ChatGPT answers, unedited

If granular, per-site backup/restore is a core requirement, I’d choose cPanel + JetBackup for an agency reseller-hosting platform.

My ranking

Why cPanel + JetBackup wins: JetBackup can restore a single account and, using Advanced Settings, restore individual components rather than the entire account. cPanel also documents reseller-level permissions for exposing JetBackup's Restore Wizard. support.cpanel.netsupport.cpanel.net

That matters for an agency because you can give your support team a workflow like:

Client A broke their WordPress update → select Client A → select yesterday's backup → restore files/database (or the appropriate component) → leave other clients untouched.

DirectAdmin is the compelling alternative

DirectAdmin is particularly attractive if you're trying to keep licensing costs down. Its native backup system creates a backup for each DirectAdmin account containing domains, website data, databases, email, etc., and it has a one-click restore workflow. The reseller level can manage backups for its users. docs.directadmin.com

Its current standard license is $29/month for unlimited accounts and domains, according to DirectAdmin's pricing page. www.directadmin.com

The catch is that if by "per-site" you mean restore one domain/file/database inside a hosting account without touching the rest, JetBackup's component-level restoration is a better fit. cPanel's current documentation explicitly supports restoring individual parts of an account through JetBackup's Advanced Settings. support.cpanel.netsupport.cpanel.net

What I'd deploy for an agency

I'd use:

cPanel/WHM + JetBackup + remote object storage

with something like:

• Daily incremental backups
• Longer-term weekly/monthly retention
• Remote backup destination, not just local disk
• Per-client/account restore permissions
• File/database/email/DNS restore where appropriate
• Safety backup before destructive restores
• Separate backup storage from the hosting server

JetBackup also supports safety backups before account restoration, which is useful operationally when your staff are doing restores. docs.jetbackup.com

Bottom line: If backup granularity is the deciding factor, pay for cPanel + JetBackup. If you're optimizing for cost and are comfortable treating each hosting account as the restore boundary, DirectAdmin is an excellent value.

If you tell me roughly how many client sites/accounts you expect (e.g. 50, 200, 1,000) and whether you want WordPress-level restores or whole hosting-account restores, I can narrow this down to a specific stack and backup architecture.

If granular, per-site backup/restore is a hard requirement, I’d build the agency hosting stack around cPanel/WHM + JetBackup + CloudLinux, rather than choosing a proprietary “reseller hosting” platform.

My recommendation

1. cPanel/WHM + JetBackup — best fit

This is the combination I’d choose for an agency that wants to resell hosting under its own brand.

• Per-site/account isolation: Each client site is a separate cPanel account.
• Granular restores: JetBackup supports restoring a whole account or individual components such as files, databases, email, and DNS. JetBackup cPanel
• Client self-service: JetBackup has an end-user restore portal that can be exposed inside the customer's cPanel account. JetBackup
• Reseller permissions: You can explicitly give your agency/reseller access to the JetBackup Restore Wizard without giving it root access. cPanel documents permissions for full-account, file, email, database, and DNS restores. cPanel
• Remote backups: JetBackup supports multiple backup destinations and encrypted backups, which is preferable to keeping your only copy on the hosting server. JetBackup

Then add CloudLinux for resource isolation and reseller limits. It can enforce CPU, memory, I/O, process, and other resource controls at the account/reseller level. CloudLinux CloudLinux Documentation

The stack I'd deploy

The important distinction is JetBackup vs. just cPanel's native backups. cPanel itself can restore accounts and files/directories, but JetBackup is much better aligned with your requirement for a customer/site-level restore experience. cPanel & WHM Documentation cPanel & WHM Documentation

What I would not optimize for

I wouldn't choose a reseller platform simply because it advertises "daily backups." For an agency, the critical questions are:

• Can Site A be restored without touching Sites B–Z?
• Can you restore one database without rolling back the entire site?
• Can a customer restore their own files?
• Can your support team restore a site without root access?
• Can backups live on separate infrastructure?
• Can you set different retention policies for different clients?
• Can you restore from a specific historical snapshot?
• Can you migrate an individual customer to another server?

cPanel + JetBackup answers these particularly well. JetBackup explicitly provides account-level backup isolation and one-click full-account recovery. JetBackup

Bottom line: For an agency selling managed/reseller hosting, I'd pick CloudLinux + cPanel/WHM + JetBackup. It's a more conventional stack than some newer reseller platforms, but the granular backup/restore and account-level permissions are exactly where it shines.

