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PlusPanel vs DirectAdmin

DirectAdmin is a web hosting control panel installed on a Linux server, with three access levels (Administrator, Reseller and User) under the same login. The vendor describes it as a stand-alone control panel.1 PlusPanel manages a fleet from one EU control plane, ships the OS itself as a signed image, and charges per server with unlimited accounts.

The 3 structural differences

Architecture

DirectAdmin: Installed on each server; servers can be linked via Multi-Server Setup (DNS clustering)2 · Panel on TCP 2222, plus service ports (21, 22, 25, 53, 80/443, 110/143/993/995, ...)3

PlusPanel: A control plane in our EU cloud commands a minimal agent on each server. The server exposes no management port: the agent connects outbound over mTLS inside WireGuard and runs only typed, signed, expiring commands.

Licensing

DirectAdmin: Monthly licence in tiers by accounts and domains (Personal PLUS, Lite, Standard)4 · From USD 5/month (Personal PLUS: 2 accounts, 20 domains), as of 2026-10-10; VAT not stated4

PlusPanel: Per server, with unlimited accounts and domains: Free for one server, Pro €19/server/month, founding customers €9 locked for life.

Jurisdiction & security model

DirectAdmin: JBMC Software, Alberta, Canada; licence agreement governed by the law of Alberta5 · CSF/LFD integration, Brute Force Monitor and ModSecurity included in the panel6

PlusPanel: 2Lines Sistem, Romania (EU). The OS is a signed image we maintain, with atomic rollback; WAF, firewall, country blocking and 2FA are included at GA, with no add-on licences.

Side by side

AxisPlusPanelDirectAdmin
Licensing modelPer server; unlimited accounts and domainsMonthly licence in tiers by accounts and domains (Personal PLUS, Lite, Standard)4
ArchitectureEU SaaS control plane + minimal agent on each serverInstalled on each server; servers can be linked via Multi-Server Setup (DNS clustering)2
Inbound management portsNone: the agent connects outbound (mTLS inside WireGuard)Panel on TCP 2222, plus service ports (21, 22, 25, 53, 80/443, 110/143/993/995, ...)3
OS modelPlusPanel OS: immutable signed image, atomic updates with rollback, maintained by usClean admin-installed RHEL, AlmaLinux, Rocky, CentOS Stream, Debian or Ubuntu; amd64/arm647
Account isolationRootless containers per account, user namespaces, SELinux MCS, kernel quotasBubblewrap jail for PHP, SSH and cron; CageFS available when running CloudLinux6
Email deliverabilityManaged relay with IP pools over WireGuard (at GA)Local Exim/Dovecot; smarthost relay configurable; outbound rate limits and BlockCracking8
Security includedWAF, firewall, country blocking, 2FA included (at GA); no add-on licencesCSF/LFD integration, Brute Force Monitor and ModSecurity included in the panel6
Company jurisdiction2Lines Sistem, Romania (EU)JBMC Software, Alberta, Canada; licence agreement governed by the law of Alberta5
Migration toolingMigration Center from cPanel/WHM, free in every edition (at GA)Documented cPanel import: cpanel_to_da.sh converts cPanel pkgacct (cpmove) backups9
Entry priceFree (1 server) · Pro €19/server/month · founding €9 locked for lifeFrom USD 5/month (Personal PLUS: 2 accounts, 20 domains), as of 2026-10-10; VAT not stated4

PlusPanel cells marked “at GA” describe v1.0; everything else runs today.

Licences and limits

DirectAdmin's licences, requirements and documented limits, quoted from its own pages.

