Hostinger developed hPanel as a custom, in-house solution to replace cPanel. It’s designed from the ground up to be more intuitive, faster, and easier to navigate for users of all skill levels. This guide will serve as your complete tutorial, walking you through every feature, offering an in-depth overview, and providing expert tips to manage your website like a professional.

Key Takeaways

  • hPanel is a custom control panel developed by Hostinger to provide a more modern, user-friendly, and faster alternative to the traditional cPanel.
  • The hPanel dashboard is your central hub for managing every aspect of your account, including websites, domains, email accounts, files, databases, and hosting plan details.
  • WordPress management is a core feature. hPanel includes a dedicated WordPress dashboard for one-click installs, staging environments, security settings, and managing updates.
  • Security and performance are built-in with features like free one-click SSL installation, daily backups, and server-level caching through LiteSpeed.
  • hPanel is an ecosystem. It integrates all of Hostinger’s services, including the AI Website Builder, email, and domain registration, into one seamless interface.

Understanding the hPanel Philosophy: Why Not cPanel?

Before we dive into the “how-to,” it’s important to understand why Hostinger invested in creating its own control panel. This decision was about more than just aesthetics. It was about controlling the entire user experience.

The User Experience (UX) Focus

Hostinger designed hPanel with a modern, clean interface that groups features logically. Where cPanel can feel like a cluttered directory of icons, hPanel uses a sleek, top-down navigation system. This makes it far less intimidating for beginners. You do not need to hunt for the “File Manager” or “Email Accounts.” They are clearly labeled in main categories like Websites, Emails, and Files.

Performance and Optimization

Because Hostinger built hPanel itself, it could optimize it for its own infrastructure. hPanel is lightweight and fast. It does not carry the bloat of cPanel, which was designed to run on thousands of different server configurations. This custom-built approach means hPanel loads quickly and performs actions, like installing WordPress or creating a backup, with greater speed.

A Unified Ecosystem

hPanel is the glue that holds all of Hostinger’s products together. It’s not just a hosting panel. It’s your account dashboard. From here, you manage your hosting subscriptions, register new domains, manage your professional email accounts, and access the AI builder.

This unified platform approach, where all services live in one place, simplifies the web creation workflow. We see a similar philosophy in other specialized solutions, such as Elementor Hosting. This type of platform builds an all-in-one environment specifically optimized for a particular builder, in that case, Elementor and WordPress. Hostinger’s hPanel applies this logic to its entire service lineup, creating a single, streamlined experience for its customers.

First Look: Navigating the Main hPanel Dashboard

When you first log in to hPanel, you are greeted with a clean dashboard. Let’s break down the main navigation elements so you always know where to find what you need.

The Homepage Overview

The main dashboard homepage gives you a quick-glance overview of your services. You will typically see:

  • A “Setup” wizard for any new hosting plans.
  • Quick-access buttons to your primary website, email, and domain.
  • A list of your active websites and domains.
  • A navigation bar on the left (or top) with the main categories.

Understanding the Main Navigation Bar

All of hPanel’s tools are organized into these primary categories.

  • Websites: This is where you will spend most of your time. It lists all your websites and provides a “Manage” button for each, which takes you to that specific site’s control panel.
  • Hosting: This section allows you to manage your hosting plan itself. Here you can renew your subscription, upgrade your plan, and monitor your overall resource usage.
  • Emails: This tab is for managing all email accounts associated with your domains.
  • Domains: This is where you handle domain registration, transfers, and DNS settings.
  • Billing: This section holds your payment history, invoices, and saved payment methods.
  • Help: This links you directly to Hostinger’s knowledge base and support team.

Finding Key Information: Resource Usage

One of the most critical parts of the main dashboard is the Resource Usage section, found under Hosting. This area shows you the vital stats for your plan:

  • CPU Usage: How much processing power your site is using.
  • Memory: The amount of RAM your site’s processes are consuming.
  • Processes: The number of simultaneous processes running on your account.
  • Disk Usage (Inodes): This is a very important one. Inodes are the number of files and folders on your account. Many hosting plans have a limit on inodes, so it is crucial to monitor this.

Keeping an eye on these metrics is key to maintaining a healthy website. Spikes in CPU or memory can indicate a problem with a plugin or a surge in traffic.

