Question 22.46% Price Increase - Are you mad?!

[SDGPete]

We have Plesk Web Host Edition.

We don't use it as a reseller or any of the reseller functions, we utilise the unlimited domains feature for the clients we manage (we're a web design company).

Last year in November we paid £598.95

I've just received an email from Cleverbridge saying it'll be £733.50!!! That's an increase of £134.55 = 22.46%.

How can Plesk legitimise that huge increase??

If this price is to remain then Plesk needs to make it possible to increase the domain limit of 30 domains within Pro Edition to unlimited.

 

[J.Wick]

Agreed.
We're most likely going to move to CloudPanel.

 

[Maarten]

I found out that Oakley, the parent company of WebPros (which owns Plesk), sold WebPros in 2019 to another investment firm, CVC Fund VII:
Oakley Capital agrees sale of WebPros to CVC Fund VII

This means we’re stuck in a cycle of price increases because these investments need to deliver returns. It's ridiculous, really, as the end users are the ones who suffer from these huge price hikes.

It's frustrating that the financial interests of these firms keep pushing prices up without any real consideration for the customers who rely on the product.

 

[HHawk]

It's amusing to recall that earlier this year, both IgorG and Peter Debik assured me I was exaggerating. And yet, here we are: more and more users are voicing their frustrations over these relentless, annual (and frankly, absurd) price hikes. I suspect this may indeed be the breaking point. Rest in peace, Plesk!

I imagine that CVC, our latest investment overlords, might soon notice a dip in profits and decide to offload Plesk to yet another party. Assuming, of course, there's still someone willing to buy a ship that’s already taking on water. If not, perhaps we’ll see Plesk sold off to some obscure company in Russia—though I’m sure that would bring a fresh set of complications.

 

[J.Wick]

It's amusing to recall that earlier this year, both IgorG and Peter Debik assured me I was exaggerating. And yet, here we are: more and more users are voicing their frustrations over these relentless, annual (and frankly, absurd) price hikes. I suspect this may indeed be the breaking point. Rest in peace, Plesk!

I imagine that CVC, our latest investment overlords, might soon notice a dip in profits and decide to offload Plesk to yet another party. Assuming, of course, there's still someone willing to buy a ship that’s already taking on water. If not, perhaps we’ll see Plesk sold off to some obscure company in Russia—though I’m sure that would bring a fresh set of complications.

If Plesk were sold to a company in Russia, the US would sanction and ban it from being used, just as they did to Kaspersky.

 

[HHawk]

If Plesk were sold to a company in Russia, the US would sanction and ban it from being used, just as they did to Kaspersky.

Well I wouldn't be surprised. Plesk (or the investment group behind it, which calls the shot) follows the money... :-O

 

[bootted]

Agreed.
We're most likely going to move to CloudPanel.

I did it. It wasn’t very complicated—actually, CloudPanel has so few customization options that it was almost enjoyable to work with. I installed Fail2Ban and the other “magic extensions” that Plesk included by default, but it's definitely worth it as a long-term investment.

Plesk is a fantastic tool that I used for almost a decade, but seeing price increases year after year makes the business quite uncertain. Plus, I don't like paying for Plesk nearly three times what I spend on my server hardware.

Hetzner's prices have been dropping (with hardware becoming smaller, more powerful, and energy-efficient), while these licensing companies offer very little innovation and keep raising their prices.

 

[J.Wick]

I did it. It wasn’t very complicated—actually, CloudPanel has so few customization options that it was almost enjoyable to work with. I installed Fail2Ban and the other “magic extensions” that Plesk included by default, but it's definitely worth it as a long-term investment.

Plesk is a fantastic tool that I used for almost a decade, but seeing price increases year after year makes the business quite uncertain. Plus, I don't like paying for Plesk nearly three times what I spend on my server hardware.

Hetzner's prices have been dropping (with hardware becoming smaller, more powerful, and energy-efficient), while these licensing companies offer very little innovation and keep raising their prices.

