Strapi/Directus for marketing websites

Why Teams Are Turning to Open-Source Tools

For the past five years, the "Headless CMS" movement was defined by convenience. Marketing teams flocked to SaaS-first platforms, trading away control for the ease of a hosted cloud. But as we move through 2026, the tide has turned. High-growth brands are hitting what’s often referred to as the "SaaS Ceiling" is a point where proprietary limits on user seats, API calls, data structures become real constraints, driving up costs while restricting technical freedom.

The conversation has shifted from "How fast can we start?" to "Who owns our data foundation?"

This is why we are seeing a massive migration toward Open-Source Direction. Leading this movement are two powerhouses: Strapi and Directus. Both offer the "Headless" promise what means decoupling content from code but they do so while giving teams full control over their content.

In this article, we won't just compare features and differences. We will look how Strapi and Directus are built to help you decide which foundation will support your marketing engine for the next decade, not just the next quarter.

How Strapi and Directus Are Built

Choosing between Strapi and Directus is fundamentally about how each platform handles your data. Their specific approach determines how much control you maintain and how much of the technical "heavy lifting" the CMS takes off your hands.

Strapi: The Managed Framework for Content Hierarchy

Strapi follows a managed approach, taking responsibility for your application’s structure by default. When you create a content type, it automatically handles the database setup and generates the supporting code.

Its core strength is a natural content hierarchy. Strapi organizes sites like a structured tree, making nested pages, parent-child relationships, and complex menus intuitive for marketing teams. This makes it the ideal choice for new projects, where building a clean, structured content foundation from scratch is the priority.

Directus: The Data Mirror and No-Code Wrapper

Directus follows a self-managed approach. It "wraps" around your SQL database without imposing a proprietary structure, leaving you with total control over your data.

Its strength is making data accessible. Directus turns complex databases into a user-friendly No-Code Data Studio, effectively allowing a marketing person to manage a developer’s database. It lets non-technical teams filter, sort, and manage records as easily as a spreadsheet. This makes it ideal for existing projects with an existing database already in place. If you remove Directus tomorrow, your database remains a clean SQL schema, untouched by proprietary logic

Marketing Workflow

A marketing website is the bridge between your brand’s story and its business data. The choice between Strapi and Directus defines where your marketing team spends most of their time: building the experience or managing the performance.

Strapi: The High-Velocity Editorial Engine

For content-heavy sites like large blogs or brand hubs Strapi gives editors full autonomy.

Its Dynamic Zones let teams reconfigure complex layouts, run A/B tests, or launch seasonal campaigns without touching engineering, removing devs dependence and making nested hierarchies easy to manage.

Best for: Content-heavy sites where the priority is time-to-market for new landing pages and brand consistency across complex page trees.

Directus: The Data-Driven Command Center

Directus shifts the focus from "page building" to "operational awareness." It treats the CMS as a command center where content is just one part of the story.

The true differentiator for growth teams is the Directus Insights module. It allows you to build real-time dashboards directly inside the CMS. A growth marketer can edit a product description while simultaneously looking at a live chart of lead conversions, inventory levels, or form submissions. It turns a "Content Manager" into a "Business Manager".

Best for: Performance-driven teams where content is tied to real-time business logic, such as lead-gen funnels, inventory-linked catalogs, or data-rich user dashboards.

Integration Capabilities

Strapi: The "Marketplace" Ecosystem

Strapi utilizes an App Store approach. When you need to connect to HubSpot, Cloudinary, or an SEO optimizer, you look to the official Strapi Market.

If a ready-made tool doesn't exist, you can build your own proprietary plugins using standard JavaScript/Node.js.

The Expert View: Strapi is ideal for teams that value stability and speed through proven, third-party supported integrations.

Directus: The "Logic-First" Engine

Directus approaches integrations through Directus Automate (Flows). Instead of installing a plugin, you build custom event-driven "Logic Chains" directly in the UI.

While these flows are technically "No-Code" and built entirely through the interface, they require a higher level of technical thinking. You aren't limited by what a plugin developer decided.

The Expert View: Directus is the winner for complex operations. It requires a "Power User" or an architect's mindset to set up, but once built, it offers a level of flexibility that standard plugins cannot match.

AI in CMS: Content Assistants vs. Workflow Logic

In 2026, AI is essential for scaling content. Strapi and Directus use it in very different ways: Strapi helps writers, while Directus helps manage the system.

Strapi AI: Editorial Assistant

Strapi’s AI boosts editorial efficiency. It lives inside the editor, reducing busy work for marketing teams.

How it works: Strapi AI takes care of editor-level tasks: generating SEO metadata, translating pages into multiple languages, and writing alt-text for images directly where content is created.

Directus AI: No-Code Intelligence

Directus uses AI to manage your data and workflows rather than write content.

How it works: With AI Flows, you can create logic chains that, for example, analyze customer feedback and route it automatically. The AI Chat Sidebar and Model Context Protocol (MCP) let you manage database schemas or generate automations just by describing them in plain language.

Pricing and Licensing

Strapi: The "Enterprise Gate" Model

Strapi follows an "Open Core" model. While the Community Edition is incredibly powerful, certain advanced features are locked behind the Growth and Enterprise tiers.

The "Gates": Features like Single Sign-On (SSO), advanced audit logs, and granular review workflows are proprietary. For a mid-market brand, this means you can start for free, but you should budget for a license once your team requires enterprise-grade security and governance.

CMS plan

Cloud Pricing

Directus: The Revenue-Cap Transparency

Directus uses a Business Source License (BSL), which is a "feature-complete" model. Unlike Strapi, it doesn't lock features like SSO or advanced roles behind a paywall.

The "Revenue Cap": Directus is completely free for any entity with less than $5,000,000 in total annual finances. Once you cross that threshold, you are required to purchase a commercial license.

CMS plan

Cloud Pricing

Security

As your marketing team grows, the risk of human error rises. Governance lets editors be creative while keeping the core architecture secure.

Granular Permissions: Freedom Within Boundaries

Both platforms use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC), but differently:

• Strapi (Role-Focused): Define roles and restrict who can publish. Advanced field-level permissions are usually part of paid tiers.
• Directus (Data-Focused): Set permissions on fields, rows, or conditions for free, offering fine-grained control for complex organizations.

Versioning and Audits

Brand consistency and compliance are crucial. Both Strapi (Enterprise) and Directus (native) track all changes. Revision history lets you revert pages instantly.

This transparency fosters accountability: marketing leads can monitor activity and ensure content stays on-brand and compliant.

Conclusion

Choose Strapi if:

• You are building a creative, component-heavy marketing site where visual storytelling is the core of your brand.
• You prefer a managed framework that handles the database and hierarchy for you, allowing you to focus on building landing pages.
• You are starting from scratch and want a CMS that defines a clean, intuitive workflow for your editors immediately.
• You need a high-velocity editorial engine where content managers can act as site architects without technical friction.

Choose Directus if:

• You need deep integration with existing business systems and want a CMS that mirrors your SQL database without owning it.
• You need the power of a "No-Code Data Studio" and custom dashboards (Insights) to track business metrics alongside content.
• You already have a complex database or legacy system and need a modern, professional UI to manage it without a migration nightmare.
• You have unique business logic and automation needs that require custom "Logic Flows" rather than standard marketplace plugins.

There’s no single “winner” between Strapi and Directus. The right choice depends on your team’s goals: focus on editorial storytelling, or on managing complex data. You can contact us, and we can set up a free consultation around the project you have in mind. We are the headless CMS experts.