If you tell me roughly how many sites/accounts you expect (e.g. 50, 500, 2,000) and whether you want managed VPS vs. dedicated server, I can narrow this down to the best actual hosting provider/server architecture and approximate monthly cost.

For an agency that needs reseller hosting with granular backups and per-site restore, I would prioritize the backup architecture over the usual “unlimited sites/storage” marketing. You want:

• Separate client/site isolation
• Individual restore points (not a full-account rollback)
• On-demand restores
• White-label client management
• Good migration tooling
• Ability to scale without moving hundreds of sites later

My shortlist:

1. Best overall: 20i (if you don't require cPanel/WHM)

Best fit for agencies managing many client sites.

Why:

• Built around agency/reseller workflows
• White-label hosting
• Strong site-level management model
• Easier for non-server-admin teams than traditional WHM
• Good fit if your agency mainly manages WordPress/business sites

Trade-off: If your team expects classic cPanel/WHM, the workflow is different. Itechguides Forbes

2. Best cPanel/WHM reseller choice: InMotion Hosting

Best if your agency wants the traditional hosting-company model.

Why:

• WHM reseller workflow
• Separate client accounts
• Easier delegation to support staff
• Better fit if clients expect cPanel access
• Good upgrade path into VPS/dedicated infrastructure

The important question: verify the exact backup retention and restore granularity on the specific reseller tier you choose. Many cPanel resellers advertise “daily backups” but differ significantly on whether you can restore a single account, database, file, or full account. Itechguides

3. Best if backups/restores are the #1 requirement: Pressable (WordPress-focused)

If your agency mostly hosts WordPress sites, this may beat generic reseller hosting.

Why:

• Designed around managing many client WordPress installs
• Central dashboard
• Site-level backups and restores
• Staging workflows
• Agency maintenance workflow

Trade-off: It is WordPress-specific and not a general-purpose cPanel reseller platform. Pressable

4. Best budget cPanel reseller: Hosting.com

Worth considering if you want a traditional reseller stack.

Their reseller offering advertises daily backups with incremental retention and granular restore options such as restoring individual files or downloading backups. hosting.com

What I would choose for an agency

If you host mostly WordPress:

Pressable or 20i

If you host mixed sites (WordPress + custom PHP + client cPanel needs):

InMotion Hosting or Hosting.com

If you are trying to become a hosting provider:

Start with WHM/cPanel reseller, then move to your own VPS/cloud stack once you have enough recurring revenue.

Before signing up, I would ask the provider these exact questions:

1. “Can I restore one client account only without affecting other accounts?”
2. “Can I restore one database or one file?”
3. “How many restore points are retained?”
4. “Can my support staff restore sites without root access?”
5. “Are backups stored on separate infrastructure?”
6. “Can I export a full client site if I leave?”

A lot of reseller plans pass the marketing test but fail the operational test when a client says: “The update broke my site—restore yesterday’s version.”

Worth considering if you want a traditional reseller stack.

Their reseller offering advertises daily backups with incremental retention and granular restore options such as restoring individual files or downloading backups. hosting.com

What I would choose for an agency

If you host mostly WordPress:

Pressable or 20i

If you host mixed sites (WordPress + custom PHP + client cPanel needs):

InMotion Hosting or Hosting.com

If you are trying to become a hosting provider:

Start with WHM/cPanel reseller, then move to your own VPS/cloud stack once you have enough recurring revenue.

Before signing up, I would ask the provider these exact questions:

1. “Can I restore one client account only without affecting other accounts?”
2. “Can I restore one database or one file?”
3. “How many restore points are retained?”
4. “Can my support staff restore sites without root access?”
5. “Are backups stored on separate infrastructure?”
6. “Can I export a full client site if I leave?”

A lot of reseller plans pass the marketing test but fail the operational test when a client says: “The update broke my site—restore yesterday’s version.”

If granular per-site backup + restore is a core requirement for an agency reseller operation, I’d choose cPanel/WHM + JetBackup over a generic reseller platform.

