What Is Plesk?
What Plesk Is and Where It Runs
Plesk is a commercial web hosting control panel for Linux and Windows servers. It gives hosting providers and website owners a browser interface for managing websites, domains, email, databases, DNS and server features. For a general introduction to the category, see what a hosting control panel does.
Its support for Windows is what sets it apart from many panels. On Linux it typically works with Apache or Nginx and PHP. On Windows Server it works with IIS, the web server built into Windows, and can manage ASP.NET sites and Microsoft SQL Server databases.
How Plesk Organises Hosting
Plesk uses a simple structure of customers, subscriptions and service plans:
- Customers: the people or companies who own hosting, such as a client of an agency or a reseller's customer.
- Subscriptions: a hosting package assigned to a customer, including one or more domains, email accounts and databases.
- Service plans: reusable templates that set resource limits and decide which features a subscription may use. They work much like packages in other panels.
Extensions add features to the panel. They can cover backups, security scanning, staging copies of websites and other tools. Extensions are installed from within the panel, so you can add capabilities without leaving the interface.
Windows Support and Typical Use Cases
Plesk is often chosen when a Windows environment is needed. Common reasons include:
- ASP.NET websites that must run on Windows Server.
- Applications that depend on Microsoft SQL Server.
- Agencies that manage a mix of Linux and Windows sites and want one interface for all of them.
- Hosts that sell both Linux and Windows hosting and want a consistent panel for customers.
Linux-based sites, including PHP applications, run in Plesk too. The panel's features for those sites are broadly similar on both platforms, although some tools depend on the operating system. The platform question is covered in control panel OS compatibility.
Frequently asked questions
Does Plesk run on Windows?
Yes. Plesk is available for Windows Server as well as Linux. Windows installations use IIS and support ASP.NET and Microsoft SQL Server, so they suit sites that cannot run on Linux. Not every feature is identical across the two platforms, so check the documentation for the version you plan to use.
Is Plesk only for hosting companies?
No. Hosting companies are a major group of users because they can sell plans to customers. Agencies, developers and businesses that manage their own servers also use Plesk. The licence you need depends on how many domains or websites you run, so check current licensing before buying. For a direct comparison with the other large panel, read cPanel vs Plesk.