HTTPS and SSL Port Numbers: 443, 465, 587, 993, 995 and cPanel Ports

Applies to: web, email and cPanel services on any server

HTTPS uses port 443. Plain HTTP uses port 80. Other services have their own secure (TLS) port numbers too. “SSL” is the old name for TLS, which is what all these ports use today. The table-style list below covers the ones you meet most often when setting up a website, email or a firewall.

Web

• 443: HTTPS (secure websites).
• 80: HTTP. Keep it open so visitors are redirected to HTTPS and so Let’s Encrypt can verify your domain.
• 8443: a common alternative HTTPS port for control panels and apps (for example Plesk).

Email

• 465: SMTP for sending mail, with TLS from the start (implicit TLS).
• 587: SMTP for sending mail with STARTTLS.
• 993: IMAP over TLS (IMAPS).
• 995: POP3 over TLS (POP3S).
• 25: SMTP between mail servers; not meant for your email app.

In an email app, use 465 (SSL/TLS) or 587 (STARTTLS) for outgoing mail, and 993 or 995 for incoming. More on sending ports: SMTP port numbers (25, 587, 465, 2525).

cPanel and WHM

• 2083: cPanel over HTTPS.
• 2087: WHM over HTTPS.
• 2096: Webmail over HTTPS.
• 2078 and 2080: Web Disk and calendars and contacts (CalDAV/CardDAV) over HTTPS.

We checked that our cPanel servers listen on these ports. The full list, including non-secure ports: cPanel required ports.

Other secure ports

• 22: SSH and SFTP (encrypted by SSH, not TLS). See the default SSH port and how to change it.
• 990: FTPS with implicit TLS. Most servers use explicit FTPS on port 21 instead.
• 636: LDAP over TLS (LDAPS).
• 853: DNS over TLS.

Check that a port is open and uses a valid certificate

nc -zv example.com 443                                   # is the port reachable?
openssl s_client -connect example.com:443 -servername example.com </dev/null | head -20
sudo ss -ltnp | grep ':443'                              # on the server: what listens on 443?

Official documentation: IANA service name and port number registry.