Though most users probably think of Directus as a Headless CMS, the platform is so much more than that.
Because we built Directus data-first vs. content-first, you can use it to spin up any digital app or project that pops in your head.
As one user said –
"I can get an idea in the morning, quickly build the data model and backend with Directus, and have a fully-functioning MVP in the afternoon."
Since developers often ask us what types of projects they can tackle with Directus, we thought we’d compile a list of the top use cases we could think of off the top of our head (there are more, but this is a start 😉)
Whether you're an enterprise building composable architecture or a developer looking to level-up your coding skills, here's a list of 100 tools, apps, and platforms you can build with Directus.
Project Categories:
- Content and Asset Management
- Ecommerce
- Internal Tools
- External Tools
- Business Operations and Productivity
- Research & Analytics
- Social Media, News, and Streaming
- Education
- Industry-Specific Apps
- Sports and Fitness
- Music and the Arts
- Travel
- Events
- Non-Profit Tools
- Energy and Environment
- Gaming
- Online Directories
- Special Interests
Content and Asset Management
Content Management System (CMS)
Directus can be used to create a CMS that feeds content to any frontend framework, and across multiple channels and devices. This includes websites, mobile apps, and more.
Blog
Directus can be used to build a blogging platform where you can manage posts, comments, authors, categories, and other associated data.
Digital Asset Management (DAM)
Directus can be used as a DAM system to manage digital assets such as images, videos, PDFs, and other media files.
Online Magazine Platform
Directus can be used to handle articles, author profiles, categories, subscriptions, and other related data for an online magazine platform.
Film Location Database
Directus can manage film location details, booking information, user reviews, and related images and videos.
Election Campaign Management System
Directus can manage voter data, campaign efforts, donation data, and candidate profiles.
Publishing House Management System
Directus can store and organize manuscript submissions, author profiles, published books, sales data, and book reviews.
Influencer Marketing Platform
Directus can manage influencer profiles, brand profiles, campaign data, and performance metrics.
Ecommerce
Ecommerce Platforms
By managing complex product catalogs, customer data, and orders, Directus can serve as the backbone for building robust e-commerce platforms.
Auction Platform
Directus can handle auction items, bidding information, user data, and more for an online auction platform.
Online Marketplace
Directus can manage product listings, transactions, seller and buyer profiles, and reviews for an online marketplace.
Online Bookstore
Directus can manage book listings, transactions, customer data, and reviews for an online bookstore.
Loyalty Program Management System
Directus can manage customer profiles, loyalty points, reward catalog, and transaction data.
Internal Tools
Project Management Tools
Directus's flexible data management capabilities make it suitable for creating customized project management tools.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Directus can be used to build a CRM system for managing customer information, sales pipelines, and marketing campaigns.
Product Inventory Management System (PIM)
By managing products, suppliers, and purchase orders, Directus can be used to create inventory management systems.
Employee Management Systems
Directus can be used to build systems that manage employee data, track performance, and handle recruitment processes.
Healthcare Management System
You can use Directus to handle patient records, appointment scheduling, medical histories, and other essential data for a healthcare management system.
Logistics and Supply Chain Management System
Directus can be used to manage product data, supplier information, order tracking, and other logistics-related data.
Human Resources Management System
Directus can manage employee data, recruitment data, performance reviews, and employee benefits data.
External Tools
Event Management Platforms
By storing and organizing attendee data, event schedules, and ticketing, Directus can be utilized to create comprehensive event management platforms.
Booking and Reservations Systems
By managing availability, customer data, pricing, and booking details, Directus could be used to build a system for booking hotel rooms, flights, appointments, etc.
Internet of Things (IoT) Applications
Directus can manage the data from IoT devices and can serve as the backend for IoT applications
Job Recruitment Platform
Directus can be used to manage job postings, applicant profiles, resumes, and other recruitment-related data for a job platform.
SaaS Management Platform
Directus can manage user profiles, subscriptions, payment data, and service usage for a platform that manages various SaaS applications.
Business Operations and Productivity
Feedback and Review Management System
Directus can manage customer reviews and feedback for various products or services.
Real-time Chat Application
Directus can be used to build a real-time chat application managing user profiles, conversation threads, and message data.
Disaster Management System
Directus can be used to manage disaster reports, aid distribution, affected individuals' data, and relief efforts.
Ethical Supply Chain Management System
Directus can manage supplier profiles, product data, ethical certifications, and supply chain audits.
Research & Analytics
Data Visualization Platforms
You can use Directus to build data visualization tools that fetch, manage, and represent data in a visually engaging manner.
Research Data Management
Directus can be used to create a system for managing and organizing research data, making it easier to collect, analyze, and share findings.
