Directus wraps your SQL database in an instant API and app. We do the same job for MongoDB — your database, your bucket, your SMTP — and host the dashboard so you run nothing.
Directus is a database-first data platform: point it at a SQL database — PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server and others — and it introspects the tables and gives you REST and GraphQL APIs, a polished no-code Data Studio, granular permissions, and Flows for automation. It can adopt an existing production database without owning it, which almost nothing else in the category can do. It is self-hosted under the Business Source License (free below $5M in annual revenue/funding, converting to GPLv3 after three years) or run for you on Directus Cloud.
Directus and EasySiteControl agree on the thing that matters most: the platform should sit on top of a database you own, not swallow your data into someone else's. The two differences are the database and the operations. Directus speaks SQL and does not support MongoDB; we speak MongoDB and nothing else. And Directus hands you a Node application to deploy, patch and upgrade (or a cloud bill to avoid that), while we host the dashboard and you attach your database — your MongoDB, your S3 bucket, your SMTP relay. Leaving either product is honest: with both, your data is already in your own database. With us, leaving is just pointing your apps at your own DB.
| Directus | EasySiteControl | |
|---|---|---|
| Who runs the CMS | You (Node app) — or Directus Cloud | We host and maintain the dashboard; you run nothing |
| Where records live | Your SQL database — Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, MS SQL… | Your own MongoDB — Atlas, self-hosted, anywhere |
| MongoDB support | No — SQL databases only | MongoDB is the only option, by design |
| Adopting an existing database | Yes — introspects existing tables, a real strength | No — schemas are defined in the dashboard, collections are created for you |
| APIs | REST and GraphQL, generated from your tables | Generated REST per schema, plus custom endpoints on a visual canvas |
| Automations | Flows — event-triggered, visual | Events — same idea, same canvas as endpoints |
| Licence | BSL 1.1 — free under $5M/yr revenue; converts to GPLv3 after 3 years | Commercial, hosted |
| Cost shape | Free self-hosted (below threshold) + your infra; Cloud from ~$15/mo | Flat per project; you supply the infra |
Pricing and capabilities for Directus last checked on 27 August 2026. Products change — check the sources below before making a decision on this.
No. Directus supports SQL databases — PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, SQL Server and others — and does not support MongoDB. If your stack is MongoDB, EasySiteControl connects to the database you already have; if your stack is SQL, Directus is the natural fit and we are not an option either.
Yes, under the Business Source License 1.1 — free for organisations below $5M in annual revenue or funding, with each release converting to GPLv3 after three years. Above that threshold, self-hosting requires a commercial licence. EasySiteControl is a hosted commercial product with flat per-project pricing; there is nothing to self-host.
Both are honest here, and that is worth saying plainly: with either product your records sit in a database you own. Leaving Directus means keeping your SQL database and replacing the API layer; leaving EasySiteControl means keeping your MongoDB, your S3 bucket and your SMTP setup, and pointing your applications directly at them.
Yes. Directus has Flows — event-triggered automation built visually. EasySiteControl has Events, which run the same visual step pipeline as custom endpoints on form submissions, record changes, or manual triggers. Directus Flows are more mature; ours share one canvas with the endpoint builder, so there is a single system to learn.
The claims on our side of the table are documented, not asserted: start with the getting-started guide, see how schemas and the records API work, or how custom endpoints are built. The cost side is one page: pricing.
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