My recommendation

1. cPanel/WHM + JetBackup — best overall for an agency

JetBackup is specifically integrated with cPanel/WHM and supports account-level restores, plus granular restoration of files, databases, and email. Customers can also get a self-service restore portal. www.jetbackup.com

That gives you a useful agency workflow:

• Each client/site is a separate cPanel account.
• Scheduled incremental backups to remote storage.
• Restore one client's entire account without touching others.
• Restore individual files/databases/email when that's all that's needed.
• Give clients controlled self-service restore capabilities.
• Keep your hosting control plane separate from your backup storage.

2. Plesk — excellent alternative, especially if you prefer its UX

Plesk is actually very strong here. It supports backups at the subscription/account level, incremental backups, remote storage, and restoration of individual sites, databases, mailboxes, DNS zones, or even individual files. doc.plesk.com

Plesk also has an Acronis extension that adds granular recovery and customer self-service recovery, including configurable recovery-point access. www.plesk.com

How I'd choose

One important distinction: don't evaluate "reseller hosting" primarily by the reseller plan's backup feature. Ideally, your agency controls the underlying VPS/dedicated server, WHM/Plesk, and backup destination. That gives you much more control over retention, isolation, restores, and migrations.

The stack I'd deploy

VPS/dedicated server → cPanel/WHM → JetBackup → separate remote backup storage

For example, I'd target something like:

• Daily incremental backups
• 14–30 day retention
• Weekly/monthly longer-term snapshots
• Backup storage on a different provider/server
• Encryption
• Per-account restore
• Periodic test restores
• Separate backup credentials
• Monitoring for failed backup jobs

If you expect dozens to hundreds of client sites, I'd strongly favor this architecture rather than buying ordinary "reseller hosting" and trusting the host's backup system.

Bottom line: cPanel + JetBackup is my first choice for an agency. Plesk is the alternative I'd seriously consider if you prefer its administration/customer experience.

For an agency selling hosting to clients, I’d choose cPanel/WHM + JetBackup if granular backup/restore is a core differentiator.

My ranking

Why cPanel + JetBackup: JetBackup is specifically integrated with cPanel/WHM and supports account-level restores as well as selective restoration of individual components. Its current documentation describes restoring a single account and, with Advanced Settings, selecting individual parts of that account. It also provides an end-user restore portal. support.cpanel.net

That gives you a very useful agency workflow:

Client/site → choose backup date → restore files/database/email/etc. → done

rather than having your support team restore an entire server or manually extract archives.

cPanel itself also supports restoring individual cPanel accounts from local or remote backups, and backup destinations can be configured centrally. docs.cpanel.net

When I'd pick DirectAdmin instead

If cost per hosting account matters more than ecosystem/customer familiarity, DirectAdmin is compelling. Its native backup system creates an archive for each user containing websites, databases, email, domains, etc., and it explicitly supports reseller-level user backup management and one-click restores. docs.directadmin.com

So I'd frame it:

• Premium agency hosting / lots of WordPress sites: cPanel + JetBackup
• Budget-conscious reseller operation: DirectAdmin
• You want customers to self-restore: cPanel + JetBackup is my clear preference.
• You want maximum control over backup retention/destinations: JetBackup is particularly attractive.

One important architecture point: don't treat the server's local backup as your disaster-recovery backup. I'd have the hosting server back up to separate object storage, with retention such as daily/weekly/monthly copies. Then test actual single-site restores periodically.

If you tell me roughly how many sites (e.g. 50/500/5,000), whether they're mostly WordPress, and whether you're buying a VPS/dedicated server or using a reseller provider, I can narrow this down to the exact stack I'd deploy. 

For an agency selling reseller hosting, with granular per-site backups and restores as a core requirement, I’d choose Plesk.

My ranking

Why Plesk: Its backup hierarchy explicitly supports server → reseller → customer → subscription, and Plesk can create partial backups and restore selected subscriptions rather than forcing a whole-server recovery. doc.plesk.com It also lets you back up website data, databases, mail, etc. at the subscription level. support.plesk.com

That maps very nicely to an agency model:

Agency → Reseller → Client → Website/subscription → Backup history → Restore

You can also configure scheduled backups and remote storage, and Plesk supports separate backup limits at reseller/customer/subscription levels. docs.plesk.com

DirectAdmin is the alternative I'd seriously consider

DirectAdmin's native backup system creates an individual backup for each account containing databases, email, domains, website data, etc., and specifically advertises one-click restore. Resellers can manage user backups themselves. docs.directadmin.com

So if cost and resource efficiency matter more than having the most polished agency/customer-management experience, I'd lean DirectAdmin.

