Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

ISPConfig VS Docker

Compare ISPConfig VS Docker and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

ISPConfig logo ISPConfig

ISPConfig 3 is an open source hosting control panel for Linux.

Docker logo Docker

Docker is an open platform that enables developers and system administrators to create distributed applications.
  • ISPConfig Landing page
    Landing page //
    2018-10-19
  • Docker Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-25

Docker

Website
docker.com
$ Details
Release Date
2013 January
Startup details
Country
United States
State
California
Founder(s)
Solomon Hykes
Employees
50 - 99

ISPConfig features and specs

  • Open Source
    ISPConfig is a free, open-source control panel, which means there's no cost involved, and users can modify the source code to fit their specific needs.
  • Multi-Server Support
    ISPConfig allows for management of multiple servers from one control panel, which is beneficial for users managing a large number of servers.
  • User Management
    It offers comprehensive user management, allowing administrators to create and manage different levels of user accounts with various permissions.
  • Extensive Features
    Includes a variety of functional modules such as email, web hosting, DNS, and FTP, suitable for a wide range of server management needs.
  • Security
    ISPConfig includes features that improve security, such as SSL certificate management and firewall configurations.
  • Community Support
    Being a popular open-source project, there is a substantial amount of community support, including forums and documentation.

Possible disadvantages of ISPConfig

  • Complexity
    The extensive features come with a steep learning curve, making it potentially overwhelming for beginners.
  • Limited Commercial Support
    While it has a strong community, ISPConfig lacks a structured commercial support option, which can be a disadvantage for enterprise users.
  • Third-Party Dependencies
    ISPConfig relies on several third-party tools and services, which can lead to additional complexities in managing compatibility and updates.
  • User Interface
    The user interface is not as polished or modern compared to some commercial alternatives, potentially affecting user experience.
  • Performance Overhead
    Like many control panels, ISPConfig adds an additional layer of software, which can result in a performance overhead on the server.
  • Documentation
    While there is community documentation, it may not always be complete or up-to-date, posing challenges in troubleshooting.

Docker features and specs

  • Portability
    Docker containers are designed to run consistently across different environments such as development, testing, and production, ensuring that software behaves the same regardless of where it's deployed.
  • Efficiency
    Docker containers share the host OS kernel and use fewer resources compared to traditional virtual machines, which allows for faster startups and reduced overhead.
  • Isolation
    Containers encapsulate the application and its dependencies in a separate environment, which minimizes conflicts between different applications' dependencies.
  • Scalability
    Docker makes it easier to scale applications quickly and manage resource allocation dynamically, which is particularly useful for microservices architectures.
  • Continuous Integration and Deployment
    Docker facilitates CI/CD processes by making it easier to automate the deployment pipeline, resulting in faster code releases and more frequent updates.
  • Community and Ecosystem
    A vast community and a rich ecosystem of tools and pre-built images in Docker Hub, enabling you to quickly find and reuse code and solutions.

Possible disadvantages of Docker

  • Complexity
    While Docker can simplify certain aspects of deployment, it adds a layer of complexity to the infrastructure that might require specialized knowledge and training.
  • Security
    Containers share the host OS kernel, which can pose security risks if an attacker gains access to the kernel. Proper isolation and security measures must be implemented.
  • Persistent Data
    Managing persistent data in Docker can be challenging, as containers are ephemeral and the default storage solutions are not always suitable for all applications.
  • Monitoring and Debugging
    Traditional monitoring and debugging tools might not work well with containerized applications, requiring specialized tools and approaches which can complicate troubleshooting.
  • Performance Overhead
    Although lighter than virtual machines, Docker containers can still introduce performance overheads, especially when multiple containers are running simultaneously.
  • Compatibility
    Not all software and systems are fully compatible with Docker, which can limit its use in certain legacy applications and complex environments.

