File manager & FTP
Upload, extract archives, edit files in the browser, fix permissions, and create additional FTP accounts scoped to a single folder.
Free DirectAdmin Hosting
Free DirectAdmin hosting, with the real panel
Not a cut-down custom dashboard — the genuine DirectAdmin control panel, free for 30 days, then £0.99 a month. File manager, DNS editor, database admin, PHP version switching and email, all included.
Exactly what “free” means here
- Free for 30 days. A full hosting account with nothing held back — no feature restrictions during the trial.
- No card details required to start. You can sign up and run your site for the whole 30 days without giving us any payment information.
- Nothing can be charged automatically, because we have nothing to charge. Payment details are only taken if you decide to continue.
- Then £0.99/month if you choose to carry on. That is the ongoing price — it does not rise after the first year.
- No setup fee and no hidden charges of any kind.
- You bring your own domain. Traxio does not sell domain names, so you will need one you already own or register elsewhere.
Why the panel matters
The control panel is the product
The control panel is the part of hosting you actually touch. It is where you add an email address, restore a file you broke, spot which database is filling up, or switch PHP versions because a plugin needs 8.2. A weak panel makes every one of those jobs into a support ticket.
This is precisely where free hosting usually falls down. Because DirectAdmin, cPanel and Plesk are all commercially licensed, an advert-funded free host cannot afford them per account. So they write their own panel — and those panels are almost always missing DNS editing, cron jobs, PHP configuration and proper backups.
What you can actually do in DirectAdmin
MySQL & phpMyAdmin
Create databases and users, set privileges, and open phpMyAdmin to run queries, import an SQL dump or export a backup.
Full DNS editor
Add A, CNAME, MX, TXT and SRV records yourself. Useful for verifying Google Search Console, setting up SPF and DKIM, or pointing a subdomain elsewhere.
PHP version switching
Choose the PHP version per domain and adjust memory limit, max upload size and execution time from the panel.
Email accounts & forwarders
Create mailboxes on your own domain, set up forwarders, autoresponders and catch-alls, and connect via IMAP or POP3 or use webmail.
Cron jobs
Schedule scripts on a timer — WordPress cron, backups, feed imports, anything that needs to run without you.
Comparison
DirectAdmin vs cPanel, briefly
Both panels do the same job well, and the choice usually comes down to what your host runs rather than a strong technical preference. A few practical differences are worth knowing:
Resource use. DirectAdmin is lighter. It uses less RAM per account, which is part of why hosts can run it at lower price points.
Interface. cPanel presents a long grid of icons; DirectAdmin’s Evolution theme uses a sidebar and groups things more tightly. Most people find DirectAdmin less cluttered once they are used to it.
Migration. DirectAdmin can import cPanel backups, so moving from a cPanel host is usually straightforward. The reverse is also generally possible.
Ubiquity. cPanel is more widely documented, so there are more third-party tutorials. DirectAdmin’s own documentation is good, and our knowledgebase covers the common tasks with Traxio-specific screenshots.
There is a longer comparison in our blog post DirectAdmin vs cPanel.
One plan, one price
Traxio Free Start
We stopped running four tiers. There is one plan, it does everything, and it costs less than a coffee per year.
30 Days Free
Traxio Free Start
FREE
for 30 days — then £0.99/month
- 5GB NVMe SSD storage
- 10GB bandwidth per month
- DirectAdmin control panel
- Free SSL certificate (auto-renewing)
- Softaculous one-click installer
- PHP 7.4 – 8.3, switchable
- MySQL / MariaDB databases
- FTP & file manager access
- Email accounts on your domain
- Cron jobs
- Community-powered support
No card required to start • No setup fee • Bring your own domain
Questions
Frequently asked questions
What is DirectAdmin?
DirectAdmin is a web hosting control panel — the interface you log into to manage files, databases, email accounts, DNS records, SSL and PHP settings for your hosting account. It has been around since 2003 and is used by thousands of hosting providers as an alternative to cPanel and Plesk.
Why do so few hosts offer DirectAdmin for free?
Because DirectAdmin is commercially licensed. A host pays a per-account or per-server licence fee, which makes genuinely free DirectAdmin accounts uneconomic under an advert-funded model. Free hosts therefore tend to build a stripped-back custom panel instead. We cover the licence out of the £0.99 monthly fee after the trial.
Is DirectAdmin harder to use than cPanel?
Not meaningfully. The two panels expose the same concepts — file manager, databases, email, DNS, subdomains, cron — with different layouts. DirectAdmin’s Evolution interface is arguably tidier, and anyone who has used cPanel will find their way around within a few minutes.
Can I switch PHP versions myself?
Yes. DirectAdmin lets you select the PHP version per domain from the panel, and change common settings like memory limit, upload size and execution time without raising a ticket.
Does DirectAdmin include a file manager and FTP?
Both. There is a browser-based file manager for quick edits and uploads, plus standard FTP accounts you can point FileZilla, Cyberduck or your IDE at.
Will I be able to move to another DirectAdmin host later?
Yes, and that is one of the practical advantages of a standard panel. DirectAdmin can generate a full account backup that most other DirectAdmin hosts will restore directly, so you are not locked into us by a proprietary control panel.
Keep reading
DirectAdmin Hosting
The full technical picture: specs, limits and what runs on our servers.
What Is DirectAdmin?
A plain-English introduction to the control panel.
Accessing DirectAdmin
How to log in to your panel for the first time.
Free PHP Hosting
PHP versions, extensions, cron and error logs for developers.