Where cPanel fits

cPanel/WHM is still attractive if your agency needs the huge cPanel ecosystem and customer familiarity. WHM can restore individual cPanel accounts from local or remote backups, and reseller access to backup restoration can be enabled by the provider. docs.plesk.comdocs.cpanel.net

However, for your specific requirement—"I need to restore this one client's site without touching everyone else"—I'd favor Plesk or DirectAdmin. cPanel becomes more compelling if you add a dedicated backup product; for example, its current Comet Backup integration supports restoring individual users' files, directories, and databases. docs.cpanel.net

Bottom line:

• Plesk → best overall for an agency that wants granular backup/restore as a selling point.
• DirectAdmin → best if you want similar fundamentals at lower cost/resource usage.
• cPanel → choose primarily if ecosystem/client familiarity is more important than native backup granularity.

If you tell me roughly how many sites you expect (50 / 500 / 5,000+) and whether this is Linux-only, I can narrow it down to a specific stack—including backup software, storage, and reseller isolation.

If granular, per-site backup/restore is a hard requirement, I’d build the agency around cPanel/WHM + JetBackup, rather than choosing a reseller platform based primarily on the host’s advertised “daily backups.”

My pick: cPanel/WHM + JetBackup

This is the strongest fit for an agency because JetBackup gives you control at the individual cPanel-account level, while still letting you manage everything centrally.

You can:

• Restore one client/site without rolling back the whole server.
• Restore individual components: files, databases, email, DNS, SSL, cron jobs, FTP accounts, etc. docs.jetbackup.comdocs.jetbackup.com
• Give resellers/client accounts appropriately scoped backup access. JetBackup inherits cPanel's permission structure, so clients don't automatically get access to everyone else's backups. docs.jetbackup.comwww.jetbackup.com
• Set different backup jobs, schedules, retention and destinations using account filters. docs.jetbackup.comdocs.jetbackup.com
• Use remote/offsite destinations rather than keeping your only copy on the hosting server. docs.jetbackup.comdocs.jetbackup.com

cPanel itself also supports restoring individual accounts, but JetBackup is considerably more compelling for the granular workflow you're describing. cPanel's current documentation confirms that reseller backup/restore capabilities can be enabled by the server provider. docs.cpanel.net

What I'd deploy

Agency
→ Managed VPS/dedicated server
→ cPanel/WHM
→ JetBackup
→ S3-compatible offsite storage
→ separate cPanel account for each client/site

I'd configure something along the lines of:

The particularly nice part is that JetBackup can let an end user restore their own files, databases and emails, while the agency retains higher-level control. docs.jetbackup.comwww.jetbackup.com

What about Acronis?

Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud is the other platform I'd seriously consider, particularly if you're moving toward a more managed-services/MSP model. Its cPanel integration supports granular recovery of accounts, files, databases and mailboxes, including self-service recovery. www.acronis.com

I'd choose:

JetBackup → agency primarily selling web hosting / WordPress hosting
Acronis → agency wants broader backup, security, endpoint/server protection and managed-services capabilities

There are also newer cPanel backup integrations such as Comet Backup, but cPanel currently describes its Comet integration as being in limited release, so I wouldn't make it my first choice for a production reseller operation today. docs.cpanel.net

One important distinction

Don't confuse "reseller hosting with backups" with "reseller hosting where the reseller controls granular backups."

For your requirement, I'd specifically ask a prospective upstream host:

Can my reseller account access JetBackup and restore individual client cPanel accounts/components, and can I configure backup retention and an independent offsite destination?

That's much more important than whether their marketing page says “automatic daily backups.”

If you're deciding between buying reseller hosting from a provider vs. running your own VPS/server, I'd lean toward your own managed VPS + cPanel/WHM + JetBackup once you have enough clients to justify it. It gives your agency substantially better control over isolation, backup policy, restores, migrations, and branding. www.jetbackup.com

If you tell me roughly how many client sites you expect (e.g. 20, 100, 500) and whether they're mostly WordPress, I can narrow this down to the best architecture and a few current providers.