It's great to hear of your liberation.

I was about to do the same, but I received a Black Friday deal for a 40% discount if you purchased an annual license yesterday and went with it to buy some time for other, more critical projects.

 

[Atharv95]

It's amusing to recall that earlier this year, both IgorG and Peter Debik assured me I was exaggerating. And yet, here we are: more and more users are voicing their frustrations over these relentless, annual (and frankly, absurd) price hikes. I suspect this may indeed be the breaking point. Rest in peace, Plesk!

I imagine that CVC, our latest investment overlords, might soon notice a dip in profits and decide to offload Plesk to yet another party. Assuming, of course, there's still someone willing to buy a ship that’s already taking on water. If not, perhaps we’ll see Plesk sold off to some obscure company in Russia—though I’m sure that would bring a fresh set of complications.

It's clear that frustrations are mounting over the recurring price increases, and many users feel this may be a turning point for Plesk's reputation. If CVC continues down this path, it risks alienating its core customers. A change in ownership or strategy might be inevitable, but it remains to be seen who will steer the ship next.

 

[HHawk]

Well when you have to migrate 100 accounts per remaining Plesk server... Cloudpanel is not a good option. You also need a seperate solution for email.
But I will investigate it. Maybe there customers who only want / need webhosting. Doubt it though.

 

[bootted]

Well when you have to migrate 100 accounts per remaining Plesk server... Cloudpanel is not a good option. You also need a seperate solution for email.
But I will investigate it. Maybe there customers who only want / need webhosting. Doubt it though.

So, CyberPanel and aaPanel are the panels that might suit you. Personally, I chose CloudPanel because it's dummy-friendly—I didn’t want to waste time customizing anything

 

[IgorG]

CloudPanel because it's dummy-friendly

Just wondering - is it enough? What about comparable functionality to Plesk? And what about the speed and quality of tech support?
Don't get me wrong, I'm just wondering. I've been out of the Plesk orbit for a while now, but I work for a company that produces another hosting panel.

 

[bootted]

Just wondering - is it enough? What about comparable functionality to Plesk? And what about the speed and quality of tech support?

My tech support is Claude and OpenAI. For the past two years, I’ve been solving any issue by relying on the documentation provided by each provider and using AI to better understand the information.

Plesk is undoubtedly a better solution than all the ones mentioned, but I personally choose to invest my time rather than spend my money.

 

[SDGPete]

If anyone has experience of alternative hosting control panels for Windows/IIS servers please do message me. Ideally one that's capable of web hosting and mail (we host mail separately on dedicated mail servers but still want to manage via control panels).

 

[Mike99]

Just wondering - is it enough? What about comparable functionality to Plesk? And what about the speed and quality of tech support?
Don't get me wrong, I'm just wondering. I've been out of the Plesk orbit for a while now, but I work for a company that produces another hosting panel.

Igor, I am using Plesk with Hetzner for almost a decade, newer needed a support from Plesk directly, maybe create an option to buy cheaper license without support? Don't get me wrong, but I am not able to compete with other hosting companies now if hardware + software cost / number of subscriptions is not comparable with what other companies are able to offer webhosting packages for.

 

[IgorG]

@Mike99 I don't know what to say. I've been out of Plesk for a long time to give any advice, sorry.

 

[bootted]

Igor, I am using Plesk with Hetzner for almost a decade, newer needed a support from Plesk directly, maybe create an option to buy cheaper license without support? Don't get me wrong, but I am not able to compete with other hosting companies now if hardware + software cost / number of subscriptions is not comparable with what other companies are able to offer webhosting packages for.

I too have never sought Plesk support. I've posted a few questions on this forum for rare and extreme cases but have never written to an operator. Someone has certainly used this service, but the point is that Plesk's goal is to justify price increases, whereas a good product does not need to justify its price because it is simply good