Core Section: Website Management

The Websites tab is the heart of hPanel. When you click “Manage” on any website in your list, you enter a dedicated dashboard just for that site. All the tools in this new left-hand menu now apply only to the selected website.

This is where the real work of site management happens.

Adding a New Website vs. Migrating a Website

From the main Websites dashboard, you have two primary options:

  1. Add Website: This launches a simple wizard. You will choose if you want to use the Hostinger Builder or WordPress, select your domain, and hPanel will create the new site directory for you.
  2. Migrate Website: This provides you with a tool to request an automated migration. You will provide your credentials for your old host, and Hostinger’s team will handle the transfer.

The Website Management Dashboard

Once you select a site to manage, you will see a powerful new menu. Let’s explore the most important sections.

WordPress Overview

This is your mission control for any WordPress site. hPanel deeply integrates with WordPress to give you powerful tools without ever logging into your wp-admin dashboard.

  • One-Click WordPress Installation: If you are starting fresh, the Auto Installer (found under Website) makes this simple. You select WordPress, fill in your admin username and password, and hPanel installs it for you.
  • Manage Your WordPress Site: The WordPress section in the left-hand menu is your command center.
    • Dashboard: This shows your WordPress version, update status, and allows you to toggle core settings.
    • Security: Here you can see if your plugins are up to date and enable or disable the WordPress update functions.
    • Staging: This is an essential professional tool. A staging site is a private copy of your live website. You can safely test new plugins, update your theme, or make major changes here. When you are happy with the results, you can “push” the staging site live, and hPanel automatically replaces your old site with the new version, all with zero downtime.
    • Speed (LiteSpeed): This dashboard controls the server-level cache. We will cover this more in the Security and Performance section.

Expert Tip: hPanel’s tools manage your WordPress installation, but they do not build the site itself. For that, you work inside the WordPress dashboard. This is where you will choose a theme and a builder. A powerful combination for many creators is pairing Hostinger’s performance with a visual builder like the Elementor Website Builder. This setup allows you to install WordPress through hPanel and then take complete, pixel-perfect visual control over your site’s design from within WordPress.

Hostinger AI Website Builder

If you choose not to use WordPress, hPanel gives you a prominent alternative: the Hostinger AI Website Builder.

  • What is it? This is Hostinger’s all-in-one, drag-and-drop site builder. You do not need to install anything. You just launch it from hPanel.
  • How to use it from hPanel: You simply click Hostinger Builder in your site’s dashboard. It will ask you a few questions about your business and brand, and its AI will generate a complete, multi-page website template for you in seconds. You can then edit the text, swap images, and publish.
  • The Rise of AI in Web Creation: Hostinger’s AI Builder, accessible from the hPanel dashboard, offers one path to a quick website. This tool is part of a larger industry trend of embedding AI into the creation workflow. Other platforms, like Elementor AI, integrate similar AI content and image generation tools directly within the editor. This gives designers an AI co-pilot to help them write copy, create unique images, and even generate code from inside their familiar workflow.

Deep Dive: Hosting Plan Management

The Hosting tab in the main hPanel navigation is where you manage the technical and financial details of your hosting plan itself.

Plan Details and Usage

This dashboard shows you:

  • Your hosting plan name (e.g., “Premium Shared Hosting”).
  • The renewal date for your plan.
  • The IP address of your server.
  • The server location (e.g., USA, Netherlands, Singapore).
  • Your nameservers (which you need to point your domain to).

It also features another view of your Resource Usage, which we discussed earlier. This is the best place to get a high-level view of your account’s health.

Renewing and Upgrading Your Plan

Hostinger’s plans are often sold on long-term contracts (1, 2, or 4 years). This section is where you can manage your renewal. You can also easily upgrade. If your site outgrows the “Premium” plan, you can upgrade to a “Business” or “Cloud” plan with a single click. hPanel handles the migration in the background with no downtime.

Monitoring Resource Usage (Inodes, CPU, Memory)

This is worth repeating. You must proactively monitor your resource usage.

