What is HestiaCP used for?

HestiaCP is a web and command-line control panel for Linux servers that manages websites, mail, DNS and databases from one dashboard. It is a good fit for hosting several websites on one VPS, running mail and DNS on your own server, and server management without manual service setup.

Is HestiaCP open source?

Yes. HestiaCP is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at hestiacp/hestiacp and is written mainly in Shell.

Yes. HestiaCP is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host HestiaCP?

Yes. HestiaCP can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is HestiaCP an alternative to?

HestiaCP is an open-source alternative to Cloudways, SiteGround, Bluehost and Hostinger. Other open-source alternatives to Cloudways include 1Panel, Coolify and Websoft9.

Is HestiaCP actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to HestiaCP was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.10.5, published on 14 September 2026. The project has 4.5k stars on GitHub.

HestiaCP: open-source alternative to Cloudways, SiteGround

About HestiaCP

Hestia Control Panel gives server administrators a web and command-line interface for deploying and managing web domains, mail accounts, DNS zones and databases from a single dashboard. It spares them from installing and configuring each underlying service by hand.

The stack it sets up includes Apache2 and NGINX with PHP-FPM and multiple PHP versions, a Bind DNS server with clustering, POP, IMAP and SMTP mail services with ClamAV, SpamAssassin, Sieve and Roundcube, MariaDB, MySQL or PostgreSQL databases, Let's Encrypt SSL with wildcard certificates, and a firewall with brute-force detection using iptables, fail2ban and ipset.

Hestia targets 64-bit Debian and Ubuntu LTS releases and should be installed on a fresh operating system. The project warns that OpenVZ 7 or lower can cause DNS and firewall issues, recommending KVM or LXC virtual servers. It is written in Shell and PHP, licensed under GPL-3.0, and offers documentation and a forum.

Key features

Web and command-line administration
Apache2 and NGINX with PHP-FPM
Multiple PHP versions
DNS server with clustering
Mail services with antivirus, antispam and webmail
MariaDB, MySQL and PostgreSQL databases
Let's Encrypt SSL with wildcard certificates
Firewall with brute-force detection

Good fit for

→Hosting several websites on one VPS
→Running mail and DNS on your own server
→Server management without manual service setup

Built with: Shell; PHP
Tags: control-panel; hosting; linux-server; web-server; mail-server; dns; nginx; apache; php

HestiaCP: questions and answers

What is HestiaCP used for?: HestiaCP is a web and command-line control panel for Linux servers that manages websites, mail, DNS and databases from one dashboard. It is a good fit for hosting several websites on one VPS, running mail and DNS on your own server, and server management without manual service setup.
Is HestiaCP open source?: Yes. HestiaCP is open source under the GPL-3.0 licence. Its source code is on GitHub at hestiacp/hestiacp and is written mainly in Shell.
Is HestiaCP free?: Yes. HestiaCP is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host HestiaCP?: Yes. HestiaCP can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is HestiaCP an alternative to?: HestiaCP is an open-source alternative to Cloudways, SiteGround, Bluehost and Hostinger. Other open-source alternatives to Cloudways include 1Panel, Coolify and Websoft9.
Is HestiaCP actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to HestiaCP was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 1.10.5, published on 14 September 2026. The project has 4.5k stars on GitHub.