# directus vs nginx-ui

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

| | directus | nginx-ui |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 74/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 13 in Headless CMS | #3 of 12 in Web Servers |
| GitHub stars | 38 713 ✓ | 11 680 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +752 ✓ | +143 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 | 37 ✓ |
| Latest release | v12.6.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | v2.9.1 · 22 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Other | AGPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

directus scores 79/100 against 74/100 for nginx-ui, so it is the safer default.

nginx-ui ships more often: 37 stable releases in the past year, against 18 for directus.

If you want the quickest setup, nginx-ui is easier to run; directus 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)
- [nginx-ui](https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-ui) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/nginx-ui.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-nginx-ui