head to head · open source
Directus vs ProcessWire
Directus has 38,812 GitHub stars, 4,992 forks, 402 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. ProcessWire has 1,159 stars, 210 forks, 93 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Directus leads on adoption by 3,249% (38,812 vs 1,159 stars). Directus is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; ProcessWire is written in PHP under a custom or non-standard licence. Directus has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, ProcessWire 18%. Directus was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cms), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
← all 20902 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Directus | ProcessWire | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 39K | ★ 1.2K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-03 | 2026-10-30 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 210 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Directus if
- You weight community size — 39K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick ProcessWire if
- You want the ProcessWire feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and ProcessWire fits your workflow better
About Directus
The Collaborative Backend for Builders & AI Connect any SQL database and get instant REST and GraphQL APIs, a visual management Studio, and a native MCP server for AI agents. 45M+ downloads · 500K+ projects deployed [!NOTE] Free for most organizations. Under $5M annual revenue and 50 employees? Directus is completely free. Apply for an Open Innovation Grant license and get a key in minutes. Learn more about our license. 🐇 Introduction Directus wraps any SQL database with a REST and GraphQL API layer and a visual Studio. Engineers control schema and access. Non technical teammates and AI agents work directly…
read the full Directus overview →
About ProcessWire
Welcome to ProcessWire 3.x This document is in Markdown. An HTML formatted version of this document can be read at: Table of Contents 1. About 2. Installation 3. Upgrading 4. Troubleshooting 5. Support About ProcessWire ProcessWire is a friendly and powerful open source CMS with an API that is a joy to use at any scale. It is both a content management system (CMS) and framework (CMF) built to save you time and work the way you do. With all custom fields, a secure foundation, proven scalability and performance, ProcessWire connects all of your content seamlessly, making your job fast, easy and fun. ProcessWire…
read the full ProcessWire overview →
More in Developer Tools
Related comparisons
More Frameworks & Platforms projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Frameworks & Platforms field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Directus or ProcessWire more popular?
Directus has 38,812 GitHub stars and ProcessWire has 1,159. Directus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Directus and ProcessWire free?
Neither Directus nor ProcessWire declares a licence in this registry, so check each project's own repository before relying on either for a commercial use. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Directus and ProcessWire?
Directus is written in TypeScript and ProcessWire in PHP. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Directus or ProcessWire?
Choose Directus if you want the larger community (38,812 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose ProcessWire if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.