vioscaleAI
Comparison

Directus vs Sanity

No clear leader: Directus (59.9) and Sanity (59.4) 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.

Directus full profile →Sanity full profile →
Machine formatsMarkdownJSONGraphQLMarkdown is open. JSON and GraphQL need a free key.
Directus60
Sanity59
Score
vioscaleAI score
Directus60 / 100medium · 60%
Sanity59 / 100medium · 72%
Pricing
Free tier
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Model
Directusfreemium
Sanityfreemium
Price level
Directushigh
Sanitylow
Starting price
Directus$499
Sanity–
Transparent
Directus✓
Sanity✗
Integrations
Count
Directus4
Sanity7
Security
Certifications
Directus–
SanitySOC 2 Type II
Disclosure policy
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Gdpr
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Soc2
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Reliability
Sla pct
Directus–
Sanity99.95
Status page
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Market
Availability
Content
Faq
Directus6 items
Sanity7 items

Capabilities

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

Core
CMS type
DirectusHeadless / API-first
SanityHeadless / API-first
Licensing
Open-source
Directus✓
Sanity✗
Deployment
Self-hostable
Directus✓
Sanity✗
Managed / cloud hosting offered
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Delivery
Headless API (REST/GraphQL)
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Content
Structured content modelling
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Localisation / i18n
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Content workflow / approvals
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Editing
Visual / no-code page builder
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Extensibility
Plugin / app ecosystem size
DirectusDirectus Marketplace with Sandbox SDK for safe third-party extensions
SanityIntegrations directory with official framework toolkits and community plugins
Scale
Multi-site / multi-tenant
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Workflow
Git-based / code-first workflow
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Pricing
Free / open tier
Directus✓
Sanity✓

What each one is

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

Directus

A system that connects to any SQL database and provides a collaborative web interface for content and data management, while automatically generating REST and GraphQL APIs for developers.

Independently observed

Sanity

Sanity is a headless CMS that provides complete control over content through schema-as-code and GROQ queries. It enables developers to build custom content applications with real-time APIs and content workflows, with options for free starting tier or paid enterprise plans.

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

from $499/moHybridFree tier14-day trial

Free Core tier. Team from $499/mo annual commitment. Enterprise custom. Grant available for organizations under $5M revenue and 50 employees.

  • CoreFree
    • 3 user seats
    • 5 Flows
    • 25 collections
    • AI Assistant
    • Advanced RBAC
    • +1 more
  • Team$499/mo (annual) or $599/mo (monthly)
    • 10 SSO seats
    • 50 Collections (expandable to 100)
    • 20 Flows
    • Granular RBAC
    • Basic Support
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • Custom SSO seats
    • Custom Collections
    • Unlimited Flows
    • SSO (SAML / OIDC)
    • Custom LLM
    • +4 more
  • Open Innovation GrantFree
    • All features included
    • Free self-hosted
    • Cloud hosting $99/mo optional
as of verify ↗

Sanity

HybridFree tier

Free tier available; Growth plan with 50 seats; Enterprise with custom pricing and SLA

  • FreeFree
  • Growth-
    • 50 user seats
    • private datasets
    • AI capabilities
    • optional add-ons
  • EnterpriseContact sales
    • custom roles
    • SAML SSO
    • advanced permissions
    • custom usage quotas
    • dedicated support with SLA
    • +1 more
as of verify ↗

Platform & deployment

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

Platforms
Web
Directus✓
Sanity✓
CLI
Directus✓
Sanity✗
Deployment
Cloud / SaaS
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Self-hosted
Directus✓
Sanity✗
Hybrid
Directus✓
Sanity✗

Integrations

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

In common (1)
  • Claude

Directus

4 total - 3 not shared
  • OpenAI
  • Anthropic
  • Google Gemini
Independently observed

Sanity

9 total - 8 not shared
  • Vercel
  • Next.js
  • Astro
  • Slack
  • GitHub
  • PostHog
  • Replicate
  • Vimeo
Independently observed
Still deciding?

Directus or Sanity: 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.