ButterCMS vs Directus
No clear leader: Directus (67.7) and ButterCMS (63.3) are within the 5-point margin; treat as a tie. The attribute-by-attribute breakdown below, with a source and date on every value, is the honest way to compare them.
Capabilities
Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for headless cms. “-” means undocumented, not absent.
What each one is
The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.
ButterCMS
A managed platform for organizing and publishing content to websites, mobile applications, and other digital services through APIs, without requiring the user to manage servers or infrastructure.
Directus
Directus connects to existing or new SQL databases and automatically generates production-ready APIs, along with a visual management studio for team collaboration and content governance. It supports both self-hosting and cloud deployment, with built-in AI integration and MCP server support.
Pricing
List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.
ButterCMS
From $71/month for Basic plan. Free tier available.
- FreeFree
- Visual editing
- Live preview
- SEO metadata
- AI Assistant
- API Explorer
- +2 more
- Basic$71/month (or $63.90/month with annual billing)
- Image editing
- Unlimited users
- Unlimited components
- Advanced$224/month (or $201.60/month with annual billing)
- All Basic tier features
- Professional$359/month (or $323.05/month with annual billing)
- Write API (up to 5K calls/month)
- Multi environment
- EnterpriseContact sales
- Custom API calls
- Custom roles
- Write API
- Custom webhooks
- Workflows
- +4 more
Directus
Free tier for organizations under $5M revenue. Starter from $15/month with per-seat billing for active app users.
- FreeFree
- Starter$15/month, billed monthly per active app user
- ProfessionalPricing updated (previously $99/month)
- Business-
Platform & deployment
Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.
Integrations
What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.
ButterCMS
- Shopify
- BigCommerce
Directus
Not documented yet.
ButterCMS or Directus: which one depends on you
A composite score cannot know your constraints. Describe them and both get re-weighted against what you actually need, with the evidence behind every position.
Free to run, no account needed to start. How the evaluation works
Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.