CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Directus

Adobe Experience Manager vs Directus

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Directus is a closed-source headless CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 12.

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Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 25 of 28 built in
Directus Headless · Closed source · 18 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Directus on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Adobe Experience Manager vs Directus feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	Directus Headless
Overview
What it is	Adobe's enterprise CMS for websites and headless content, run by Adobe as a cloud service with page, fragment and document-based authoring.	Source-available data platform and headless CMS that puts a Studio admin app and REST and GraphQL APIs over your own SQL database.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service Version 2026.9.0, released 24 Sept 2026	Directus 12, self-hosted core tier or licensed plans, with optional Directus Cloud Version 12.4.1, released 23 Sept 2026
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	Monospace Inc. directus.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source MSCL-1.0-GPL, source-available, GPL-3.0 after four years. Free under $5M revenue and 50 staff via the Open Innovation Grant
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Cloud Service runs only on Adobe's cloud. AEM 6.5 LTS is the separate self-hosted edition.	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Directus Cloud is a $99 per month add-on for Core and Team. Enterprise cloud on request.
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	TypeScript, Node.js, Vue
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite, MS SQL Server, Oracle, CockroachDB
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request.	Free to start Core free for 3 seats and 25 collections. Team $499 per month billed yearly or $599 monthly. Enterprise on request.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Built in Components, dialogs and Universal Editor models live in the project repository. 2	Built in Schema snapshots are files in the repo, applied to an instance with the CLI. 16
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Content Fragment Model editor. 3	Built in
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Page builders use many-to-any relations. 17
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Language copies with translation projects and connectors. 4	Built in Translations field with related translation records.
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Web-optimized image delivery resizes, crops and converts DAM images to WebP. 5	Built in URL parameters and saved presets. 13
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content Fragment Delivery with OpenAPI. 6	Built in
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Built in
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in AEM Eventing delivers events through Adobe I/O Events. 7	Built in Through Flows. Core allows 5 Flows. 2 19
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in HTL page rendering or Edge Delivery Services. 10	Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in Edits stay on the author tier until published. 11	Built in Content versioning with a draft per item. 6
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Publish later and unpublish later. 11	Limited No schedule field. An official guide publishes future items with a scheduled Flow. 14
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Limited Revisions kept 30 days on Core, 90 on Team, configurable on Enterprise. 2
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Separate preview tier.	Built in
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Universal Editor and Page Editor. 9	Built in Visual Editor module. The site adds the Directus frontend library. 7
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Limited Built from a status field and custom permissions, which need Team, Enterprise or the grant. 15 2
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Launches group changes across pages and promote them together. 8	Not available
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Limited Only with document authoring in Word or Google Docs. The Universal Editor has no co-editing. 10	Built in Collaborative Editing with field locking. 8
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in AEM groups with repository permissions. 12	Built in Unlimited roles on Core. Custom access policies need Team, Enterprise or the grant. 2 20
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Limited Repository ACL restrictions can target named properties. No per-field setting in the editors. 12	Paid tier Custom permissions for fields and item rules need Team, Enterprise or the grant. 2 5
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in SAML or OIDC federation through Adobe Admin Console. 13	Paid tier Team plan and up, or the grant. SAML, OpenID, OAuth 2.0 and LDAP. 2 11
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in Page, replication and DAM audit logs. 14	Limited Activity log kept 30 days on Core, 90 on Team, configurable on Enterprise. 2 12
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Multi Site Manager with live copies. 15	Not available
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in UI extensions built with App Builder. 16	Built in Extensions add interfaces, layouts, panels and modules.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Extension Manager catalogue of Adobe and partner extensions. 16	Built in Marketplace inside the Studio. 18
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Core Components form container emails, posts or stores submissions. 17	Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Limited Publish-tier login via SAML or OIDC. Sign-up flows need custom code and user sync. 18 13	Built in API-only application users do not use Studio seats. 3
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in Generate Variations needs AEM Cloud Service with Edge Delivery entitlement. Licence includes an action allowance; extra actions cost more. 19	Built in AI Assistant on every plan with your own OpenAI, Anthropic or Gemini key. 2 9
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in AEM MCP Server for pages, fragments and assets. 20	Built in Built in since 11.12. 10

Adobe Experience Manager sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service.

Directus sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Directus 12, self-hosted core tier or licensed plans, with optional Directus Cloud.

Considering more platforms? Compare Adobe Experience Manager and Directus with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Directus get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, Directus has 18. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Self-hosting: Adobe Experience Manager cannot be self-hosted. Directus can be self-hosted.
Free option: Adobe Experience Manager has no free option. Directus has a free option.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Directus 9

Renders the website Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Limited.
Version history Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Limited.
Approval workflows Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Limited.
Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Not available.
Single sign-on Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Paid tier.
Audit log Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Limited.
Multiple sites Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Not available.
Form builder Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Directus: Not available.

Built in on Directus, a different answer on Adobe Experience Manager 2

Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Directus: Built in.
Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Directus: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 1

Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Directus: Paid tier.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Adobe Experience Manager vs Payload and Directus vs Payload.

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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