OLS .htaccess add-on

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OLS .htaccess add-on is a one-off charge, and this points unfortunately towards the direction of cPanel’s roadmap which eventually is causing their downfall. They too did the lifetime, then retracted it, pissed off the world. Then they started the onesie, twosie charges for options, and now is at an overall unattractive price offering which no one supports. That’s not a subjective statement either. No one supports it. The only reason people continue with cPanel is due to the transition pains. Now I see Cyberpanel is taking that same roadmap, and all of us who were early adopters, purchased the lifetime add-ons, clearly observe the OLS .htaccess as a result of obvious AI adoption into improving offers such as this, but let it be known that you are absolutely heading towards cutting off the head to spite the face. Fool me once shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I, for one, will be holding off on using Cyberpanel simply because of this direction.

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Totally agree with you. This move is really disappointing and feels like the exact same path that led cPanel to lose most of its loyal users.

CyberPanel was supposed to be different “open, transparent, and community-driven”. Turning something as essential as the OLS .htaccess support into a paid add-on just goes against that whole idea. It’s not about the money; it’s about the direction and the message it sends to those of us who supported this project from the very beginning.

Many of us believed in CyberPanel because it stood for freedom, not fragmentation. If this continues, it’s only a matter of time before people start looking for other solutions again.

Hope the team rethinks this and remembers what made CyberPanel special in the first place.

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Appreciate the backup, Maxwell, and you nailed it.

The irony is that CyberPanel doesn’t need to mimic cPanel’s model to increase revenue. There are smarter, community-friendly ways to monetize without alienating the same people who made the platform what it is. Here are some examples the team could consider instead of putting essential features behind one-time or subscription paywalls:

  1. Marketplace and Partner Ecosystem
  • Let developers or companies submit verified extensions and integrations (with a revenue share).
  • CyberPanel keeps 15–25% per sale, developers keep the rest. This builds long-term value while expanding the feature ecosystem at zero internal cost.
  1. Pro Support Tiers
  • Offer a true “Pro” support plan for production users: guaranteed ticket response times, live chat, and migration assistance.
  • People will pay for peace of mind, not for features that used to or should be free.
  1. Managed Hosting Partnership Program
  • Partner with VPS and dedicated server providers to bundle CyberPanel installs with their offerings.
  • CyberPanel earns licensing or referral revenue per install while hosting companies gain a value-added control panel.
  1. Education, Training, and Certification
  • Sell certification courses, webinars, or documentation bundles for agencies and admins.
  • Think “CyberPanel Certified Admin” as it builds brand authority and community pride.
  1. White-Label / Enterprise Plans
  • Agencies could pay for white-labeling, custom branding, or API access.
  • Keeps core features free while monetizing scalability and professional use cases.
  1. Donation and Sponsorship Transparency
  • Many open-source projects thrive on visible “support tiers” or Patreon-style backers.
  • People like to support software that respects them especially when it’s not forced.

If CyberPanel goes the “cPanel route” nickel-and-diming users for things that used to define its openness it’ll trigger the same slow death spiral: mass migration to forks or competitors.

The roadmap should focus on trust and innovation, not artificial scarcity. We don’t want CyberPanel to become the next cautionary tale of how great software lost its soul over short-sighted monetization.

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