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Alex Spinov
Alex Spinov

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Directus Has a Free Headless CMS — Turn Any Database into an Instant API

#webdev #opensource #database #cms

A startup needed an admin panel for their PostgreSQL database. Building custom CRUD screens for 30 tables would take weeks. They needed it by Friday.

The Admin Panel Problem

Every app needs an admin interface. Building one from scratch is boring, repetitive, and time-consuming. Existing tools like Retool cost $10-50/user/month.

Directus is a free, open-source headless CMS that wraps ANY SQL database with an instant REST and GraphQL API plus a beautiful admin UI.

What Directus Offers for Free

  • Instant API - REST + GraphQL from any SQL database (Postgres, MySQL, SQLite, etc.)
  • Admin App - Beautiful no-code UI for managing content
  • Roles and Permissions - Granular access control per collection/field
  • Flows - Visual automation builder (like n8n, built-in)
  • File Storage - S3, local, Azure, GCS - with image transformations
  • Webhooks - Trigger on any data change
  • Extensions - Custom modules, interfaces, hooks
  • Live Preview - Content preview before publishing

Quick Start 

docker compose create directus
# Or npx:
npx directus init
npx directus start
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GitHub: directus/directus - 28K+ stars

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