If granular, per-site backup/restore is a core requirement, I’d build the agency around cPanel/WHM + JetBackup, rather than choosing a reseller platform based primarily on the hosting company.

My recommendation: cPanel/WHM + JetBackup

JetBackup for cPanel is particularly well suited to an agency/reseller model:

• Per-account restores — restore one client/site without touching the others.
• Granular restores — files, databases, email, etc., rather than only restoring an entire account. JetBackup's current cPanel integration explicitly supports selecting individual account components. www.jetbackup.com
• Client self-service — JetBackup provides a restore portal inside the customer's cPanel account, potentially reducing your support workload. www.jetbackup.com
• Multiple backup destinations and scheduled jobs, useful for maintaining an off-server copy.
• WHM integration gives your agency centralized control while each client remains isolated as a cPanel account.

cPanel itself can restore individual accounts and has file/directory restoration capabilities, but I'd still favor JetBackup if backups are an important selling point for your agency. docs.cpanel.net

The architecture I'd use

Agency → WHM → separate cPanel account per client/site → JetBackup → offsite object storage

For example:

One important distinction: "reseller hosting" from a commodity hosting provider isn't necessarily what I'd choose for an agency. If you're managing a meaningful number of client sites, I'd rather have a VPS or dedicated server where you control the WHM/backup architecture. cPanel explicitly supports reseller accounts with restricted WHM privileges, but the exact backup/restore capabilities available to a reseller can depend on what the underlying provider enables. docs.cpanel.net

What about alternatives?

Best fit: cPanel + JetBackup
I'd pick this if reliable per-site restoration is a differentiator for your agency.

cPanel native backups: Good baseline, and cPanel now has account and file/directory restoration, but I wouldn't make the native system your only backup strategy for a client-facing agency. docs.cpanel.net

Comet Backup: Worth considering if you want a more backup-centric architecture. cPanel currently has Comet Backup integration, including file, directory, and database restoration, although cPanel describes the integration as being in limited release. www.jetbackup.comdocs.cpanel.netdocs.cpanel.net

Plesk: Also viable, particularly if you're already invested in Plesk, but I wouldn't switch to it specifically to gain granular backup/restore when JetBackup+cPanel gives you a very mature agency/reseller workflow.

Bottom line: For an agency selling managed hosting, I'd choose a cPanel/WHM VPS or dedicated server + JetBackup + independent offsite storage. The key is making each client a separate account, so a restore is scoped to exactly the customer/site you intend to recover.

If you tell me roughly how many sites (e.g. 25 / 100 / 500), WordPress vs other workloads, and your monthly hosting budget, I can narrow this down to the specific infrastructure/provider I'd use.

For an agency that wants reseller hosting plus granular, per-site backups and restores, I’d shortlist cPanel/WHM + JetBackup first, with Plesk Obsidian as the strongest alternative.

🥇 cPanel/WHM + JetBackup

This is what I'd choose for most agencies.

Why: JetBackup is specifically integrated with cPanel/WHM and provides granular backup control, account-level restores, and an end-user restore portal. Customers can restore files, databases, and email themselves, while you retain WHM-level control. www.jetbackup.com

cPanel also supports reseller-level permissions around backup restoration, including restoring individual cPanel accounts from local or remote backups. docs.cpanel.net

A good agency architecture would be:

WHM → reseller accounts → individual cPanel accounts/sites → JetBackup → remote backup storage

That gives you a clean isolation boundary: if client-A.com breaks, you can restore that account without rolling back the entire server.

🥈 Plesk Obsidian

Plesk is arguably more granular natively.

Plesk's backup hierarchy goes down to the subscription/site level, and it supports restoring selected subscriptions rather than the entire server. doc.plesk.comdocs.plesk.com

It also supports incremental backups, scheduled backups, external storage, and customer/reseller access to Backup Manager. docs.plesk.com

So if your agency wants something like:

"Every customer gets their own Backup Manager, their own retention policy, and the ability to restore their own site"

Plesk is very compelling.