  • What Do These Metrics Mean?
    1. CPU: A 100% CPU spike means your server is working as hard as it can. If this spike persists, your site will slow to a crawl. This is often caused by a “bad” plugin, unoptimized code, or a bot attack.
    2. Memory: This is the temporary workspace for your site. If you run a complex plugin (like a large eCommerce or membership plugin), it can use a lot of memory. Hitting your limit will cause site errors.
    3. Inodes: This is the total number of files and folders. Every email, every cache file, and every image thumbnail counts. It is very easy to hit this limit on a large WordPress site.
  • Tips for Optimizing Resource-Heavy Sites:
    1. Check Inodes: Use the File Manager to find and delete old backups, log files, or cache folders.
    2. Optimize Images: Before you upload images to your WordPress site, compress them.
    3. Use Caching: Enable LiteSpeed cache (more on this later) to reduce CPU and memory usage on every page load.
    4. Check Plugins: Use your WordPress dashboard to deactivate plugins one by one to see if one is causing a CPU spike.

Managing Your Domains

The Domains section of hPanel is your central registry for all your domain names.

Registering a New Domain

You can search for and buy a new domain directly through hPanel. Many Hostinger plans come with a free domain name for the first year, which you can claim from this dashboard.

Transferring an Existing Domain

If you bought your domain elsewhere (like GoDaddy or Namecheap), you can transfer it to Hostinger. This allows you to manage your billing and renewal for both hosting and your domain in one place. You will need to “unlock” your domain at your old registrar and get an “EPP code” to initiate the transfer.

Managing Subdomains

A subdomain is a prefix to your main domain (e.g., blog.yourwebsite.com or shop.yourwebsite.com). hPanel makes creating them simple. You just type the prefix, and it automatically creates the corresponding folder in your File Manager.

DNS Zone Editor: A Practical Guide

This is one of the most powerful and “developer-focused” tools in hPanel. The DNS (Domain Name System) is the internet’s phonebook. It tells browsers where to find your website, email server, and other services.

  • What is a DNS Zone? It’s a collection of records for your specific domain.
  • Common Records and When to Use Them:
    • A Record: The “Address” record. It points your domain to a specific IP address. Your main A record points to your Hostinger server.
    • CNAME Record: The “Canonical Name” record. It points a subdomain to another domain name. This is often used to connect to third-party services like Shopify or a separate email provider.
    • MX Record: The “Mail Exchanger” record. This tells the internet where to deliver your email. If you use Hostinger’s email, this will point to their servers. If you use Google Workspace, you will change your MX records to point to Google.
    • TXT Record: The “Text” record. This is a simple text file used for verification. Services like Google Search Console or Facebook Business will ask you to add a TXT record to prove you own the domain.

hPanel’s DNS Zone Editor provides a clean interface to add, edit, and delete these records.

Professional Communication: Email Management

The Emails dashboard is a simple and powerful tool for creating and managing email accounts at your own domain (e.g., [email protected]).

Setting Up a Free Hostinger Email Account

Most Hostinger plans come with free email accounts. From this dashboard, you can:

  1. Select the domain you want to create an email for.
  2. Click “Create new email account.”
  3. Enter the name (e.g., “info” or “contact”) and set a password.

That’s it. Your account is active instantly.

Accessing Your Webmail

hPanel provides a “Webmail” button next to every email account. This opens a simple, browser-based email client where you can send and receive messages without setting up any software.

Configuring Email Forwarders and Autoresponders

  • Forwarders: This lets you automatically forward all incoming mail from one address to another. For example, you can forward [email protected] directly to your personal gmail.com address.
  • Autoresponders: This allows you to set up an automatic “out of office” or “we received your message” reply.

This section provides all the basic tools you need to run a professional email service for your business.

Security and Performance Features

hPanel includes several critical tools for keeping your site fast and secure. You will find most of these in your website’s Manage dashboard.

SSL Certificates (The “Free Lifetime SSL”)

An SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate encrypts the connection between your website and your visitors. It’s what gives you the “https” and the padlock icon in the browser’s address bar.

