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Directus alternative

Hatamoto vs Directus

Directus puts an admin app and APIs on top of your SQL database and leaves the website for you to build. Since version 12 its free tier stops at three seats and 25 collections. Hatamoto is a website CMS under Apache-2.0, with no seat or collection limits.

Install Hatamoto See the full comparison

37 lines compared

Updated 28 October 2026, against Directus 12.6 and its October 2026 pricing.

Hatamoto ahead
14 Licence freedom, a rendered site, SEO, forms and updates
Directus ahead
15 Databases, permissions, languages, automation and APIs
About the same
8 MCP, revisions, webhooks and plugin sandboxing

Line by line

The full comparison

37 lines in eight groups. Open a group to see each line. "Ahead" means better out of the box for a typical business website.

Hatamoto aheadDirectus aheadAbout the same

Licence, platform and hostingHatamoto 4Directus 3Even 1
Licence, platform and hosting: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
LicenceApache-2.0, open sourceSource-available MSCL licence. Each version becomes GPL-3.0 four years after releaseHatamoto
Free-tier limitsNoneThree staff seats, 25 collections and five flows without a paid licenceHatamoto
Free full licenceNot neededFree for organisations under US$5M revenue and 50 staffEven
Licence checksNoneLicensed installs check in online every 12 hours. Offline tokens are Enterprise onlyHatamoto
What you runOne Go binary and a Postgres databaseA Node.js 26 app from a Docker image, plus Redis if you run more than one serverHatamoto
DatabasePostgres onlyPostgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, SQL Server, Oracle or CockroachDBDirectus
Works on an existing databaseNo, Hatamoto owns its schemaYes, it reads your tables as they areDirectus
Managed hostingNone, you run it yourselfDirectus Cloud from US$89 a month, billed yearlyDirectus
Your public websiteHatamoto 3Even 1
Your public website: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
Public websiteIncluded, rendered by Hatamoto's themesNot included. You build one that reads the APIHatamoto
Edit on the live pageSection builder with live previewVisual Editor, once a developer has wired it into your front endEven
FormsBuilt in, with spam protection and CSV exportNot documented. You build them in your front endHatamoto
Page cachingIn memory, cleared on every editOptional data cache in memory or Redis. Page caching is your front end's jobHatamoto
Editing and contentDirectus 4Even 2
Editing and content: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
Custom content typesSet up in the adminSet up in the admin, each one a real database tableEven
Relationships between contentLinks between entries and taxonomiesOne-to-many, many-to-many and many-to-anyDirectus
Drafts and versionsBuilt in, with schedulingContent versioning built inEven
Two people on one entryNot includedReal-time collaborative editingDirectus
Roles and permissionsOwner and editorNested roles and policies, down to single fields and itemsDirectus
More than one languageNo, one language per siteTranslation tables, with a wizard to set them upDirectus
SEO and AI searchHatamoto 5
SEO and AI search: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
SEO titles and descriptionsBuilt in and printed in every page headAn SEO extension stores them. Your front end prints themHatamoto
SitemapsBuilt inNot in core. Your front end builds themHatamoto
Schema markup (JSON-LD)Built in for every content typeA custom field you render yourselfHatamoto
RedirectsBuilt in, with a 404 logNot documented. Your front end handles themHatamoto
AI crawler reportsWhich AI read which page, and the visits it sentNot available. There is no rendered site to trackHatamoto
APIs, AI agents and automationDirectus 3Even 2
APIs, AI agents and automation: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
APIsREST with scoped keysREST, GraphQL, WebSockets and a TypeScript SDKDirectus
MCP serverBuilt inBuilt in on every tier, including freeEven
AI assistant in the adminNot includedBuilt in, with OpenAI, Anthropic or GeminiDirectus
No-code automationWebhooks you connect to other toolsFlows, with event triggers and chained stepsDirectus
WebhooksBuilt in and signedThrough FlowsEven
Extensions and themesHatamoto 1Directus 1Even 1
Extensions and themes: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
Plugin safetyEvery plugin runs in a WebAssembly sandboxAPI extensions sandboxed by default, with an option to trust full-access onesEven
Extension marketplaceA small signed first-party setA marketplace inside the admin, fed from npmDirectus
Website themesInstallable themes with a page builderNot applicable. Directus has no website themesHatamoto
Security and dataHatamoto 1Directus 2
Security and data: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
UpdatesSigned and automatic, with release channels and rollbackPull a new Docker image and redeployHatamoto
Single sign-onNot includedOAuth, OpenID, LDAP or SAML on paid tiersDirectus
Getting your data outOne command exports content, media and settingsPlain SQL tables, plus CSV, JSON, XML or YAML exportsDirectus
Track record and communityDirectus 2Even 1
Track record and community: Hatamoto vs Directus
LineHatamotoDirectusAhead
MaturityPre-1.0, runs hatamoto.devAround since 2012, now on version 12Directus
CommunitySmall and growingAbout 38,000 GitHub starsDirectus
Importing from WordPressBuilt in, with a URL auditGuides for importing WordPress contentEven