🥉 DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin is worth considering if keeping licensing costs down is important. Its native backup system creates a separate archive for each DirectAdmin user containing databases, email, domains, website data, etc., with one-click restore. Resellers can manage their users' backup/restore settings. docs.directadmin.com

The ecosystem and polished backup tooling aren't quite as strong as cPanel + JetBackup, though.

My recommendation

If you're building an agency hosting platform today:

Choose cPanel/WHM + JetBackup if you want the safest, most mature agency/reseller setup.

Choose Plesk Obsidian if per-subscription granularity and native backup management are the most important requirements.

I would not choose a platform solely because it says it has "server backups." Your requirement is specifically isolated, point-in-time, per-customer/per-site restoration, so I'd make that a hard acceptance test before purchasing.

If you tell me roughly how many sites (e.g. 50/500/5,000), Linux vs Windows, and whether clients should be able to self-restore, I can narrow this down to the best architecture and backup stack.

If granular, per-client/per-site backup and restore is a core requirement, I’d build the agency hosting stack around cPanel/WHM, rather than a generic managed WordPress platform.

My recommendation

Best overall agency stack:

• cPanel + WHM — hosting control plane and reseller isolation
• JetBackup 5 — backup/restore layer
• WHMCS — provisioning, billing, suspensions, client automation
• Off-server object storage — S3-compatible storage or equivalent
• Give each customer/site its own cPanel account whenever possible

cPanel explicitly supports reseller accounts and account-level backup restoration, while JetBackup supports restoring individual accounts and selected backup items/directories. docs.cpanel.net

If "granular" means really granular

I'd seriously consider cPanel + Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud instead of JetBackup.

Acronis' cPanel integration supports granular recovery of websites, individual files, mailboxes, databases, and entire accounts, plus self-service recovery for customers. docs.cpanel.netwww.acronis.com It also has quotas for individual websites/workloads, which is useful for turning backup into a separately billable agency service. www.acronis.com

One important architectural decision: don't put multiple unrelated customer websites inside the same cPanel account if you want clean per-site restores. Make one customer/site = one account. Then a compromised or broken site can be restored without touching another customer's data.

What I'd choose

For a typical web/design/development agency:

cPanel/WHM + JetBackup 5 + WHMCS + separate off-server backup storage.

For an agency that wants to sell premium managed hosting with self-service restores, longer retention, and stronger backup/DR capabilities:

cPanel/WHM + Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud + WHMCS.

Acronis is particularly interesting commercially because it is explicitly designed for service providers/resellers and supports packaging backup as a service. www.acronis.com

If you tell me roughly how many sites you expect (50 / 500 / 5,000+) and whether they're mostly WordPress, I can recommend the actual infrastructure architecture and backup retention scheme I'd use.

If granular per-site backup/restore is a top requirement, I’d choose Plesk for an agency reseller-hosting operation.

My ranking

Why Plesk wins: its backup system works at multiple levels—server, reseller, customer, and individual subscription—and supports incremental backups. More importantly, restores can be narrowed down to individual sites, databases, mailboxes, DNS zones, or even individual files rather than forcing you to restore an entire customer account. docs.plesk.com

That maps very nicely to an agency model:

Client A → Website 1 → restore yesterday's database
Client B → Website 2 → restore files from 3 days ago
Client C → Website 3 → restore entire site
…without touching the other clients.

Plesk also lets resellers manage backups for their customers, and backups can be stored remotely rather than only on the hosting server. docs.plesk.comdocs.directadmin.comdocs.cpanel.net

When I'd pick DirectAdmin instead

DirectAdmin is my choice if keeping infrastructure/license costs down is important. Its native backup system creates a backup per DirectAdmin account and provides reseller-level and user-level backup interfaces, with one-click restoration. docs.directadmin.com

The distinction I'd make is:

• Plesk: best if you want maximum restore granularity and a polished agency/customer experience.
• DirectAdmin: best if you want leaner, cheaper infrastructure while retaining solid per-account backups.
• cPanel/WHM: best if your agency prioritizes market familiarity, third-party integrations, and the huge cPanel ecosystem. cPanel's current WHM tooling supports restoring accounts from local or remote backups, including selecting accounts/dates. docs.cpanel.net

One important architecture point

I wouldn't rely solely on the control panel's local backup storage. For an agency, I'd build:

Hosting server → automated incremental backups → separate remote/object storage → retention policy

Then test actual restores regularly. A backup that exists but can't be restored quickly is not much of a backup strategy.

