vioscale
Comparison

Directus vs Sanity

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 →Sanity full profile →
Machine formatsJSONMarkdownGraphQLor send Accept: application/json
★Directus74
Sanity50
Score
Vioscale score
Directus74 / 100low · 47%
Sanity50 / 100medium · 71%
Pricing
Free tier
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Model
Directusfreemium
Sanityfreemium
Price level
Directuslow
Sanitylow
Transparent
Directus✓
Sanity✗
Integrations
Count
Directus–
Sanity8
Security
Disclosure policy
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Gdpr
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Soc2
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Reliability
Status page
Directus✓
Sanity✓
Market
Availability

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

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

Sanity

A cloud-hosted content management system that uses code-based content modeling, offers both REST and GraphQL query capabilities, and provides built-in automation for content workflows and publishing operations.

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 verify ↗

Sanity

HybridFree tier

Free tier. Growth and Enterprise plans with custom pricing.

  • 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✗

Integrations

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

Directus

Leader

Not documented yet.

Sanity

8 total
  • Vercel
  • Next.js
  • Astro
  • Slack
  • GitHub
  • PostHog
  • Claude
  • Replicate
Independently observed

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