Directus vs Supabase
| Tagline | Instant REST and GraphQL API for any SQL database with an intuitive admin app | Open-source Firebase alternative built on PostgreSQL with realtime and auth |
| Category | Databases & Spreadsheets | Databases & Spreadsheets |
| Replaces | Airtable, Retool, Smartsheet | Airtable, Google Sheets, Retool |
| GitHub stars | 37k | 107k |
| Language | Nodejs | TypeScript |
| License | BUSL-1.1 | Apache-2.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose | Docker Docker Compose Kubernetes |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 6 days ago | 6 days ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
Directus
- BUSL-1.1 license prohibits competing managed-hosting products without a commercial license
- No built-in spreadsheet-style formula or pivot table UI like Airtable
- Automations (Flows) are less mature than dedicated workflow tools like Zapier
- Advanced data visualization requires an external BI tool; Directus provides data, not charts
Supabase
- Self-hosted Docker Compose stack is complex: 8+ services including Kong, GoTrue, PostgREST, Realtime
- Studio table editor is less polished than Airtable UX for non-technical users
- Edge Functions are limited to Deno; no Node.js runtime in the self-hosted edition
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Supabase for the larger community and ecosystem. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.