From Webflow to Directus

We are the Webflow to Directus migration experts

Challenges with Webflow

Key pain points

Now for the part that Webflow doesn’t put on their homepage. The pricing escalates fast. $29/month for a basic CMS plan is already painful, but enterprise plans running into $60,000+ a year for high-traffic sites? The CMS editor is the other pain point everyone loves to hate. Tiny text fields, clunky formatting, random quirks, and in some cases, hitting “save” has accidentally unpublished live articles. Yes, really. Not exactly the confidence you want from a content platform.

Then there are the technical walls. Only one designer can edit at a time. No repeater fields. CMS reference limits that force weird workarounds. And if you ever want to leave Webflow? Good luck. The exported code loses CMS features and animations, so your “no-code” site suddenly needs… code. Everywhere.

Expensive pricing tiers

Webflow starts cheap, but the moment you need CMS items, traffic, or team features, the bill jumps fast. If you want just 10 pages, go ahead. But if you need an enterprise website, we suggest reconsidering.

Outdated CMS editor interface

For all the design polish, the CMS editor feels stuck in another decade. Tiny text fields, formatting quirks, and the occasional “why did that unpublish my live page?” moment doesn't help content teams move fast.

CMS reference limitations

Complex content models often require hacks, workarounds, or custom code anyway, which defeats the “no-code” dream. It doesn't have repeaters or shallow reference depth, and collection limits add friction to what should be simple tasks.

Single-designer collaboration limit

Only one designer can work in the Webflow canvas at a time. On larger projects, this turns teamwork into a queue.

Third-party integration dependency

If you need advanced features, prepare to stitch in custom code or third-party services. The plugin ecosystem is small, so extending Webflow usually means bolting on tools outside the platform.

Limited export functionality

You can export your site, but you lose CMS features, interactions, and animations the moment you do. It’s more like a one-way door than a portable build.

Benefits of Directus

Key advantages

Directus instantly wins points with us because, well… it has a rabbit for a logo. But beyond that, it’s genuinely a solid database-first CMS. If you like the idea of a CMS that sits directly on top of your SQL database without any abstractions, Directus feels incredibly natural.

You can self-host it, tweak it endlessly, and treat your schema exactly the way you want. Editors get a no-code admin UI that feels polished, developers get REST and GraphQL out of the box, and teams get workflows, versioning, automations, and proper permission controls. It’s flexible, fast, and a great fit if your content is really just structured data waiting for a smarter interface. If your project revolves around relational data and you want total control from database to API, Directus is one of the cleanest ways to build it.

Intuitive non-technical interface

Editors get a clean, no-code admin panel that feels more like a productivity tool than a CMS. Non-technical teams can handle content updates without pinging developers every five minutes.

Database-agnostic SQL integration

Directus plugs straight into your SQL database and turns it into an API instantly. If your data lives in Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, or SQLite, it just works.

Field-level permission controls

You can lock down every field, table, and action with granular role-based permissions. Perfect for teams that care about security and don’t want interns accidentally deleting production data.

Built-in REST/GraphQL support

Your entire database is instantly exposed as both REST and GraphQL endpoints. Just plug into your frontend and start shipping.

Extensive UI customization

Directus lets you tweak the interface, add custom views, tailor layouts, and build the exact editing experience your team needs. It feels like a CMS you can actually shape instead of fight.

Real-time collaboration tools

Multiple contributors can work together without stepping on each other’s toes. Edits sync instantly, drafts stay clean, and the whole workflow feels built for modern teams, not 2010 intranets.