Directus Has a Free Self-Hosted Headless CMS — REST + GraphQL API for Any Database

A client needed a CMS. Not WordPress-level bloated. Not Contentful-level expensive. They wanted to manage content in a clean UI, get a REST/GraphQL API, and use their existing PostgreSQL database. Directus checked every box. Self-hosted, open-source, and it wraps any SQL database with a full-featured API and admin panel. No migration needed — just point it at your existing database. What You Get Free (Self-Hosted) Directus is open-source (BSL/GPLv3): REST + GraphQL API — auto-generated from your database schema Admin app — beautiful UI for content management Any SQL database — PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, MS SQL, MariaDB, CockroachDB File storage — local, S3, R2, Backblaze, Azure, GCS Authentication — local, SSO, OAuth2, LDAP, SAML Roles & permissions — granular field-level access control Flows — visual automation (like n8n inside your CMS) Webhooks — trigger external services on data changes Extensions — custom endpoints, hooks, modules, layouts Translations — built-in i18n for content