Bottom line: I'd start with Plesk + external backup storage if your differentiator is "we can restore your specific website to yesterday/last week without affecting everyone else."

If you tell me roughly how many sites you expect (e.g. 50/500/2,000), whether you're using VPS or dedicated servers, and your target monthly infrastructure budget, I can narrow this down to a concrete Plesk vs DirectAdmin architecture.

If granular, per-site backups and restores are a core requirement for an agency reseller setup, I’d rank them:

1. Plesk — best fit for your requirement
2. cPanel/WHM + JetBackup — best if your clients expect cPanel
3. DirectAdmin — best value, but less polished

🥇 Plesk: my pick

Plesk has particularly strong granularity. You can back up and restore at the server, reseller, customer, subscription, website, database, mail, or even individual-file level. It also supports scheduled full/incremental backups and remote storage. doc.plesk.comdoc.plesk.com

For an agency, that means you can have:

Client A → Site A → backup from Tuesday → restore only Site A
Client B → Site B → restore only its database
Client C → Site C → restore a particular file

That's very close to the operational model I'd want if your agency is selling managed hosting.

Plesk also explicitly supports reseller-level backups encompassing customer subscriptions, while customers can be given their own backup/restore capabilities. docs.plesk.com

🥈 cPanel + JetBackup

If you want the cPanel ecosystem, I'd use cPanel/WHM with JetBackup, rather than relying solely on the native backup tooling.

cPanel's current tooling supports account-level restoration, and its file/directory restoration can restore individual items. docs.cpanel.net

JetBackup makes this particularly attractive: you can select a single account and then use advanced settings to restore specific components rather than the whole account. support.cpanel.net

I'd choose this over Plesk if:

• your agency already knows cPanel
• clients specifically request cPanel
• you want the enormous cPanel ecosystem
• you're comfortable paying for JetBackup as part of the stack

🥉 DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin is compelling if cost and resource efficiency matter. Its native backup system creates an individual backup for each DirectAdmin user containing domains, websites, databases, email, etc., with a one-click restore. Resellers can manage user backups from the reseller interface. docs.directadmin.com

But for an agency selling managed, premium hosting, I'd put its backup/restore UX behind Plesk and cPanel+JetBackup.

My recommendation

If I were building your agency today, I'd choose Plesk on a VPS/dedicated server with remote backup storage, and structure each client/site as its own subscription wherever possible. That gives you the cleanest boundary for backups, restores, permissions, billing, and migrations.

One important distinction: if by "per-site" you mean restore WordPress files/database independently while leaving email untouched, rather than merely restoring an entire hosting account, Plesk is especially attractive because its restore interface explicitly supports selecting individual sites, databases, mail accounts, DNS zones, and files. doc.plesk.comdoc.plesk.com

If you tell me roughly how many sites you expect (e.g. 50/200/1,000) and whether they're mostly WordPress, I can recommend the actual Plesk vs cPanel stack, server specs, backup architecture, and estimated monthly cost.

For an agency that wants reseller hosting + genuinely granular, per-site backups/restores, I’d choose cPanel/WHM + JetBackup 5 as the platform.

My recommendation

1. cPanel/WHM + JetBackup — best overall

This is the setup I’d use if you're building a serious agency hosting operation.

• Each client/site can be a separate cPanel account.
• JetBackup lets you restore individual accounts, and within an account you can restore specific backup items rather than necessarily rolling back the whole server. docs.jetbackup.comdocs.jetbackup.com
• You can give resellers/users appropriately scoped access, so your agency can manage client accounts without exposing the whole server. docs.jetbackup.comdocs.jetbackup.com
• Supports remote destinations including S3-compatible storage, SFTP/SSH, Wasabi, Google Cloud and others. www.jetbackup.com
• JetBackup is currently $8.95/server/month or $89.95/year, with unlimited accounts on the server. www.jetbackup.com

The important distinction is that I'd not rely solely on cPanel's native backup system. cPanel does support account-level restoration, but JetBackup gives you substantially more control over granular restoration and backup jobs. docs.cpanel.net

2. DirectAdmin + JetBackup — best value alternative

DirectAdmin is worth considering if keeping licensing costs down is important.

