Self-Hosting Overview

Self-hosting Directus means running the Directus software on your own infrastructure, giving you full control over your data, hardware, and deployment configuration. While Directus offers both cloud-hosted and self-hosted options, this section of the documentation focuses on self-hosting.

Considerations

There are many benefits to self-hosting, but there are also some considerations to keep in mind.

Control

Some users prefer to have full control over their infrastructure and deployment configuration. This means you have the freedom to choose the hardware that best fits your needs. As Directus is provided as a Docker image, you can deploy it on many different platforms.

You can also control all of the required parts for a production system, including the database, caching, and backups. All environment variables are configurable, giving you the ability to customize the behavior of Directus to your needs, even if the desired options are not recommended for security or stability.

Skills

While we try to make it as easy as possible to self-host Directus, there is still a lot to consider when self-hosting and maintaining Directus for production use that requires additional skills.

If you have experience running and scaling Docker containers, are able to monitor and maintain a server, and have knowledge of how to configure a database and set up backups, then self-hosting Directus may be a good fit for you.

Cost

On top of the Directus license, you will need to consider the cost of your infrastructure, including the server, database, and other dependencies. The non-exhaustive list of considerations includes:

• Compute (running the Directus instance)
• Database
• Redis Cache
• Content Delivery Network (CDN)
• Load Balancers
• Backup System
• Monitoring

And, of course, the cost of time to manage and maintain all of these moving parts. In some contexts, this is a non-issue, but in others, it can be a significant factor.

Directus Cloud

Directus Cloud is a hosted version of Directus that is maintained by the Directus team. It is a fully managed service that provides a secure and scalable environment for your Directus project.