Hetzner is discontinuing Plesk and ELS licenses as of December 31, 2024. What steps should I take to continue using Plesk?

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4 comments

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    Michel vd Lingen

    This is just the beginning; from what I’ve read on various hosting forums, social media, and Reddit, more and more providers, both large and small, like Hetzner, are planning to drop Plesk entirely. Plesk has effectively priced itself out of the market, leaving the door wide open for competitors.

    The pricing for Plesk licenses is downright absurd and far from sustainable. In the past, Plesk was nearly perfect in every respect: performance, features, and cost. But that’s a distant memory now. Performance is often sluggish (both for Plesk itself and the websites hosted on it), and it’s been overtaken by open-source alternatives—especially those based on OpenLiteSpeed. There are far too many unnecessary features, which most users don’t need or use, but they still manage to add to the costs. Our server clients constantly ask why they’re paying for all these extras when the vast majority of them go unused, let alone daily.

    And then there’s the pricing. It has gone completely off the rails. Every year since around 2017, prices have increased dramatically, and the market tolerated it—until now. Heading into 2025, we’re seeing yet another absurd price hike: Plesk Web Pro Edition is set to increase by over 45% per month, and Plesk Web Host Edition by nearly 52% per month. That’s just indefensible.

    It’s clear that this is driven by the private equity firms behind Plesk (who have already sold it twice). They’re not just looking to recoup their investment but to rake in massive profits. But they’ve gone too far. When major providers like Hetzner decide to drop Plesk entirely, it speaks volumes. And they’re not alone—other players in the hosting industry, both small and large, have already announced plans to phase out Plesk entirely.

    Let’s not forget the outrageous costs of ELS, which are now being made mandatory and will see further increases in multiple stages throughout 2025. This is a disaster for Plesk’s reputation and its future. Even Plesk’s own forums are flooded with complaints about these price hikes. It’s painfully obvious that they simply don’t care anymore. At this rate, I doubt Plesk will even make it to 2026.

    Of course, they’ll retain some customers, but their market position is clearly eroding with each passing price increase. Enough is enough. This is evident everywhere—Reddit, social media, and hosting forums are all echoing the same sentiment.

    I’m curious to see if they’ll allow constructive criticism like this under an article, but I’m not holding my breath. Especially not with the investment firms pulling the strings and calling all the shots.

    4
  • Avatar
    Frank Heilmann (Edited )

    I am thinking about switching from Hetzner licence to Plesk to have a bit longer time for the eol upgrade. Does switching to EOL supplement mean I have to use it longer than one month or can I instantly cancel it when all is up to date again?

    0
  • Avatar
    Carlos Devera

    I thank Michel vd Lingen who wrote the first comment. Totally agree to every single topic of his well written and justified answer. In the last years, Plesk became the plaything of private equity companies. It's not that the product itself is getting better and better. No, it's getting just more and more expensive.

    However, we webhosters and resellers are the sovereign, who decides what runs on our servers. And it seems, that “time to say goodbye” to Plesk has come. Investors sometimes need to feel their greed for more and more money in a opposite way: Let them behind with their overpriced products and say hello to alternatives. This is called “market economy”.

    However, it's a pity that formerly fair products will end in such way.

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    Paul Viduj

    Very sad news. I don't understand why they can't come to a compromise solution that is good for both parties and for us, the customers. It's a shame.

    1

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