11 Reasons You Absolutely Shouldn't Buy Directus

At Directus, trust and transparency are very important. “Open” is a word that characterizes not only our platform but our community, and how we interact and innovate with our contributors.

While we’ve always been 100% open-source, we are a business, after all, which is why we deliver our platform as a tiered, affordably priced, cloud offering in addition to the free on-premises version.

Our Standard Cloud offering is perfect for low-scale production and staging environments, and Enterprise customers can take advantage of an array of benefits, like cloud-exclusive extensions, premium support and SLAs, and more.

But we’re not going to try to sell you on the platform, because once you try it, you’ll understand its value. Instead, let’s take a look at why you shouldn’t buy Directus.

Here are 11 reasons Directus is definitely not the platform for you:

You have no technical expertise

If you’re a mom and pop shop with no money to hire developers, Directus will probably be a little too complex.

While our intuitive no-code Directus Studio makes it easy for all business users to browse, manage and visualize data, we highly recommend some technical prowess for working with the powerful backend Data Engine.

You love Wordpress

This monolithic content management system (CMS) has been the de facto application for publishing content and websites for some time, and you may be really used to using it (who hasn't?)

If you’re not using more than three types of content, you’re not worried about the performance of your site slowing down as you add content, and you don’t mind eventually having to migrate your data out of Wordpress when you finally do change platforms, then stick with Wordpress.

Choice and flexibility stress you out

Ever go to the Cheesecake factory? Their menu is like 20 pages long. Too many choices can be overwhelming! 😨

While Directus makes configuring your projects extremely quick and simple, you will have to make a lot of decisions, because you can configure your project basically any way you want to. Some people prefer a more rigid platform that limits their choices. In that case, swipe left.

You like your legacy system

“If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” or so the saying goes.

Sure, your legacy system may be holding you back, but you’re super familiar with it, and anyway, it works, right? Maybe someday you’ll upgrade, perhaps when the vendor stops supporting it. And you don't really need those extra capabilities – yet.

You love PHP

Choosing between PHP and JavaScript depends on the specific needs of your project. If performance and time to market aren’t critical requirements, then you may as well stick with PHP. (Directus is written in 100% Javascript.)

You are just looking to build a frontend

If you don’t need to build the backend of your project, then all you'll need is a frontend framework like Angular or React. It’s a rare case that you won’t need to connect that frontend to a backend and data – but hey, who are we to judge?

You have no need for branding your project

Although there are tools you can use with platforms like Wordpress to whitelabel projects, Directus offers this capability built-in. But if you’re never going to need to whitelabel a project, that wouldn't matter anyway.

You have tons of time to build things from scratch

Directus installs on top of and mirrors new or existing SQL databases, without altering schema or content. You can skip months of boilerplate work and move straight to building your application, saving tons of time and money. But say you aren’t in a hurry and, well, maybe you enjoy building things from scratch. In that case, Directus is not for you.

Controlling data access isn’t important

Especially in this age of heightened data privacy, the ability to set rules and permissions can be a critical requirement for your project. However, that’s not always the case.

Maybe your project doesn't contain any sensitive data, and it wouldn’t be a big deal if people gained unauthorized access. Maybe you don’t care if someone noodles around with your site and changes things when you aren’t looking. Maybe you’re just that chill.

You like juggling platforms

Directus is really an all-in-one solution, with Instant REST+GraphQL APIs for any SQL database, built-in auth, access control, caching, and automation. Directus Studio provides a powerful GUI for engineers and an intuitive no-code app for non-technical users.

But if you prefer to have everything separate and just build integrations to connect your various solutions, then you should do that.

You prefer working alone

Directus has a huge, thriving user community, where you can always find a helping hand. Our users are eager to support other developers and share their ideas and tips about how to get the most out of the Directus platform.

But if you’re an introvert, or you just don't want any help or support, then we can understand why you wouldn’t want to join our community. We guess.

And there you have it…11 good reasons why Directus may not be the best choice for your project.