Replace Webflow CMS / Contentful with Self-Hosted Directus
Instant REST & GraphQL headless CMS and visual data studio that wraps any SQL database cleanly Stop paying Business CMS ($49/mo + $19/editor seat) ($239/mo for a 10-person team) and run Directus on a $4.50/mo Linux VPS with full data sovereignty.
1-to-100 Seat Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Table
Comparing Webflow CMS / Contentful (Business CMS ($49/mo + $19/editor seat)) vs Directus on Hetzner CX22 (4GB RAM / 2 vCPU).
| Team Size | Webflow CMS / Contentful Cost | Directus VPS | Net Annual Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 Seat (Solo) | $68.00/mo ($816/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$762 / year |
| 5 Seats | $144.00/mo ($1,728/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$1,674 / year |
| 10 Seats | $239.00/mo ($2,868/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$2,814 / year |
| 25 Seats | $524.00/mo ($6,288/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$6,234 / year |
| 50 Seats | $999.00/mo ($11,988/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$11,934 / year |
| 100 Seats | $1,949.00/mo ($23,388/yr) | $4.50/mo (CX22) | +$23,334 / year |
Production Docker Compose + Caddy Auto-SSL
Copy and run docker compose up -d on any Ubuntu 24.04 server.
# Production Docker Compose: Directus (Replaces Webflow CMS / Contentful)
services:
caddy:
image: caddy:2-alpine
restart: unless-stopped
ports:
- "80:80"
- "443:443"
volumes:
- ./Caddyfile:/etc/caddy/Caddyfile:ro
- caddy_data:/data
networks:
- stack_net
directus:
image: directus/directus:11
container_name: stack-directus
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- "KEY=${DIRECTUS_KEY:-replace_with_random_uuid_key}"
- "SECRET=${DIRECTUS_SECRET:-replace_with_random_secret}"
- "DB_CLIENT=pg"
- "DB_HOST=postgres"
- "DB_PORT=5432"
- "DB_DATABASE=directus"
- "DB_USER=postgres"
- "DB_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-strongpassword}"
- "REDIS=redis://redis:6379"
volumes:
- directus_data:/data
networks:
- stack_net
postgres:
image: pgvector/pgvector:pg16
container_name: stack-postgres
restart: unless-stopped
environment:
- "POSTGRES_USER=postgres"
- "POSTGRES_PASSWORD=${POSTGRES_PASSWORD:-strongpassword}"
volumes:
- postgres_data:/var/lib/postgresql/data
networks:
- stack_net
redis:
image: redis:7-alpine
container_name: stack-redis
restart: unless-stopped
volumes:
- redis_data:/data
networks:
- stack_net
networks:
stack_net:
driver: bridge
volumes:
caddy_data:
directus_data:
postgres_data:
redis_data:
# Automatic Let's Encrypt HTTPS for Directus
directus.{$DOMAIN:yourdomain.com} {
encode zstd gzip
reverse_proxy directus:8055
}
Why Teams Switch to Directus
- ✓Zero database schema lock-in (introspects raw Postgres)
- ✓Built-in visual automation flows & dashboards
- ✓Unlimited CMS items, locales & roles
directus/directus:11
Deploy Directus in 60 Seconds
Sized automatically for Directus (512MB container RAM + OS overhead).
Get All 16 Pre-Built Production Stacks + Encrypted S3 Backups
Includes pre-tuned docker-compose.yml, Caddy Auto-SSL, AES-256 encrypted nightly S3/R2 Postgres backups, and Ubuntu 24.04 UFW/Fail2ban hardening scripts.