Comparison

Contentful vs Directus

On the evidence we track, Contentful leads this comparison with a composite score of 85/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
Contentful85
Directus74
Score
Vioscale score
Contentful85 / 100medium · 59%updating
Directus74 / 100low · 47%updating
Pricing
Free tier
Contentful
Directus
Model
Contentfulcommercial
Directusfreemium
Price level
Contentfulfree
Directuslow
Transparent
Contentful
Directus
Security
Disclosure policy
Contentful
Directus
Gdpr
Contentful
Directus
Iso27001
Contentful
Directus
Pci
Contentful
Directus
Soc2
Contentful
Directus
Reliability
Status page
Contentful
Directus
Market
Availability

Capabilities

Feature-by-feature on the axes that matter for cms software. “-” means undocumented, not absent.

Core
CMS type
ContentfulHeadless / API-first
DirectusHeadless / API-first
Licensing
Open-source
Contentful
Directus
Deployment
Self-hostable
Contentful
Directus
Managed / cloud hosting offered
Contentful
Directus
Delivery
Headless API (REST/GraphQL)
Contentful
Directus
Content
Structured content modelling
Contentful
Directus
Localisation / i18n
Contentful
Directus
Content workflow / approvals
Contentful
Directus
Editing
Visual / no-code page builder
Contentful
Directus
Extensibility
Plugin / app ecosystem size
ContentfulMarketplace with apps and integrations to extend platform
DirectusDirectus Marketplace with Sandbox SDK for safe third-party extensions
Scale
Multi-site / multi-tenant
Contentful
Directus-
Workflow
Git-based / code-first workflow
Contentful-
Directus-
Pricing
Free / open tier
Contentful
Directus

What each one is

The product in its own terms, so the numbers below have context.

Contentful

Leader

Contentful is a headless CMS and digital experience platform enabling teams to create and deliver personalized content at scale, with AI-powered automation, visual content assembly, and comprehensive workflow capabilities.

Independently observed

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.

Independently observed

Pricing

List pricing as published by each vendor, with the date we read it. Always verify at the source before you buy.

Contentful

Leader
from $0/moSubscriptionFree tier

Free tier available. Lite plan free base with $850/month per additional space. Enterprise with custom pricing.

  • FreeFree
    • 2 Roles (Admin, Editor)
    • 2 Custom Locales
    • 100K/month API calls (no overages)
    • 50 GB/month asset bandwidth CDN (no overages)
    • 50 MB max asset upload size
    • +14 more
  • LiteFree base; additional spaces $850/month
    • 3 Roles (Admin, Editor, Author)
    • 3 Custom Locales
    • 1M/month API calls with paid overages allowed
    • 100 GB/month asset bandwidth CDN with paid overages allowed
    • 1000 MB max asset upload size
    • +25 more
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • All Lite features
    • Custom roles and locales
    • Custom API calls with paid overages
    • Custom asset bandwidth with paid overages
    • AI Actions with included quotas
    • +9 more
as of verify ↗

Directus

from $0.03/moHybridFree tier

Community Cloud free. Standard Cloud: $0.0347/node/hour. Enterprise: contact sales.

  • Community CloudFree
    • Unlimited users
    • Unlimited API requests
    • Unlimited bandwidth
    • Unlimited content collections and items
    • Unlimited content locales
  • Standard Cloud$0.03 per node-hour
    • Configurable node types for vertical scaling
    • Horizontal auto-scaling
    • Region selection
    • Automated backups
    • Unlimited users
    • +5 more
  • Enterprise CloudContact sales
    • Dedicated single-tenant servers
    • Custom configuration
    • Custom extensions
    • Additional features and support
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

Where each product runs and how it can be hosted. A dash means undocumented, not unsupported.

Platforms
Web
Contentful
Directus
CLI
Contentful
Directus
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Contentful
Directus
Self-hosted
Contentful
Directus

Comparison generated from independently-sourced facts. Every value links to its source and retrieval date. See the method.

Contentful vs Directus: an evidence-based comparison · Vioscale