We currently have a little more than 30 cPanel servers. Moving away from cPanel would probably take a couple of years, but we are destined to do so no matter what cPanel’s next move will be. If anything, they’ve proved thay cannot be trusted and that their clients aren’t important to them. Also, chances are that there won’t be much left of cPanel if most of their clients move away.
We have been testing DA for a little more than a year, trying to figure out the API, as we want to build it into our own client area (our own WHMCS, if you will) that we’ve
developed ourselves (currently fully functional for cPanel).
Our biggest concern with DA (perhaps except the fact that the API is either lacking some functions, or the docs for the API is missing something) was the fact that DA selling lifetime licenses didn’t seem like a viable and future proof solution. As I was watching cPanel destroy their reputation over night, my first thought was that if all their clients moved to DA and bought lifetime licenses, DA would soon be overloaded with work, providing support and answering forum posts from clients that eventually wouldn’t bring any money into DA, except for the initial investment in one or more lifetime licenses.
My point is this, the new DA price model means that a sudden increase in the number of clients also means DA would earn more money, which hopefully will put them in a position were they can hire more staff and thereby be able to actually manage the increased work load and put more time into developing DA further. So this is a good thing, not only for DA, but for all of us wanting a solid cPanel alternative.
I would actually prefer it if DA made the $99 yearly update price mandatory. Or remove the owned license altogether. The most important thing (for me at least) is to know that my «panel provider» is making money, meaning they will be in it for the long haul.
On a final note, I truly believe the cPanel fiasco will turn out to be one of the best things that has happened in the hosting business (which I’ve been a part of since 1996). cPanel and Plesk has had a much too large piece of the market, and if nothing else, the last days events has shown that that’s a bad thing.