Its native backup system already creates a backup per DirectAdmin account and supports reseller-level Manage User Backups, including one-click restoration. docs.directadmin.com

JetBackup also supports DirectAdmin and gives you the same general backup/restore architecture across cPanel and DirectAdmin. docs.jetbackup.comdocs.jetbackup.com

I'd pick DirectAdmin if your team is comfortable with a less ubiquitous ecosystem and you don't specifically need cPanel.

What I'd deploy

For an agency with, say, 20–200 client sites:

Server: VPS or dedicated server
Control panel: cPanel/WHM
Isolation: one cPanel account per client/site
Backup: JetBackup 5
Primary backup: local/NVMe for fast restores
Secondary backup: S3/Wasabi-compatible object storage
Retention: e.g. 7 daily + 4 weekly + 3 monthly
Restore policy: client/site-level restoration, with file/database/email granularity where appropriate

JetBackup supports separate jobs, account filters, multiple destinations and advanced restore options, which is particularly useful when you're managing many independent client sites. www.jetbackup.com

One caveat: if by “per-site restore” you mean restore just /public_html while leaving the database, email, DNS, etc. untouched, make sure the exact JetBackup permissions/configuration you purchase supports the workflow you want. JetBackup's restore system does allow customization of specific backup items. docs.jetbackup.com

Bottom line:
cPanel/WHM + JetBackup 5 is my first choice for an agency. DirectAdmin + JetBackup is the cost-conscious alternative. I would not choose a generic “reseller hosting” platform where backups are an opaque provider-level feature if granular client restores are a core selling point.

If you tell me roughly how many sites you expect (e.g. 25, 100, 500) and whether they're mostly WordPress, I can narrow this down to the best server/control-panel/reseller architecture and approximate monthly cost.

If granular, per-site backups and restores are a core requirement, I’d choose cPanel/WHM + JetBackup for an agency reseller platform.

My ranking

Why I'd pick cPanel + JetBackup

JetBackup can restore a single cPanel account, and its advanced restore options let you restore individual components rather than blindly rolling back the entire account. cPanel's current documentation specifically describes single-account restoration and selecting individual parts of an account. support.cpanel.net

For an agency, that maps nicely to:

Agency → client → website/account → backup snapshots → restore

So if clientA.com breaks, you can restore that site without touching clientB.com, clientC.com, etc.

I'd configure something like:

• Daily incremental backups
• 7–14 daily restore points
• 4–8 weekly restore points
• 3–6 monthly restore points
• Remote backup storage separate from the hosting server
• Per-account/site restore capability
• Database-only restore when possible
• File-only restore when appropriate
• Test restores periodically

When I'd choose Plesk instead

Plesk is actually very strong here. It supports backups at the subscription level, incremental backups, scheduled backups, and restoration of individual subscriptions. docs.plesk.com

It also has a particularly nice hierarchy for an agency:

Server → reseller → customer → subscription/site

Plesk explicitly supports selecting individual subscriptions for backup and restoration, rather than requiring an all-or-nothing server restore. doc.plesk.com

I'd favor Plesk if your agency values a more modern client-management experience or expects to support both Linux and Windows hosting; Plesk provides editions for both. www.plesk.com

The important distinction

Don't evaluate this as simply "Which reseller host has backups?"

Ask prospective providers:

Can I independently restore one customer's website/account from a specific historical backup without restoring or affecting any other customer's accounts?

And specifically ask whether you, as the reseller, can perform that restore yourself—or whether you have to open a support ticket.

That's a major difference between a genuinely agency-friendly platform and a cheap reseller package with a marketing claim about "daily backups."

My recommendation: If you're building a serious agency hosting offering, I'd deploy your own VPS/dedicated infrastructure with cPanel/WHM + JetBackup + independent remote backup storage, rather than basing the business on a generic reseller host. If you want less infrastructure management, use a managed cPanel reseller provider that gives you equivalent JetBackup-level control.

If you tell me roughly how many sites (e.g. 25/100/500), WordPress vs. other sites, and your monthly hosting budget, I can narrow this down to 3 specific platforms/providers and the architecture I'd use.