This section explains the differences between Plesk WebHost and BYOL and provides recommendations on choosing between them.

Both configurations provide all components necessary for web hosting plus the most popular and widely used features. However, there are some differences you should consider before choosing which option to go with.

Plesk WebHost is ready to work out of the box. WebHost comes with a Plesk license pre-installed and includes a wide variety of components and features, aimed both at shared hosters and web pros.

Plesk WebHost is a good fit for you if:

  • You want to try out Plesk.
  • You do not have a Plesk license.
  • You want to start using Plesk right away.
  • You do not want to spend time on configuring Plesk.

Instances based on WebHost images come with a pre-installed Plesk WebHost Edition license, which will be billed even if you replace it with any other Plesk license. If you want to use Plesk Web Pro Edition or Plesk Web Admin Edition, you need to base your instance on a BYOL image.

BYOL stands for “bring your own license”, meaning that you have to supply a Plesk license obtained separately to operate an instance with Plesk BYOL. By default, Plesk BYOL does not include a number of components supplied with Plesk Web Host. You can install these components manually, if desired.

Plesk BYOL is a good fit for you if:

  • You are familiar with Plesk.
  • You have a Plesk license.
  • You know exactly which Plesk components you need.
  • You do not mind spending a little time configuring Plesk.

Which components are not installed by default in Plesk BYOL depend on the cloud service you instance is based on. For exact lists of these components, refer to the section “Provided Product Configurations” of the following topics: