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Directus vs Strapi: catalog facts
Directus	Strapi
Freemium Free to get started and self-host, with a paid hosted Directus Cloud option.	Freemium Free and open source to self-host; Strapi Cloud hosting and sales plans cost extra.
Web, Self-hosted	Self-hosted, Command line
Works on top of an existing SQL database without changing the schema Automatic REST and GraphQL APIs	Automatic REST and GraphQL APIs from content models Visual content type builder
Source-available license rather than OSI open source Needs developer setup and a database	Headless only, so you build the frontend yourself Aimed at developers rather than non-technical site owners
Self-hosted, Hosted service	Self-hosted, Hosted service
Closed source	Open source
License: BSL-1.1	License: MIT
Not stated if an account is needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Not stated if it works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.