head to head · open source
Directus vs Vendure
Directus has 37,911 GitHub stars, 4,951 forks, 402 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Vendure has 8,456 stars, 1,493 forks, 231 open issues and last shipped 2 days ago. Directus leads on adoption by 348% (37,911 vs 8,456 stars). Directus is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Vendure is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence. Directus has attracted 13% as many forks as stars, Vendure 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 (graphql), 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.
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Side by side
| Directus | Vendure | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 38K | ★ 8.5K |
| License | Custom / other | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-18 | 2026-09-18 |
| Forks | ⑂ 5.0K | ⑂ 1.5K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Directus if
- You weight community size — 38K 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 Vendure if
- You want the Vendure feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Vendure fits your workflow better
About Directus
Directus is an open source data platform that wraps any SQL database with a REST and GraphQL API layer and a visual management interface. It lives in the developer tools and frameworks ecosystem, specifically targeting teams needing a flexible backend for content management, admin panels, or custom applications without writing boilerplate code.
read the full Directus overview →
About Vendure
Vendure is an open source headless commerce platform built on a TypeScript stack that spans a Node.js and NestJS backend, a GraphQL API, and a React and TanStack admin dashboard. It lives in the TypeScript and Node.js ecosystem, and its topics place it among ecommerce frameworks, headless commerce platforms, and GraphQL commerce tools. The project is distributed as a monorepo containing the @vendure/core framework, the admin dashboard, the CLI, the official plugins, and an end to end testing harness. Vendure is licensed under GPLv3, with a plugin license exception that lets developers release their own Vendure pl…
read the full Vendure overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Directus or Vendure more popular?
Directus has 37,911 GitHub stars and Vendure has 8,456. Directus has the larger community by that measure.
Are Directus and Vendure free?
Neither Directus nor Vendure 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 Vendure?
Directus is written in TypeScript and Vendure in TypeScript. 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 Vendure?
Choose Directus if you want the larger community (37,911 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Vendure if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.