cPanel pricing killed the shared hosting hobbyist

Been thinking about this since sent ticket yesterday to old host. CPanel at $15/month for solo license is absurd if you run just few small sites. Made test order on VPS instead and realized: I actually enjoy setting up nginx myself now? But I was scared of terminal two years ago.

This pricing killed shared hosting hobbyist, no? The person who wants host blog and forum and maybe wiki for friends. Not reseller. Not agency. Just tinkerer with $20/month total budget.

Before: $5 shared plan with cPanel included. Click installer, done. Now: $5 plan plus $15 license = $20 before content. Or learn Docker, Debian, Let's Encrypt, fail2ban...

I moved to DirectAdmin for while but even they raised prices. What is left for beginner who wants panel? Nothing at reasonable price. So people go raw VPS and either learn or leave hobby.

Cheers!

Thanks for raising this, it's a topic we discuss internally often. A few observations from our side at Contabo:

- cPanel's pricing shift in 2019 fundamentally changed the economics for small hosts
- We absorbed costs for existing customers but new plans had to adjust
- DirectAdmin saw initial surge but you're right about their 2023 increase

What we're seeing now:

• Raw VPS growth among former shared users
• Panel-free control panels (Hestia, KeyHelp) gaining traction
• Managed WordPress as alternative path for non-technical users

Happy to check what specific workflow you're trying to replicate — feel free to DM. We still offer one-click installers on our non-cPanel stack.

— Jane @ Contabo

Wesh ana

Le server حلو when you manage yourself incha'allah
But I understand the frustration

The problem is not cPanel alone
It is the entire ecosystem that built around it
Softaculous, JetBackup, everything
You pay for convenience that becomes necessity

I run Hestia on small VPS, works bien
But I am sysadmin light, not beginner
For my mother who wants blog about cats?
Impossible, she needs panel or she needs me

The hobbyist is dead unless has nephew willing to help
Or unless has money for managed service

Incha'allah someone builds good free panel again

Hej I was on shared hosting five years with cPanel
Then price go up and I move to VPS

On server I learned many things
Into config I made mistakes
Malý server I broke three times and reinstall

But now I no want panel anymore
Is freedom to configure how I need
Hej maybe cPanel pricing was push I needed

No for beginner is hard I agree
But there is market gap for simple panel
Someone will fill it maybe

I have been running shared hosting since 2008 and I remember when cPanel was included in every plan and it was great and I had my cat photo blog and my recipe site and my book club forum all on one account for like four dollars a month and then in 2019 I got the email about pricing changes and I was eating breakfast actually it was oatmeal with blueberries and my cat Mr whiskers was sitting on the keyboard like he always does when I work and the weather was rainy that day I remember because I had to close the window and I thought well maybe it wont be so bad but then it got worse and worse and now I pay more for the panel than for the hosting and I tried DirectAdmin but the interface confused me and I tried to move to VPS but I deleted the database by accident and Mr whiskers knocked over my coffee and I cried and now I just pay the money because I dont know what else to do and nobody reads my posts anymore because they are too long but I have feelings about this

The death of the hobbyist is overstated. Also understated
What dies is the casual beginner who doesnt want to learn, thats valid, not everyone wants to spend saturday debugging certbot
But what lives is the tinkerer who was always going to outgrow panels
cpanel pricing just accelerated the inevitable
Like water finding cracks
People flow toward what they can afford. What feeds their curiosity
Some drown, some swim
I dont know which I am most days
The spreadsheet will tell us maybe

This is the fun little project energy right here

Been running NAT VPS from GreenCloudVPS for $8/year
nginx, certbot, docker compose
It actually works for static sites and small apps

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name blog.example.com;
    location / { proxy_pass http://localhost:8080; }
}

But I had failed attempts before this
The learning curve is real and not everyone has time

That spreadsheet someone mentioned
Would love to see DirectAdmin numbers
My guess: flatlined after 2023 price hike
The panel market has no good cheap option now

Same with my $8/year NAT box

nginx is fun once it clicks

GreenCloudVPS still around? Thought they folded.