# Directus vs Strapi

> Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Strapi's 65.7 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Strapi leads on transparency & trust. Both do cms content. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-strapi
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-strapi.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-strapi.min.md (~630 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-strapi.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: 2026-10-08

Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Strapi's 65.7 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Strapi leads on transparency & trust. Both do cms content.

- Directus: grade B, 67.1/100, rank #217 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/directus.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/directus.json
- Strapi: grade B, 65.7/100, rank #252 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/strapi.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/strapi.json

## Which one, for what

### 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 65
- Payments & pricing, 55 against 50

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

### Strapi (B)

Good for: Teams that want to own their CMS and let an agent draft, localise and publish entries under a narrow token.

Ahead on:
- Transparency & trust, 72 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Open source

Watch for: Content History keeps no version for REST, GraphQL or MCP writes, and exists only on Growth and Enterprise plans


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Directus | Strapi | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 82 | 82 | even |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 80 | Directus +1 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 65 | Directus +8 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 66 | Directus +2 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 55 | 50 | Directus +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 87 | Strapi +1 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 72 | Strapi +11 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | -6 | |
| **Total** | | **67.1 · B** | **65.7 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Directus | Strapi |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Monospace Inc. (Directus) | Strapi, Inc. |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | 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 | MIT for the Community Edition. Code under ee/ directories is under Strapi's Enterprise Edition licence, and Strapi Cloud is a paid service under its own terms |
| Tools exposed | 12 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-07 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | 2026-10-07 |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-09 | 2023-03-01 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | not found in the text |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | yes |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes | yes |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | yes |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | yes |
| Popularity | 38k stars, 23k npm/wk | 73k stars, 259k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**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.

**Strapi.** The built-in MCP server shows an agent only the tools, fields and locales its Admin token permits, and content tools create drafts by default. Rollback is the limit. Content History is a paid feature and records admin panel edits only, so API and MCP writes leave no version to restore, and the MCP server can't upload files.

## Before you call either

### 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

### Strapi

1. Pass `status=draft` on every REST POST and PUT. Without it the Content API publishes the entry at once
2. Use an Admin token for `/mcp` and admin routes and an API token for `/api`. Each kind is rejected on the other's routes
3. Upload files with multipart POST to `/api/upload` first, then reference the returned file id in the entry. MCP tools can't upload
4. Call `media_delete_assets` and `media_delete_folder` without `dryRun` first to preview, and take asset ids only from `media_list_assets`
5. Keep your own copy of an entry before updating it. API and MCP writes create no Content History version

## Questions

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

Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against Strapi's 65.7 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. Strapi leads on transparency & trust.

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

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

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for Directus. No hosted endpoint is listed for Strapi.

### Are Directus and Strapi open source?

No open-source release is listed for Directus. Strapi is open source (MIT for the Community Edition. Code under ee/ directories is under Strapi's Enterprise Edition licence, and Strapi Cloud is a paid service under its own terms).


## For agents

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

## Other comparisons with Directus or Strapi

- [Contentstack vs Directus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-directus.md)
- [Contentstack vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-strapi.md)
- [DatoCMS vs Directus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-directus.md)
- [DatoCMS vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-strapi.md)
- [Directus vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-ghost.md)
- [Directus vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-payload.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 Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-webflow.md)
- [Directus vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-wordpress.md)
- [Ghost vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-strapi.md)
- [Payload vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-strapi.md)
- [Sanity vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sanity-vs-strapi.md)
- [Storyblok vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/storyblok-vs-strapi.md)
- [Strapi vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/strapi-vs-webflow.md)
- [Strapi vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/strapi-vs-wordpress.md)