  • What is SSL? It is a non-negotiable security feature. Google penalizes sites without SSL, and most browsers will show a “Not Secure” warning to visitors.
  • How to Install and Force HTTPS via hPanel: Hostinger provides a free, “Lifetime SSL” from Let’s Encrypt.
    1. In your website’s dashboard, go to Security -> SSL.
    2. Select your domain and click Install SSL.
    3. hPanel will automatically install and configure it.
    4. Once installed, you must toggle the Force HTTPS option. This ensures all visitors are automatically sent to the secure “httpss” version of your site.

Backups and Restoration

This is your website’s time machine. Do not overlook it.

  • Accessing Daily/Weekly Backups: In your website’s dashboard, find Files -> Backups. Hostinger automatically generates backups (daily or weekly depending on your plan).
  • How to Restore Your Website: hPanel gives you granular control. You can choose to restore:
    • Only Website Files: This will restore your WordPress files, plugins, and themes.
    • Only Databases: This will restore your posts, pages, and user data.

You can select a backup date and click “Restore.” This is a lifesaver if a plugin update breaks your site or you accidentally delete important content.

Caching and Performance

Speed is everything. hPanel has a powerful, built-in tool for this.

  • Understanding LiteSpeed Cache: Hostinger’s servers use LiteSpeed, a high-performance web server. It has its own caching plugin for WordPress called LiteSpeed Cache. Caching stores a “snapshot” of your site so the server does not have to rebuild it for every single visitor.
  • Configuring Cache Settings in hPanel: In your WordPress dashboard in hPanel, go to Speed (LiteSpeed). Here you can turn the cache on or off with a single click. When you make changes to your site, you should come here and click Purge Cache to make sure your changes are visible to visitors.

Working with Files and Databases

For more advanced users, hPanel provides direct access to your site’s core components.

The hPanel File Manager

Found under Files in your website’s dashboard, the File Manager is a visual, web-based tool for managing your server’s file system.

  • Navigating the Interface: It looks just like Finder on a Mac or Explorer on Windows. Your website files are located in the public_html folder. You can drag and drop to upload files, or use the toolbar to:
    • Upload and Download files.
    • Create new files and folders.
    • Zip and Unzip archives (essential for uploading themes or plugins manually).
    • Move and copy files.
  • Editing File Permissions (CHMOD): You can right-click any file or folder and select Permissions. This allows you to change the CHMOD values, which control who can read, write, or execute a file. This is sometimes necessary when troubleshooting plugin or theme issues.

Database Management

Your WordPress site’s content (posts, pages, users, settings) is stored in a MySQL database. hPanel gives you full control over this.

  • Creating a New MySQL Database and User: Under Databases -> MySQL Databases, you can easily create a new database. You will give it a name and create a database user with a secure password. WordPress needs these three pieces of information to connect to its database.
  • Accessing phpMyAdmin: This is an advanced, industry-standard tool for managing your database directly. From the Databases dashboard, you can click a button to log in to phpMyAdmin for any of your databases. From here, you can run database queries, repair tables, or manually edit data (but be very careful!).
  • Managing Remote MySQL Access: By default, your database can only be accessed by your website on the same server. This feature allows you to grant access to other IP addresses, which is useful for connecting to your database with a desktop application.

Advanced Tools and Developer Features

hPanel also includes a suite of tools for professional developers.

  • Git Integration: (Found under Advanced). This allows you to connect a Git repository (from GitHub, GitLab, etc.) directly to a folder on your website. You can “pull” changes from your repository to deploy updates to your site automatically.
  • SSH Access: (Found under Advanced). For command-line users, hPanel allows you to set up SSH access. This lets you log in to your server directly and manage files, run commands, and use tools like wp-cli.
  • Cron Jobs: (Found under Advanced). A cron job is a scheduled task. You can use this to tell the server to run a specific command or script at a set time (e.g., “every night at 3 AM”). WordPress uses this for its own scheduled posts, but you can add your own for custom tasks.
  • PHP Configuration: (Found under Advanced). This dashboard lets you control your site’s PHP environment. You can change your PHP version (crucial for compatibility and speed) and enable or disable specific PHP extensions that your plugins might require.

Pro Tips for Getting the Most Out of hPanel

You now know what all the tools do. Here is how to use them like an expert.

Tip 1: Always Use the Staging Environment

Never, ever update major plugins or your WordPress version on your live site. Use the WordPress Staging tool. It takes 60 seconds. Push your site to staging, perform all your updates there, and browse the staging site to confirm nothing is broken. If it all looks good, push it back to live. This is the single biggest thing you can do to prevent a broken site.

