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Side-by-side comparison

Pick up to four tools and compare adoption, momentum and maintenance at a glance. The crown marks the leader in each row.

Wraps any SQL database in instant REST/GraphQL APIs plus a no-code admin app; source-available (BSL).

Leading open-source Node.js headless CMS with a customizable admin panel and REST/GraphQL APIs.

Structured content platform with a real-time hosted Content Lake, GROQ queries and a customizable React Studio.

Code-first TypeScript CMS and app framework that installs directly into Next.js; acquired by Figma in 2025.

Head to head

Metric	Directus	Strapi	Sanity	Payload
Stars	38.7k	73.4k	6.4k	45.8k
Weekly downloads	31.2k	259k	1.5M	1.5M
Download growth	+9%	+30%	+39%	+93%
Popularity score	68/100	76/100	73/100	80/100
Forks	5k	10k	559	4.4k
Open issues	381	645	326	1.6k
Last commit	1d ago	2d ago	6d ago	today
Latest version	12.6.1	5.61.1	6.23.0	3.93.0
License	n/a	n/a	MIT	MIT
First released	2012	2015	2017	2021
Signals	None	Popular	Popular	Trending
Listed in	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS

Hover for exact values; switch to log scale for tools of very different sizes.

Wraps any SQL database in instant REST/GraphQL APIs plus a no-code admin app; source-available (BSL).

Leading open-source Node.js headless CMS with a customizable admin panel and REST/GraphQL APIs.

Structured content platform with a real-time hosted Content Lake, GROQ queries and a customizable React Studio.

Code-first TypeScript CMS and app framework that installs directly into Next.js; acquired by Figma in 2025.

Metric	Directus	Strapi	Sanity	Payload
Stars	38.7k	73.4k	6.4k	45.8k
Weekly downloads	31.2k	259k	1.5M	1.5M
Download growth	+9%	+30%	+39%	+93%
Popularity score	68/100	76/100	73/100	80/100
Forks	5k	10k	559	4.4k
Open issues	381	645	326	1.6k
Last commit	1d ago	2d ago	6d ago	today
Latest version	12.6.1	5.61.1	6.23.0	3.93.0
License	n/a	n/a	MIT	MIT
First released	2012	2015	2017	2021
Signals	None	Popular	Popular	Trending
Listed in	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS	CMS, Content & Commerce › Headless CMS

Hover for exact values; switch to log scale for tools of very different sizes.