Personal PLUS licence
USD 5 per month: 2 accounts, 20 domains, self-installation; installation support included, other support community-based (forum). As of 2026-10-10; VAT not stated.4
Lite licence
USD 15 per month: 10 accounts, 50 domains, free installation, unlimited technical support. As of 2026-10-10; VAT not stated.4
Standard licence
USD 29 per month: unlimited accounts and domains, free installation, unlimited technical support. As of 2026-10-10; VAT not stated.4
Volume discount
Automatic 15% retail discount from four Standard licences (or equivalent value), reaching 40% at thirty-five Standard licences; requires prepaid balance as payment method.4
Unified feature set
Since August 2023 all licences offered for sale include all features; the former Pro Pack add-on concept is retired.10
Third-party add-ons on the pricing page
Imunify360 from USD 12/month (CloudLinux), Acronis backup from USD 3/month and JetBackup USD 8.95/month are listed as third-party products ordered from their vendors, DirectAdmin licence not included.4
Company
JBMC Software, M5159-13432 143 ST NW, Edmonton AB, T5L 5A9, Canada (site footer); office hours Monday to Friday 9 AM to 5 PM MST.11
History
The vendor states that the year 2023 marked the 20th anniversary of DirectAdmin.10
Bundled mail stack
Installs Exim 4.x (MTA), Dovecot 2.x (IMAP/POP3), SpamAssassin, Rspamd, ClamAV, RoundCube webmail and ModSecurity automatically.12
Outbound relay
Documented procedure to send all outbound email through a remote mail server, with or without authentication.13
CloudLinux
Supports running on CloudLinux, with LVE manager, CageFS manager and PHP/NodeJS/Python Selectors; the vendor says support is not fully on par with other supported distributions but very close.14
OS support window
Supported until: RHEL-family 8/9/10 to August 2029/2032/2035; Debian 11/12/13 to November 2026/September 2028/September 2030; Ubuntu 22.04/24.04/26.04 to July 2027/2029/2031.15
Hardware minimum
Minimum 4 GB of memory with at least 4 GB of swap; installation on a clean OS, not on a server with another control panel.7
cPanel migration limits
Mailman lists are not converted; PostgreSQL and Ruby sites must be moved manually; system usernames max 16 characters by default.9
Refund policy
Refund within 30 days of installation for monthly, quarterly and yearly licences (one refund per customer); no refunds for lifetime licences.16

Questions

DirectAdmin costs less per server. Why pay €19?

DirectAdmin's licences start at USD 5/month for 2 accounts, and its unlimited Standard licence is USD 29/month (facts above). PlusPanel Pro is €19 per server with unlimited accounts, and it includes the OS, its atomic updates and rollback, and fleet management from one place. Founding customers pay €9, and one server is free.

Do I manage each server separately?

Not with PlusPanel: every server is enrolled into the same control plane and managed from one panel, with the same signed OS image on all of them.

Can I migrate from DirectAdmin?

Not at GA: Migration Center starts with cPanel/WHM. If you need a migration from DirectAdmin, say so when you join the waitlist; it decides what we build next.

No trademark page published; the licence agreement names JBMC Software as owner of all right, title and interest in the Software, and the site footer reads "2020 JBMC Software"5 PlusPanel is not affiliated with, endorsed by or sponsored by DirectAdmin's owner. Names are used nominatively, for comparison only.

Sources

Every DirectAdmin fact on this page is quoted from an official DirectAdmin page or document, verified on the date shown in its footnote. Prices change: check the source before you decide. We re-verify these pages every quarter.

  1. https://www.directadmin.com/ · verified 2026-10-10
  2. https://docs.directadmin.com/directadmin/general-usage/multi-server-setup.html · verified 2026-10-10
  3. https://docs.directadmin.com/operation-system-level/securing/firewall.html · verified 2026-10-10
  4. https://www.directadmin.com/pricing.php · verified 2026-10-10
  5. https://www.directadmin.com/agreement.php · verified 2026-10-10
  6. https://docs.directadmin.com/getting-started/first-steps/what-makes-da-unique.html · verified 2026-10-10
  7. https://docs.directadmin.com/getting-started/installation/system-requirements.html · verified 2026-10-10
  8. https://docs.directadmin.com/getting-started/first-steps/faq.html · verified 2026-10-10
  9. https://docs.directadmin.com/directadmin/backup-restore-migration/migration-to-da.html · verified 2026-10-10
  10. https://docs.directadmin.com/getting-started/pro-pack/index.html · verified 2026-10-10
  11. https://www.directadmin.com/contacts.php · verified 2026-10-10
  12. https://www.directadmin.com/technologies.php · verified 2026-10-10
  13. https://docs.directadmin.com/other-hosting-services/exim/smarthost.html · verified 2026-10-10
  14. https://docs.directadmin.com/operation-system-level/cloudlinux/index.html · verified 2026-10-10
  15. https://docs.directadmin.com/operation-system-level/os-general/ · verified 2026-10-10
  16. https://www.directadmin.com/policies.php · verified 2026-10-10

Lock €9/month per server, for life.

No spam. One email when founding opens, one at GA.