Tip 2: Monitor Resource Usage to Prevent Downtime

Do not wait for your site to go down. Once a month, log in to hPanel and check your Resource Usage under the Hosting tab. If you see your CPU or Inode usage creeping up (e.g., consistently over 70%), it’s time to be proactive. Clean your cache, delete old files, or consider upgrading your plan before you hit the limit.

Tip 3: Master the File Manager for Quick Fixes

Sometimes, a bad plugin will lock you out of your own WordPress wp-admin dashboard (the “white screen of death”). hPanel’s File Manager is your key. You can navigate to public_html/wp-content/plugins/, find the folder for the plugin that caused the error, and rename it (e.g., to bad-plugin-old). This instantly deactivates the plugin and will almost always let you log back into your site.

Tip 4: Don’t Forget Website Accessibility

While hPanel secures your site’s backend, you must also consider your site’s front-end accessibility. As web creation expert Itamar Haim notes, “A technically fast website that is inaccessible to users with disabilities is still a broken website.” This is why implementing accessibility best practices is crucial. This responsibility falls on the web creator, not the hosting panel. Tools that scan your live site for issues, such as the Ally by Elementor plugin, can be invaluable for identifying and fixing these critical usability barriers for users with disabilities.

Tip 5: Building a High-Converting Store

hPanel provides the secure foundation (SSL, backups) for your eCommerce store. But building a high-conversion shopping experience happens inside WordPress. To truly customize your shop, product, and cart pages, you’ll need a specialized tool. The Elementor WooCommerce Builder, for example, gives you granular, drag-and-drop control over every part of the customer’s purchasing journey. This allows you to design a unique, branded experience that goes far beyond a basic WordPress theme.

Conclusion: Your Central Command Center

Hostinger’s hPanel is a powerful, modern, and intuitive control panel. It successfully simplifies the complex world of web hosting without sacrificing advanced features. For beginners, it provides clear, guided paths to install WordPress, create an email account, and secure a site with SSL. For professionals, it offers robust tools like staging, Git deployment, SSH access, and full database control.

By understanding this dashboard, you are no longer just a “website owner.” You are a true administrator, with full command over your site’s performance, security, and operations.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) about hPanel

1. Is hPanel better than cPanel? “Better” is subjective, but hPanel is widely considered more modern, faster, and more user-friendly, especially for beginners. cPanel is still very powerful and offers a vast number in-depth features, but hPanel’s clean design and integration with Hostinger’s ecosystem make it a more streamlined experience.

2. How do I install WordPress in hPanel? In your website’s management dashboard, go to the Website section on the left and click Auto Installer. Select WordPress, fill in the required fields (site title, admin username, password), and click “Install.”

3. Where is the File Manager in hPanel? After you click “Manage” on the website you want to access, you will find the File Manager in the left-hand menu under the Files category.

4. How do I create a staging site in hPanel? In your website’s management dashboard, go to the WordPress section on the left and click Staging. You will see a button to “Create Staging,” which will make a copy of your live site.

5. How do I set up my free email in hPanel? From the main hPanel dashboard, click the Emails tab. Select the domain you want, click “Create new email account,” and fill in the username and password.

6. How do I install my free SSL certificate? In your website’s management dashboard, go to Security on the left and click SSL. Select your domain, click “Install SSL,” and then make sure to toggle “Force HTTPS” on.

7. How do I find my database in hPanel? In your website’s management dashboard, go to Databases on the left and click MySQL Databases. This will list all of your current databases. You can click to enter phpMyAdmin from this same screen.

8. How do I restore my website from a backup? In your website’s management dashboard, go to Files on the left and click Backups. You can then select a date and choose to restore your files, your databases, or both.

9. Can I use Git with hPanel? Yes. For more advanced plans, you can find Git under the Advanced section of your website’s dashboard. You can link a repository and set up automated deployments.

10. How do I check my resource or inode usage? From the main hPanel dashboard, click the Hosting tab. You will see a Resource Usage section that shows your CPU, Memory, and Inode (Disk Usage) statistics.