# directus vs hot-updater

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | directus | hot-updater |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 13 in Headless CMS | #1 of 20 in Application Management |
| GitHub stars | 38 708 ✓ | 1 799 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +752 ✓ | +70 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 47 ✓ |
| Latest release | v12.6.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | v1.1.4 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Other | Other |
| Main language | Typescript | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

directus scores 79/100 against 62/100 for hot-updater, so it is the safer default.

hot-updater ships more often: 47 stable releases in the past year, against 18 for directus.

If you want the quickest setup, directus is easier to run; hot-updater needs more configuration.

directus is growing faster right now (+752 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [directus](https://selfhost.directory/project/directus) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/directus.md)
- [hot-updater](https://selfhost.directory/project/hot-updater) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/hot-updater.md)

## Related comparisons

- [directus vs Ghost](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-ghost)
- [directus vs nocodb](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-nocodb)
- [directus vs Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-payload-cms)
- [directus vs Wagtail](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-wagtail)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-hot-updater