# directus vs Pterodactyl

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

| | directus | Pterodactyl |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 79/100 ✓ | 75/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 13 in Headless CMS | #4 of 62 in Game Servers |
| GitHub stars | 38 716 ✓ | 9 438 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +755 ✓ | +183 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 18 ✓ | 11 |
| Latest release | v12.6.0 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ | v1.15.2 · 21 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | Other | Other |
| Main language | Typescript | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

directus scores 79/100 against 75/100 for Pterodactyl, so it is the safer default.

directus ships more often: 18 stable releases in the past year, against 11 for Pterodactyl.

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

directus is growing faster right now (+755 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [directus](https://selfhost.directory/project/directus) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/directus.md)
- [Pterodactyl](https://selfhost.directory/project/pterodactyl) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/pterodactyl.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)

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