cPanel is a well known Website Control Panel interface used to make it easier for Web Hosts and users to perform what would normally be advanced tasks. There are many other Control Panels out there such as Plesk and Helm, all have their good and bad points.

If you needed to choose between them what I can say is cPanel Hosts are generally cheaper as the market is more competitive. If you are used to another control panel I would recommend using a demo cPanel account to ensure you are comfortable with cPanel before purchasing cPanel Hosting. The interface has been designed to be as user friendly as possible as well as providing the main sections on one page.

cPanel consists of two core programs, cPanel which allows you to administer a single account on a server and Web Host Manager which allows administration of the underlying server. Generally with Shared Hosting you will be given access to cPanel only, above that unless the package is managed you will also be given access to Web Host Manager to manage your own accounts.

cPanel simplifies a number of tasks:

Uploading and managing web pages;
Creating email accounts
Installing web-based applications like blogs, shopping carts, and forums
Backing up data
Protecting a site’s content and bandwidth from abuse
Generating and viewing statistics about visitors
Reviewing error logs to locate broken links and other problems

Web Host Manager simplifies a number of tasks:

Set up and modify customer accounts
Receive alerts if the server goes down
Install applications and programming language modules
Create and apply hosting plans
Block spam
Integrate new web technologies
Brand customers’ cPanel interfaces with custom logos