers a 14-day free trial without the requirement for a credit card. Speaking of plans, there are four of them, starting from $9/server to $99/server every month.

These four plans support 1 user, 3 users, 10 users, and unlimited users, respectively. The supported technologies are standard among all these packages, and so are the programming languages and services like NFS server, load balancer, etc.

Some conventional features included in all packages are: infrastructure management, 1-click apps install, self-healing hardware, and automatic backups. While premium features like advanced configuration, stress testing, & performance audit are restricted to higher plans only.

Another point to note down is migration. Know that migrating an app or a server costs an additional $99 with the higher plans, while the entry plans only come with the guide for doing so. So, if you’re looking for free migration, BunnyShell is not your bet.

Pros

• Supports different technologies
• 14-day free trial
• Satisfactory uptime
• Free automatic backups with all accounts

Cons

• Relatively new platform
• Server/app migration costs extra

14. Gridpane

Are you a dynamic agency that has to manage lots of WordPress websites? Or, are you a professional web owner who has dozens of WordPress sites running around and wants to maintain all of them efficiently? If so, Gridpane is pretty much what you are looking for.

You can call Gridpane a premium server management panel specializing in WordPress. It helps you create and manage enterprise-level servers and WordPress applications from one place. The highlights of Gridpane are top-tier server performance and security, making it a fit for WooCommerce and demanding WordPress sites.

The support of Girdpane for cloud providers is pretty versatile. Whether it’s about the popular services like AWS, Google Cloud, DigitalOcean, or cheap options like Linode and Vultr, Girdpane covers them all.

Furthermore, Gridpane is also praised for its exceptional customer support team. It consists of WordPress experts that are available 24/7 to help you get your business rolling.

Although Gridpane itself is not cheap, thankfully, it doesn’t require additional security plugins nor force annoying upsells. All plans include robust security protocols, Modsecurity WAF, Fail2Ban & Nginx Hardening CLI, etc.

You can get the basic plan at Gridpane for as low as $200/mo. Pretty expensive, right? That’s why it’s recommended for agencies who live and breathe WordPress sites. Thankfully, this all-in-one subscription doesn’t compromise on advanced features and includes nearly everything you could ask for.

The package includes advanced staging environments, OpenLiteSpeed for performance, server snapshots for configuration protection, etc. But, what sets the platform apart from the pack is the inclusion of an hourly backup service.

Other than that, the custom plans are also in place to fit all kinds of businesses and developer agencies.

Of course, you would not want to put your $200 at risk right away. That is where Gridpane’s 2-week free trial comes in. You even get a money-back guarantee after the trial, making a total of 1.5 months to evaluate the company’s services.

In a nutshell, Gridpane is an excellent choice for a managed WordPress hosting panel and considerably cheaper compared to competitors like WPEngine and Kinsta.

Pros

• Suitable for agencies and developers
• Value-packed services
• Free trial and refund guarantee
• High-end security

Cons

• Way expensive

15. Agius Cloud

Last but not least, Agius is another management panel specialized in applications like WordPress, WooCommerce, and Mautic. Its cloud partners are Linode, Vultr, and DigitalOcean. To be clear, it doesn’t have Google Cloud and AWS in the list of supported cloud providers.

The panel comes intending to simplify server and application administration without making a big hole in your pocket. That’s why you get to enjoy an excellent overall user experience with an easy-to-use interface and control portal.

The platform offers an advanced resource monitor showing a breakdown of server load, specifications, network usage, disk usage, and more. The file management at AgiusCloud is also easy.

Where this panel works well for beginners, it also extends advanced features like no firewall or restrictions. Furthermore, AgiusCloud performs well in terms of performance. With HTTP/2 protocol and powerful technologies like NGINX and PHP-FPM, the host ensures unmatched efficiency.

Extras at AgiusCloud include free SSL certification, easy WordPress installation, and unlimited domain configuration. And support for WooCommerce and easy cache configuration without any plugin are added perks.

They do have a FREE plan, just like Cloudron, which offers unlimited WordPress and WooCommerce apps with a single server and some restrictions. For example, it lacks the Mautic app, priority customer support, and SSL certificate. The premium plan costs $10 per month, allowing unlimited instances, preferred customer assistance, SSLs, and premium features.

Pros

• Easy setup
• Free plan available
• WordPress & WooCommerce optimization
• Unlimited domain configuration

Cons

• Not that authoritative
• No SSL with the free plan

Key Takeaways

The best Cloudron competitor that offers both an intuitive control panel and virtual servers at cheaper rates is KamateraExpress, with a starting price of as low as $4/month and one month free trial account.

Kamatera is a well-known platform with thousands of customers, 25 years of expertise, and 13 widespread data centers. The highlights of Kamatera are SSD storage, ultimate performance, quick customer support, under 55 seconds instance deployment, redundant network connectivity, and affordable yet transparent pricing.

Our runner-up Cloudron alternatives are Cloudways, RunCloud, and ServerPilot. CloudWays is a fantastic platform offering top-tier server speeds, vertical scaling, and dozens of powerful features. The availability of the free trial and “pay as you go” policy are extra perks. RunCloud is a solid Cloudron substitute if you can afford it.