# directus vs OpenWA

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

| | directus | OpenWA |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 77/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 13 in Headless CMS | #2 of 19 in API Management |
| GitHub stars | 38 708 ✓ | 16 357 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +752 ✓ | +351 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v12.6.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | v0.26.0 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Other | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

directus scores 79/100 against 77/100 for OpenWA, so it is the safer default.

directus ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for OpenWA.

If you want the quickest setup, OpenWA 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)
- [OpenWA](https://selfhost.directory/project/openwa) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/openwa.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-openwa