Apollo GraphQL vs Directus Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| Apollo GraphQL | Directus | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | Custom | $599/mo |
| Number of plans | 0 | 3 |
| Free plan | — | |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Pricing model | N/A | flat-rate |
Core
- 3 user seats
- 25 Collections
- 5 Flows
- AI Assistant
- Advanced RBAC
- Community Support
- Cloud Hosted
Team
- 10 SSO seats
- 50 Collections
- 20 Flows
- Granular RBAC
- Basic Support
- Cloud Hosted
Enterprise
- Custom SSO seats
- Custom Collections
- Unlimited Flows
- SSO (SAML / OIDC)
- Custom LLM
- Offline Mode
- AI Translations
- Telemetry Opt-out
- Basic Support
- Premium Support
- Cloud Hosted
Apollo GraphQL vs Directus FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Directus has a free plan. Apollo GraphQL doesn't — you'll need to pay from day one.
- How do they charge?
- Check each product's pricing page for the latest details on how billing works.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. Directus: They're positioning as the open-source-friendly alternative to Contentful or Sanity — free to start, but the Team tier at $599/mo monthly is actually mid-to-premium for a headless CMS, sitting above many competitors' growth tiers. The Open Innovation Grant is a smart move to lock in early-stage startups before they scale into paying customers.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for Apollo GraphQL and Directus and let you know when something moves.