Article
WauHost vs Webmin and Virtualmin: free panels, different jobs
Webmin is a free tool for managing a Linux server; Virtualmin builds a hosting panel on top of it. WauHost is free too, but made for website owners rather than system administrators.
Webmin is the open-source veteran: a web page for nearly every setting on a Linux server. On its own it isn’t a hosting panel. Virtualmin, built on Webmin, is the hosting panel: it adds websites, mail, DNS and backups per domain. So the fair comparison is WauHost with Webmin and Virtualmin together.
The short answer
- Choose Webmin + Virtualmin if you’re comfortable with server administration and want an open-source panel with mail, DNS and many options.
- Choose WauHost if you want a few WordPress websites looked after with safe defaults and plain language, without learning the server underneath.
Side by side
| Webmin + Virtualmin | WauHost | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Webmin: server administration in a browser. Virtualmin: a hosting panel built on it1, 2 | A hosting control panel for website owners |
| Source | Open source: Webmin under BSD-3-Clause, Virtualmin GPL under GPL-3.01, 3 | Closed source; the code can be reviewed on request |
| Price | Free (GPL edition). Virtualmin Pro from $7.50 a month, by number of domains4 | Free for up to 10 websites per server |
| Runs on | RHEL, AlmaLinux and Rocky 8–10, Debian 12 and 13, Ubuntu 24.04 and 26.04 (top support grade)5 | Ubuntu 24.04, Debian 12 |
| Web server | Apache or Nginx, multiple PHP versions2 | NGINX with PHP-FPM, one PHP pool and Linux user per website |
| Email hosting | Full mail stack included2 | Not included (keep mail with Google, Microsoft or Zoho) |
| WordPress | Script installers; WordPress tooling (WP Workbench) in Pro4 | Backup before every update, homepage compared after, one-click restore |
| Cloudflare | Cloudflare DNS integration in Pro4 | Built in: with an API key, by guided steps, or not at all |
| Who it’s for | “Designed by system administrators for system administrators”, in Virtualmin’s own words2 | Small businesses, publishers, agencies and bloggers |
Where Webmin and Virtualmin are the better choice
If you want open source, need mail and DNS on your own server, or like having a setting for everything, Webmin and Virtualmin are proven, free and flexible. They suit people who already think in terms of services, config files and packages.
Where WauHost fits
WauHost hides most of that on purpose. Instead of a page for every setting, you get a map of your websites and a few safe buttons:
- Every update backs up first and checks the homepage afterwards
- Risky plugins flagged every night, one button to fix them
- Firewall changes that undo themselves unless you confirm
- Cloudflare set up for you, or step-by-step if you prefer
- Your websites keep running even if WauHost is switched off
- Webmin on GitHub (licence, modules) · webmin.com
- virtualmin.com
- Virtualmin GPL on GitHub
- Virtualmin GPL vs Pro, checked 22 Oct 2026
- Virtualmin OS support