# Virtualmin review (2026): is the free plan enough? > Open-source hosting control panel with a paid Pro edition Checked Nov 13, 2026 ยท graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA. Virtualmin is a web hosting control panel for Linux servers, built on Webmin. It is sold as a free GPL edition and a Pro edition that adds support, reseller accounts, a Podman plugin and WP Workbench, priced by the number of domains managed. - **Category:** Web Hosting - **Made by:** Virtualmin - **Website:** https://www.virtualmin.com - **Runs on:** Web - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you want hosting included, because Virtualmin is the panel and not hosting. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 13, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 13, 2026, Virtualmin has a free plan, and paid plans start at $7.50 per month for Pro, 10 domains. - **Pricing model:** Free plan - **Free plan:** Virtualmin GPL is free and open source, with community forum support and 5 installable scripts. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Virtualmin GPL | $0 | Free and open source; you host it yourself. Apache or Nginx, MySQL and PostgreSQL, mail, CLI and HTTP API. | | Virtualmin Professional, monthly | $7.50 per month for up to 10 domains, billed monthly | Adds private ticket support, resellers, Podman and WP Workbench plugins. Tiers go to 50, 100, 250 and unlimited domains. | | Virtualmin Professional, annual | $75 per year for up to 10 domains | Same features as monthly, billed yearly. Prices rise with the domain tier you pick. | Read from https://www.virtualmin.com/shop/ on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Virtualmin before buying. ## Ways to pay less - **Annual billing at $75 versus $7.50 monthly** (Annual discount): The entry Pro tier costs $75 a year or $7.50 a month; the shop lists both subscription types. Source: https://www.virtualmin.com/shop/ ## Key features - **Domain accounts and delegation:** Domain owner and reseller accounts give users control over their own sites; Pro adds resource limits and advanced user management. - **Mail stack:** Mailboxes with spam and antivirus protection, forwarders and auto-responders; Pro adds Amazon SES delivery. - **DNS options:** Manage DNS locally, or link to Cloudflare, Google Cloud DNS and Amazon Route 53 (some providers are Pro). - **Backups to cloud storage:** Scheduled backups with Amazon S3 in GPL and Google Storage, Backblaze, Dropbox and GPG encryption in Pro. - **Podman and WP Workbench:** Pro includes a Podman plugin for per-domain containers and WP Workbench for WordPress updates, cloning and backups. - **CLI and remote API:** A command-line tool and an authenticated HTTP API automate server setup, routine tasks and bulk changes. ## Good for - Hosting providers and agencies running their own Linux servers - Teams moving off cPanel, Plesk or DirectAdmin who want to keep a standard OS stack ## Worth knowing - Pro is priced by domain count (10, 50, 100, 250 or unlimited); only the entry price is shown on the shop page. - GPL has 5 installable scripts, against 60+ in Pro, and gets forum support only. - The installer needs a fresh supported OS: Debian, Ubuntu, AlmaLinux, Rocky Linux or Red Hat Enterprise Linux. - You run the server yourself; Virtualmin is the panel, not hosting. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.2 out of 4**, graded Nov 13, 2026. Virtualmin is a hosting panel on top of Webmin, sold as a free GPL edition and a Pro edition priced by domain count. The GPL edition has 5 installable scripts and forum support, and you run the server yourself. - **Value for money: C.** GPL is free but self-hosted, so it counts as C. Pro starts at $7.50 a month for 10 domains, between the $5.00 and $10.99 lines for web hosting, and rises with the domain tier. - **Free plan and trial: B.** The GPL edition is free and open source with no listed cap. It has forum support only, 5 installable scripts and no resellers. - **Features: C.** Domain accounts, a mail stack, DNS options, cloud backups, a CLI and a remote API. Resellers, Podman, WP Workbench and 60-plus scripts need Pro. - **Ease of use: D.** No store rating on record. It needs a fresh supported Linux install and administering the server. - **Platforms and integrations: B.** Web only, but it connects to Webmin, Cloudflare, Route 53, Amazon SES and S3, Dropbox, Google Drive and Let's Encrypt, with a remote API. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Virtualmin's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among web hosts - Virtualmin's GPA of 2.2 is higher than 74 of the 122 other web hosts we grade, and level with 24. - It stands best on free plan and trial (B, above 99 of 122) and worst on ease of use (D, above 0). - Its paid plans start at $7.50 a month, against a middle price of $9.69 for the category: 45 of the 107 others that charge start lower. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. 21 tools score higher and cost less. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/web-hosting ## Keep it, or make your own? **Your call.** Virtualmin sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call. It costs $90 a year. Virtualmin is open source, so there is a third way: take its code and run it yourself. - You could make: It runs in a browser, which is where something home-made would run too. - You could not: A file manager working directly on your disk. - You could not: It plugs into other products, Webmin, Cloudflare and Amazon Route 53 among them, and has an API. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. ## Works with Webmin, Cloudflare, Amazon Route 53, Amazon SES, Amazon S3, Dropbox, Google Drive, Let's Encrypt **Tags:** Open source, Self-hostable, Public API, File management ## Alternatives - [cPanel](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cpanel): Web hosting control panel licensed per server, by account count. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cpanel-vs-virtualmin) - [Plesk](https://toolgpa.com/tools/plesk): Web hosting and server control panel licensed per server. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/plesk-vs-virtualmin) - [DirectAdmin](https://toolgpa.com/tools/directadmin): Licensed web hosting control panel for Linux servers. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/directadmin-vs-virtualmin) - [HestiaCP](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hestiacp): Free open-source web server control panel. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hestiacp-vs-virtualmin) - [CyberPanel](https://toolgpa.com/tools/cyberpanel): Free OpenLiteSpeed control panel with paid add-ons. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/cyberpanel-vs-virtualmin) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026: - https://www.virtualmin.com/shop/ - https://www.virtualmin.com - https://www.virtualmin.com/download/ Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/virtualmin Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).