ISPConfig videos

ispconfig 3 creating site

More videos:

  • Tutorial - How to Install ISPConfig on Ubuntu 18.04?
  • Review - ISPconfig Part 1 - Installation

Docker videos

What is Docker in 5 minutes

More videos:

  • Tutorial - What is Docker? Why it's popular and how to use it to save money (tutorial)
  • Review - Real World PHP Dockerfile Review, from a #Docker Captain

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to ISPConfig and Docker)
Control Panels
100 100%
0% 0
Developer Tools
0 0%
100% 100
Hosting
100 100%
0% 0
Containers As A Service
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using ISPConfig and Docker. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare ISPConfig and Docker

ISPConfig Reviews

Top 12 Best VPS Control Panels for 2025
Whether you are looking for a VPS control panel for personal websites, digital studios, or reseller hosting, you’ll find that ISPConfig is a great choice. It’s powerful, free, and has a very reliable track record. In addition to that, it has the ability to handle large enterprise-level websites, as well as small, personal sites.
Explore Top VestaCP Alternative: Find the Perfect Control Panel for Your Hosting Needs
ISPConfig is a potent and open-source web-based control panel, that acts as a catalyst for seamless management across a range of web hosting environments. With precision, this versatile tool is crafted to cater to the requirements of both individual users and hosting service providers. At its heart, ISPConfig furnishes an expansive set of tools that adeptly configure, manage...
Source: cyberpanel.net
10 Most Popular Free Web Hosting Control Panels You Need To Know
ISPConfig is another free and open source hosting control panel that also allow to manage multiple servers from its own interface . It is available for Linux different flavors and it can be installed on single server and cluster of servers.
Top cPanel Alternatives worth trying in 2022
Let’s focus on ISPConfig features. It is known to manage multiple servers at once. In case you work with more than one, you can trust ISPConfig, which gives you continuous experience without any extra control panel. This one even works perfectly with CentOS, Ubuntu, and Debian with code via GitHub in an open-source BSD license. Besides, ISPConfig 3 is one free cPanel that...
Top 11 cPanel Alternatives to Help Manage Your Websites
As a cPanel alternative, you’re going to trade price for functionality with ISPConfig. It’s free, which is fantastic given what’s in the box, but it’s not as equipped. For a handful of sites, you won’t notice a difference, and you might even forget all about cPanel after a while.
Source: kinsta.com

Docker Reviews

Exploring 7 Efficient Alternatives to MAMP for Local Development Environments
Though not specifically designed for PHP development, Docker offers a containerized approach to create, deploy, and run applications. It enables easy installation of PHP, web servers, and databases within containers, facilitating quick and consistent development environment setups.
Source: medium.com
Top 6 Alternatives to XAMPP for Local Development Environments
Docker - A containerization platform that allows developers to package applications and their dependencies into containers. Docker Compose can be used to define multi-container application stacks, including web servers, databases, and other services. Features powerful portability and consistency, supports rapid building, sharing, and container management, suitable for...
Source: dev.to
The Top 7 Kubernetes Alternatives for Container Orchestration
Docker uses images as templates to create new containers using Docker engine commands such as Build -t or run -d.
Kubernetes Alternatives 2023: Top 8 Container Orchestration Tools
Docker is an open-source platform for building, managing, deploying containerized applications. Swarm is a native feature in Docker with a group of virtual or physical machines that lets you schedule, cluster, and run Docker applications. It is a Docker alternative for Kubernetes that provides high portability, agility, and high availability.
Top 12 Kubernetes Alternatives to Choose From in 2023
Docker Swarm is a native clustering and orchestration solution provided by Docker, the leading containerization platform.
Source: humalect.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Docker seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 73 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

ISPConfig mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of ISPConfig yet. Tracking of ISPConfig recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Docker mentions (73)

View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing ISPConfig and Docker, you can also consider the following products

cPanel - With its first-class support and rich feature set, cPanel & WHM has been the web hosting industry's most reliable, intuitive control panel since 1997.

Kubernetes - Kubernetes is an open source orchestration system for Docker containers

Webmin - Webmin is a web-based interface for system administration for Unix.

Rancher - Open Source Platform for Running a Private Container Service

Vesta Control Panel - – What I love about Vesta is that it's fast and easy to use

Apache Karaf - Apache Karaf is a lightweight, modern and polymorphic container powered by OSGi.