# Directus vs WordPress

> Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against WordPress's 64.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. WordPress leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust. Both do cms content. Category scores, facts, verdicts and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-wordpress
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-wordpress.md (~2,250 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-wordpress.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-wordpress.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 WordPress's 64.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. WordPress leads on payments & pricing and 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
- WordPress: grade B, 64.8/100, rank #272 of 722. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/wordpress.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/wordpress.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:
- Schema & documentation, 81 against 65
- Security & auth, 68 against 62

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

### WordPress (B)

Good for: Sites that already run WordPress, where an agent drafts posts and uploads media under a Contributor or Author account and a person publishes.

Ahead on:
- Payments & pricing, 60 against 55
- Transparency & trust, 68 against 61

Also in its favour:
- Runs on your own machine
- Open source

Watch for: Application Passwords have no scopes or expiry. Each one carries every capability of its user


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | Directus | WordPress | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 82 | 78 | Directus +4 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 81 | 65 | Directus +16 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 73 | 74 | WordPress +1 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 68 | 62 | Directus +6 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 55 | 60 | WordPress +5 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 86 | 83 | Directus +3 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 61 | 68 | WordPress +7 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -6 | -5 | |
| **Total** | | **67.1 · B** | **64.8 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | Directus | WordPress |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | Monospace Inc. (Directus) | WordPress.org (open-source project) |
| Hosted endpoint | no (local only) | no (local only) |
| Transports | HTTP, Streamable HTTP | HTTP, stdio |
| Auth | OAuth or key | API key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Free |
| 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 | GPL-2.0-or-later. The MCP Adapter plugin is GPL-2.0-or-later too |
| Tools exposed | 12 | none |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2026-10-07 | 2026-10-06 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | no document linked |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2026-06-09 | no date given |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text |  |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | yes |  |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text |  |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text |  |
| Popularity | 38k stars, 23k npm/wk | 21k stars |

## 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.

**WordPress.** The REST API is part of core, and a post created without a status is saved as a draft with revisions kept on the owner's server. Application Passwords carry no scopes, so limits come only from the user's role. Revisions can be read and deleted but not restored over REST, and a critical flaw was fixed on 22 September 2026.

## 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

### WordPress

1. Ask the owner for a dedicated user with the lowest role that fits. A Contributor can draft and edit its own posts but can't publish them
2. Send the Application Password as Basic auth over HTTPS only. Core disables Application Passwords on plain HTTP outside a local environment
3. Upload a file with POST `/wp-json/wp/v2/media` first, then set `featured_media` or reference the returned URL in the post content
4. To roll back, GET `/wp/v2/posts/<id>/revisions/<rev>?context=edit` and POST its title and content to the post. There's no restore route
5. Pass `_fields=id,status,link,modified` on lists and read X-WP-TotalPages. `per_page` stops at 100

## Questions

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

Directus scores 67.1 (B) on agent readiness against WordPress's 64.8 (B), and leads in 4 of 7 scored categories. WordPress leads on payments & pricing and transparency & trust.

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

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

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

No hosted endpoint is listed for Directus. WordPress runs on your own machine, with no hosted endpoint listed.

### Are Directus and WordPress open source?

No open-source release is listed for Directus. WordPress is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later. The MCP Adapter plugin is GPL-2.0-or-later too).


## For agents

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

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