Comparison

Directus vs KeystoneJS

On the evidence we track, Directus leads this comparison with a composite score of 74/100. Scores are only directly comparable because these tools share a category; the full breakdown and every source is below.

Directus full profile →KeystoneJS full profile →

Machine formatsJSON Markdown GraphQLor send Accept: application/json

★Directus74

KeystoneJS59

Attribute comparison across 2 tools
Attribute	DirectusLeader	KeystoneJS
Vioscale score	74 / 100low · 47%updating	59 / 100medium · 56%updating
Pricing
Free tierpricing.free_tier	✓	✓
Modelpricing.model	freemium	freemium
Price levelpricing.price_level	low	free
Transparentpricing.transparent	✓	-
Integrations
Countintegrations.count	-	4
Security
Disclosure policysecurity.disclosure_policy	✓	-
Gdprsecurity.gdpr	✓	-
Scorecardsecurity.scorecard	-	5.3
Soc2security.soc2	✓	-
Reliability
Status pagereliability.status_page	✓	-
Adoption
Github starsadoption.github_stars	-	9,963
Activity
Commits last 30dactivity.commits_last_30d	-	100
Release
Cadence daysrelease.cadence_days	-	14
Historyrelease.history	-	20 items
License
Spdxlicense.spdx	-	MIT
Language
Primarylanguage.primary	-	TypeScript
Market
Availabilitymarket.availability	Available worldwide · Popular in US	-

Score

Vioscale score

Directus74 / 100low · 47%updating

KeystoneJS59 / 100medium · 56%updating

Pricing

Free tier

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Model

Directusfreemium

KeystoneJSfreemium

Price level

Directuslow

KeystoneJSfree

Transparent

Directus✓

KeystoneJS–

Integrations

Count

Directus–

KeystoneJS4

Security

Disclosure policy

Directus✓

KeystoneJS–

Gdpr

Directus✓

KeystoneJS–

Scorecard

Directus–

KeystoneJS5.3

Soc2

Directus✓

KeystoneJS–

Reliability

Status page

Directus✓

KeystoneJS–

Adoption

Github stars

Directus–

KeystoneJS9,963

Activity

Commits last 30d

Directus–

KeystoneJS100

Release

Cadence days

Directus–

KeystoneJS14

History

Directus–

KeystoneJS20 items

License

Spdx

Directus–

KeystoneJSMIT

Language

Primary

Directus–

KeystoneJSTypeScript

Market

Availability

DirectusAvailable worldwide · Popular in US

KeystoneJS–

Capabilities

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

Capability comparison for CMS Software
Capability	Directus	KeystoneJS
Core
CMS type	Headless / API-first	Headless / API-first
Licensing
Open-source	✗	✓
Deployment
Self-hostable	✓	✓
Managed / cloud hosting offered	✓	-
Delivery
Headless API (REST/GraphQL)	✓	✓
Content
Structured content modelling	✓	✓
Localisation / i18n	✓	-
Content workflow / approvals	✓	✓
Editing
Visual / no-code page builder	✗	✗
Extensibility
Plugin / app ecosystem size	Directus Marketplace with Sandbox SDK for safe third-party extensions	Custom field types and extensible architecture
Scale
Multi-site / multi-tenant	-	-
Workflow
Git-based / code-first workflow	-	-
Pricing
Free / open tier	✓	✓

Core

CMS type

DirectusHeadless / API-first

KeystoneJSHeadless / API-first

Licensing

Open-source

Directus✗

KeystoneJS✓

Deployment

Self-hostable

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Managed / cloud hosting offered

Directus✓

KeystoneJS-

Delivery

Headless API (REST/GraphQL)

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Content

Structured content modelling

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Localisation / i18n

Directus✓

KeystoneJS-

Content workflow / approvals

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Editing

Visual / no-code page builder

Directus✗

KeystoneJS✗

Extensibility

Plugin / app ecosystem size

DirectusDirectus Marketplace with Sandbox SDK for safe third-party extensions

KeystoneJSCustom field types and extensible architecture

Scale

Multi-site / multi-tenant

Directus-

KeystoneJS-

Workflow

Git-based / code-first workflow

Directus-

KeystoneJS-

Pricing

Free / open tier

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

What each one is

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

Directus

Leader

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

KeystoneJS

A headless CMS for developers that provides a GraphQL API and management UI for content and data. Developers define a schema and get a powerful backend without boilerplate or bootstrapping.

Independently observed

Pricing

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

Directus

Leader

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 2026-08-13verify ↗

KeystoneJS

Open sourceFree tier

Free and open source

as of 2026-08-03verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platform and deployment support comparison
Supports	Directus	KeystoneJS
WebPlatforms	✓	✓
CLIPlatforms	✓	✓
Cloud / SaaSDeployment	✓	✗
Self-hostedDeployment	✓	✓

Platforms

Web

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

CLI

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Deployment

Cloud / SaaS

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✗

Self-hosted

Directus✓

KeystoneJS✓

Integrations

What each product connects to. Counts come from the vendor's own integration directory where one exists.

Directus

Leader

Not documented yet.

KeystoneJS

4 total

Cloudinary
Prisma
Apollo Client
OpenTelemetry

Independently observed

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