Head to head
Directus vs Contentstack
Both platforms are scored with the same methodology and the same category rubric. Nothing on this page is influenced by advertising.
47/100Higher score | 42/100 | |
|---|---|---|
| Category rank | #5 | #7 |
| Confidence | Medium confidence | High confidence |
| External Reputation | 70 | 77 |
| AI Authority | 31 | 13 |
| Web Authority | 18 | 16 |
| Expert Assessment | 63 | 57 |
| TOP10 User Score | — | — |
| Pricing | $499/mo on annual commitment ($5,988/year); $599/mo rolling monthly · free tier: Core — $0/mo: 3 user seats (hard limit), 25 collections, 5 flows, AI Assistant, advanced RBAC, community support, 30-day activity log and revision history; no SSO and SSO cannot be purchased as an add-on. Separately, the Open Innovation Grant gives the full uncapped software free (self-hosted) to orgs under $5M revenue and under 50 employees, plus individuals, hobbyists and non-profits. | Not published · free tier: Unverified — G2 listing shows a free "Explorer" account and the vendor advertises "Start free" via an "Enterprise Fast Track" trial, but Capterra records no free version and no trial duration or usage limits are published |
| Pricing model | Freemium subscription with seat and collection overages; free uncapped grant for qualifying small orgs | Custom |
| Best for | Developer-led teams with an existing SQL database who want an admin UI and auto-generated APIs over data they keep — especially orgs under $5M revenue and 50 employees, who get the entire uncapped product including SSO free when self-hosting. | Enterprises with dedicated engineering capacity, a real budget and multi-brand, multi-region omnichannel content operations — retail, travel, financial services and manufacturing — that value 24/7 support and formal onboarding over self-serve speed. |
| Avoid if | You are building a competing commercial product on top of it (forbidden by the MSCL Competing Use clause), you have a strict OSI-approved-licence procurement gate, you are a small team just over the grant thresholds facing a $499/mo minimum, you need SSO on a budget, or you are a non-technical editorial team wanting turnkey publishing. | You are a solo developer, startup or small team, need to fix a budget before contacting sales, want out-of-the-box functionality on day one, or need a fast low-effort migration from an existing CMS. |
| Markets | SMB, Startups, Agencies, Enterprise, Non-profits, Developers | Enterprise, Mid-Market, Agencies |
| Founded | — | — |
| Headquarters | — | — |
A higher TOP SCORE means more of the evidence favours that platform on this methodology — it is not a recommendation, and it does not account for your specific requirements. Advertisers are never declared the winner of a comparison.