Baserow
Directus
| Feature | Baserow | Directus |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $5/mo | Free / from $99/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.3 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | developers, small-teams, self-hosters, privacy-conscious-orgs | developers, agencies, content-teams, enterprise-backends |
| Founded | 2019 | 2016 |
| Database Tables | ✓ | ✗ |
| Forms | ✓ | ✗ |
| Api | ✓ | ✗ |
| Views | ✓ | ✗ |
| Automations | ✓ | ✗ |
| Self Hosting | ✓ | ✗ |
| Auto Generated Apis | ✗ | ✓ |
| Admin Panel | ✗ | ✓ |
| Roles And Permissions | ✗ | ✓ |
| Flows Automation | ✗ | ✓ |
| File Management | ✗ | ✓ |
| Translations | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Baserow Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- Good Airtable alternative
- Developer-friendly API
- Affordable pricing
✗ Baserow Cons
- Fewer automations than Airtable
- Smaller template library
- Growing feature set
✓ Directus Pros
- Works with existing databases
- Beautiful admin interface
- REST + GraphQL APIs auto-generated
- Fully self-hostable
✗ Directus Cons
- Cloud pricing jumps to $99/mo
- Complex features require developer knowledge
- Documentation could be better organized
The Verdict
Baserow is built for developers and small teams, with a focus on database-tables and forms. Directus targets developers and agencies and leads with auto-generated-apis and admin-panel.
On pricing, Baserow is the clear winner for budget-conscious users — starting at $5/mo compared to $99/mo for Directus. That $94/mo difference adds up quickly for growing teams.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Both tools are a solid fit for developers — in those cases, the decision often comes down to workflow style and how your team prefers to organize work.
This is a genuinely close comparison. If you can, sign up for both free trials (where available) and run a one-week test with your actual team tasks before deciding.