cPanel and Web Host Manager (WHM) are two different interfaces commonly used for managing web hosting services. Both cPanel and WHM are developed by the same company and are often used together, but they have different capabilities and use cases.
cPanel is a web hosting control panel and is typically used by end users (website owners). Through cPanel, users can manage their email accounts, create and manage databases, set up FTP accounts, upload and download files, view website statistics, install SSL certificates, and perform many other tasks.
On the other hand, WHM is a server management interface and is usually used by web hosting providers or system administrators. With WHM, a user can manage multiple cPanel accounts (and thus multiple websites), configure custom cPanel themes and styles, control server-wide PHP and Apache settings, and generally have more control over the server.
The key difference is that cPanel is typically used for managing the day-to-day tasks of a website, while WHM is generally used for managing the overall server and multiple websites.
Additionally, cPanel is usually used under a single domain, whereas WHM operates at the server level. A WHM account can manage numerous cPanel accounts, which is particularly useful for a business providing web hosting services or for a system administrator managing multiple websites. This distinction is the most significant difference between cPanel and WHM.
In conclusion, cPanel and WHM offer different capabilities and use cases for managing web hosting services, and they often work together.