Compared against Directus 12.6 and its October 2026 pricing on 28 October 2026. Sources: Directus on GitHub, licence, v12 release notes, pricing, licensing docs, SEO guide, MCP docs. Found something out of date? Open an issue.

Six differences between a website CMS and a data platform

  • 01

    Directus is a layer over your database

    It gives any SQL database an admin app and an API. That suits internal tools and apps. The public website is yours to build.

    How Hatamoto renders pages
  • 02

    No seat count to watch

    Directus caps the free tier at three staff seats and 25 collections, and translation tables count towards that. Hatamoto has no tiers, seats or collection caps.

    Add users
  • 03

    A licence that stays open

    Hatamoto is Apache-2.0, so any use is allowed, including running a competing service. Directus moved to a source-available licence in June 2026.

    Install Hatamoto
  • 04

    SEO without front-end work

    Hatamoto writes meta tags, canonical links, JSON-LD and sitemaps, and handles redirects. Directus's own SEO guide asks you to model and render all of this yourself.

    SEO and AI search
  • 05

    Updates arrive signed

    Hatamoto installs signed releases from the channel you choose, and rolls back if a version fails to start.

    How updates work
  • 06

    Directus leads on data and permissions

    Seven databases, many-to-any relations, field-level rules and Flows go well beyond Hatamoto's two roles and single Postgres database.

    What Hatamoto leaves out

Being straight with you

When Directus is the better choice

Choose Directus if any of these describe your project.

  • You want an admin app and an API on a database you already have.
  • Your data lives in MySQL, SQL Server or Oracle.
  • You need permission rules on individual fields or records.
  • Staff should be able to build automations without code.
  • The content feeds apps and dashboards as well as a website.
  • You want real-time updates over WebSockets.

Moving from Directus

Your content is already in plain tables

Directus keeps each collection as an ordinary SQL table, so getting the data out is easy. Hatamoto has no Directus importer, so the mapping is a script or an AI agent session.

  1. 1

    Install Hatamoto

    Run it with Docker or the single binary, next to a Postgres database. Getting started

  2. 2

    Map collections to types

    Use Directus's schema snapshot as a guide and create a Hatamoto content type for each collection that has public pages. Content types

  3. 3

    Copy entries and files

    Export each collection as JSON, fetch files from the assets API, then create the entries and media through Hatamoto's MCP server or CLI. Connect an AI agent

  4. 4

    Swap the front end

    Rebuild your layouts with Hatamoto sections, add redirects where URLs change, then point the domain at Hatamoto. Redirects

Questions people ask

Written by the Hatamoto team, from Directus's licence, pricing and documentation as of October 2026.

Is Directus still open source?

Not in the OSI sense. Since version 12, released in June 2026, Directus uses the Monospace Sustainable Core License, which is source-available. Each release becomes GPL-3.0 four years after it ships. Hatamoto is Apache-2.0.

Is Directus free to self-host?

Partly. Without a licence you get the Core tier: three staff seats, 25 collections and five flows. Organisations under US$5M revenue and 50 staff can apply for a free full licence. Larger teams pay for Team or Enterprise.

Is Hatamoto a Directus alternative?

For a website, yes. Hatamoto renders the pages and handles SEO, forms and redirects. For internal tools, data apps or an API over an existing database, Directus is the better fit.

Does Directus handle SEO?

It stores whatever you model. Directus's SEO guide tells you to create the fields and render them in your front end, and the Directus Labs SEO extension helps with the editing side. Sitemaps, JSON-LD and redirects are front-end work.

Do both support AI agents?

Yes. Directus has an MCP server and an AI assistant on every tier, including free. Hatamoto's MCP server also reports on AI crawlers and previews your sitemap and llms.txt.

How do I move from Directus to Hatamoto?

Create matching content types, export each collection as JSON and pull files from the assets API, then create the entries through Hatamoto's MCP server or CLI. Add redirects for any URL that changes.

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