# directus vs Orca

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

| | directus | Orca |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 | 91/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 13 in Headless CMS | #1 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 38 708 | 109 022 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +752 | +9 115 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 ✓ | 15 |
| Latest release | v12.6.0 · 27 Oct 2026 | v1.4.243 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | Other | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Orca scores 91/100 against 79/100 for directus, so it is the safer default.

directus ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 15 for Orca.

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

Orca is growing faster right now (+9 115 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [directus](https://selfhost.directory/project/directus) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/directus.md)
- [Orca](https://selfhost.directory/project/orca) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/orca.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-orca