Hostinger hPanel guide: a tour of the control panel (and why there’s no cPanel)

Hostinger hPanel is the control panel you use to manage everything on a Hostinger account: websites, WordPress, domains, email, files, databases, backups and SSL. Hostinger built it in-house, so it replaces the cPanel dashboard many other hosts use rather than sitting on top of it.

So, does Hostinger have cPanel? No. Its shared, cloud and WordPress plans all use hPanel instead. Most of what you’d do in cPanel has an equivalent in hPanel, laid out in a simpler way, and the rest of this guide shows you where to find it.

What is hPanel?

Think of hPanel as two layers. The top layer is your account: billing, the list of websites you host, your domains and your email subscriptions. The second layer opens when you pick a single website, and that’s where the site-level tools live, from the file manager to PHP settings.

Hostinger updates hPanel often, so menu names and positions shift from time to time. We describe things by section rather than exact button labels below. If something isn’t where we say, the search bar at the top of hPanel usually finds it in a second.

A tour of hPanel

Websites list and site dashboard

The Websites list is your home base. Every site on your plan appears here with a button to manage it. Opening a site takes you to its dashboard, which shows the domain, the plan it runs on, resource usage and shortcuts to the most common tasks. A left-hand menu on that page holds every other tool for that site.

WordPress tools

If a site runs WordPress, hPanel adds a WordPress section with an overview page, a login button for the WordPress dashboard, update controls for core, themes and plugins, a security scan and, on higher plans, staging. You can also switch on maintenance mode or reset the admin password from here, which helps if you’re locked out.

Domains

The Domains section lists every domain registered with Hostinger, along with renewal dates, nameservers, the DNS zone editor and privacy protection. It’s also where you start a transfer from another registrar; our guide to transferring a domain to Hostinger walks through that.

Emails

The Emails section is where you create mailboxes, set forwarders and auto-replies, open webmail and find the configuration details for mail apps. Our Hostinger email settings guide covers the IMAP and SMTP values and the DNS records that keep mail out of spam.

Files and databases

Inside a site’s dashboard, the Files area gives you a browser-based file manager plus FTP account details if you prefer an FTP app. The Databases area lets you create MySQL databases and users, and opens phpMyAdmin when you need to look at tables directly. Most people only touch these during a migration or a repair.

Backups and SSL

Backups are listed by date, and you can restore the whole site, just the files or just a database. How often backups run depends on your plan, so check what yours includes. The SSL area shows the free certificate for each domain and lets you reinstall it if something goes wrong. Our explainer on free SSL covers what that certificate does.

Performance and cache

Hostinger runs the LiteSpeed web server. hPanel has a performance area where you can manage the server cache, run a page speed check and, depending on your plan, turn on Hostinger’s CDN. For WordPress sites, most caching is handled by the LiteSpeed Cache plugin inside WordPress itself.

Advanced: SSH, cron jobs and PHP

The Advanced area holds the developer tools. You can enable SSH access and see the login details, schedule cron jobs, pick the PHP version for each site and adjust PHP options such as memory limits. Git deployment and error logs usually live nearby too. Lower-tier plans may not include every tool, so confirm what yours offers inside hPanel.

hPanel vs cPanel

cPanel is the control panel you’ll find at a lot of shared hosts, including Namecheap. It’s powerful and familiar to anyone who has used hosting for years, but it can feel like a wall of icons. hPanel trades some depth for clarity. Here’s how that plays out.

Our view: for beginners and most small-business owners, hPanel is the better experience. If you manage dozens of client sites through cPanel and want identical tooling everywhere, Hostinger’s panel is a reason to look elsewhere. Our Hostinger review covers the rest of the trade-offs.

One practical note: because hPanel isn’t cPanel, you can’t simply upload a cPanel backup file and restore it. Hostinger offers free migration instead, and our guide to moving a site with zero downtime explains how to plan the switch.

First tasks in hPanel

If you’ve just signed up, these are the jobs worth doing in your first session. If you haven’t built the site yet, start with our walkthrough on starting a WordPress site on Hostinger.

1. Turn on two-factor authentication for your Hostinger account in the account security settings. hPanel controls everything, so protect it first.
2. Connect or claim your domain in the Domains section, and check it points at the right website.
3. Confirm SSL is active for every domain and subdomain you use. If a certificate is pending, give DNS a little time.
4. Check your backup schedule and do one practice restore of the files on a test site so you know how it works.
5. Set the PHP version to the newest one your theme and plugins support, under the Advanced area.
6. Create your email mailbox in the Emails section and connect it to your phone or desktop mail app.
7. Update WordPress, themes and plugins from the WordPress section, and switch on automatic updates for plugins you trust.
8. Review billing and auto-renewal so you know when each plan and domain renews.

Tips for using hPanel

• Use the search bar. It’s the fastest way to any tool, especially after a redesign moves things around.
• Watch resource usage. The site dashboard shows CPU, memory and process usage. If you keep hitting limits, it’s time to tidy plugins or upgrade.
• Check notifications. Planned maintenance and account notices appear inside hPanel, which helps if you’re ever wondering whether Hostinger is down.
• Skip the upsells you don’t need. hPanel suggests add-ons now and then. Most first sites don’t need them.
• Ask support from inside hPanel. The chat button is built into the panel, so support can see which account you mean.

FAQ