# ButterCMS vs Directus

> Directus scores 67.1 (B) to ButterCMS's 53.3 (D) for content management. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against ButterCMS's 53.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories. Both do content management.

- ButterCMS: grade D, 53.3/100, rank #711 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/buttercms.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/buttercms.json
- Directus: grade B, 67.1/100, rank #263 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/directus.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/directus.json
- Best headless CMS and website publishing for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cms/index.md
- All 91 cms comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cms/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ButterCMS (D)

Good for: A team already on a paid ButterCMS plan that wants an agent to draft and publish pages, collection items and blog posts in small volumes.

Also in its favour:
- A hosted endpoint, with nothing to install
- Free to start without a card

Watch for: The Write API is a paid add-on on Advanced ($249 a month) and Professional ($399), capped at 2,000 and 5,000 write calls a month. Its price is not published

### Directus (B)

Good for: Teams that already keep content in an SQL database and want an agent to edit items, files and the data model under a named user's permissions.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 73 against 64
- Security & auth, 68 against 36
- Payments & pricing, 55 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 86 against 27
- Transparency & trust, 61 against 51

Watch for: Version 12 (10 June 2026) added licence enforcement. The free Core tier allows 3 Studio seats, 25 collections and 5 flows, and an instance over its limits is locked after a grace period


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ButterCMS | Directus | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 82 | ButterCMS +1 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 81 | Directus +3 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 64 | 73 | Directus +9 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 36 | 68 | Directus +32 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 55 | Directus +35 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 27 | 86 | Directus +59 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 61 | Directus +10 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -6 | |
| **Total** | | **53.3 · D** | **67.1 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ButterCMS | Directus |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | ButterCMS LLC | Monospace Inc. (Directus) |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.buttercms.com/v2` | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under ButterCMS's terms of service. The SDKs and starter projects on GitHub are MIT | MSCL-1.0-GPL (Monospace Sustainable Core Licence 1.0), source-available with a licence key for paid tiers, each version converting to GPL-3.0 after four years. `@directus/sdk` is MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 12 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2025-09-04 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no date given |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2022-08-15 | 2026-06-09 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Popularity | 6.9k npm/wk | 38k stars, 23k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**ButterCMS.** The Read and Write APIs have a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, Markdown docs and a status page with no incident since October 2025. The Write API is a paid add-on from the $249 plan, capped at 2,000 or 5,000 calls a month. Writes answer 202 with no identifier, support rotates tokens, and the terms are an undated website document.

**Directus.** The built-in MCP server works under the connecting user's permissions, supports OAuth limited to the MCP endpoint and blocks deletes unless an administrator allows them. Since version 12 a licence check caps the free Core tier at 3 Studio seats, 25 collections and 5 flows, and the default tool list carries about 79 KB of instructions.

## Before you call either

### ButterCMS

1. End every path with a slash. A missing slash returns a 301, and the vendor counts the redirect and the retry as two API calls
2. Send the write token only as `Authorization: Token <token>`. The `auth_token` query parameter works for reads only
3. On page creation send every field key of the page type, with empty strings for fields left blank
4. A 202 means queued, not saved. Read the entry back with `preview=1` to confirm, and check a slug exists before retrying a create
5. Call the REST API directly for writes. The JavaScript SDK 3.0.3 has list, retrieve and search methods only

### Directus

1. Connect with OAuth or an `Authorization: Bearer` header. Don't put the token in the URL as `?access_token=`, where it can be logged
2. Use `/mcp?tool_mode=registry` when the client loads every tool definition. Default mode sends each tool's full instructions, about 79 KB in total
3. Read the `schema` tool before writing. Item payloads are untyped objects, so field names and types come only from the data model
4. Publish a version with `POST /versions/{id}/promote` over REST. The MCP `items` tool refuses system collections such as `directus_versions`
5. Count translation and junction tables against the 25-collection Core limit before creating collections

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ButterCMS or Directus?

Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against ButterCMS's 53.3 (D), and leads in 6 of 7 scored categories.

### Do ButterCMS and Directus need an API key?

ButterCMS needs an API key. Directus takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call ButterCMS and Directus without installing anything?

ButterCMS has a hosted endpoint at https://api.buttercms.com/v2. No hosted endpoint is listed for Directus.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "buttercms", "b": "directus"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare buttercms directus`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/buttercms.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/directus.json

## Other comparisons with ButterCMS or Directus

- [ButterCMS vs Contentstack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-contentstack.md)
- [ButterCMS vs DatoCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-datocms.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-ghost.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-hygraph.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Kontent.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-kontent-ai.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-payload.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Prismic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-prismic.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-sanity.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-webflow.md)
- [ButterCMS vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-wordpress.md)
- [Contentstack vs Directus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-directus.md)
- [DatoCMS vs Directus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-directus.md)
- [Directus vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-ghost.md)
- [Directus vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-hygraph.md)
- [Directus vs Kontent.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-kontent-ai.md)
- [Directus vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-payload.md)
- [Directus vs Prismic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-prismic.md)
- [Directus vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-sanity.md)
- [Directus vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Directus vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-strapi.md)
- [Directus vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-webflow.md)
- [Directus vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-wordpress.md)