Market Research Platform
Directus can be used to build a platform for conducting and managing market research, storing survey data, participant information, and research findings.
Library Management System
Directus can manage a catalog of books, borrower data, loan information, and more for a library management system.
Scientific Data Repository
Directus can be used to store, manage, and distribute large volumes of scientific data for research purposes.
Weather Data Platform
Directus can be used to store, manage, and distribute weather data from various sources, serving as the backbone for a weather data platform.
Wildlife Conservation Database
Directus can be used to manage species data, research findings, conservation efforts, and other relevant data for a wildlife conservation project.
Historical Archive Database
Directus can be used to manage archival documents, images, audio recordings, and user inquiries.
Space Exploration Database
Directus can manage data about space missions, celestial bodies, astronaut profiles, and scientific findings.
Artificial Intelligence Training Data Platform
Directus can store and manage datasets for AI training.
Social Media, News & Streaming
Social Media Platform
Directus can manage user profiles, posts, comments, likes, shares, and other data for a custom social media platform.
Media Streaming Platform
Directus can be used to manage video, audio, and other media content, along with user data and preferences, for a media streaming platform.
Forum or Community Platform
You can use Directus to manage user profiles, threads, posts, and other data for a forum or community platform.
News Aggregation Platform
Directus could be used to store, categorize, and distribute news articles from various sources, serving as the backbone for a news aggregation platform.
Podcast Platform
Directus can be used to manage podcast episodes, listener data, subscriptions, and comments for a podcast platform.
Digital Nomad Community Platform
Directus can manage user profiles, location data, event data, and community discussions.
Education
Learning Management System (LMS)
Directus can power an LMS, handling course content, student data, assessments, and more.
Knowledge Base or Wiki
Directus can be used to store, manage, and distribute articles, guides, tutorials, FAQs, and other types of content, serving as the foundation for a comprehensive knowledge base or wiki.
Online Tutoring Platform
Directus can manage tutor profiles, student data, schedules, lesson content, and feedback for an online tutoring platform.
Online Mentoring Platform
Directus can manage mentor profiles, mentee profiles, scheduling, session notes, and reviews.
Online Testing or Assessment Platform
Directus can be used to build a platform that manages test items, student data, scores, and feedback.
Language Learning Platform
Directus can manage lessons, quizzes, user profiles, progress tracking, and other related data for a language learning platform.
Educational Resource Library
Directus can manage educational resources, student profiles, teacher profiles, and resource reviews.
Scientific Journal Management System
Directus can manage article submissions, peer review processes, published articles, and author data.
Online Coding Bootcamp Platform
Directus can manage course content, student profiles, progress tracking, and mentor profiles.
Industry-Specific Apps
Real Estate Listing Platform
Real estate firms and brokers can use Directus to manage property listings, realtor profiles, customer inquiries, and other relevant data, making it the backend for a real estate listing platform.
Restaurant Ordering System
Restaurant owners can use Directus to manage menu items, orders, customer data, and delivery information.
Personal Finance Application
Directus can be used to build a personal finance app, managing income, expenses, savings, investments, and other financial data.
Legal Case Management System
Law firms can use Directus to build a system for tracking and managing legal cases, client information, court dates, and relevant documents.
Online Counseling or Therapy Platform
Directus can manage counselor profiles, client data, appointment schedules, and session notes for an online counseling or therapy platform.
Automotive Sales and Service Platform
Directus could manage car listings, customer data, sales transactions, and service appointments.
Farm and Crop Management System
In the agricultural industry, farmers and organizations can use Directus to manage crop data, livestock details, farming schedules, equipment inventory, and other farm-related data.
Film and Television Database
Networks and producers can use Directus to manage film and TV show data, cast and crew information, reviews, ratings, and user profiles for a film and television database.
Construction Project Management System
Construction firms can use Directus to track project timelines, resource allocation, worker profiles, and project progress data.
Medical Records System
Directus can be used to securely store patient records, medical histories, appointment schedules, and billing information in a healthcare setting.
Fashion Lookbook Platform
Directus could be used to manage fashion collections, designer profiles, product images, and user reviews for a fashion lookbook platform.
Winery Management System
Directus can manage wine varieties, production data, sales data, customer profiles, and tasting notes.
Fleet Management System
Fleet managers can leverage Directus for storing and tracking vehicle data, maintenance schedules, driver profiles, and route data.
Elder Care Management System
Directus can manage elder profiles, care provider profiles, care schedules, and medical data.
Sports and Fitness
Fitness and Wellness Application
Directus can power a fitness app, managing user profiles, fitness data, workout plans, nutritional information, and more.
Sports League Management System
Directus can be used to manage team rosters, schedules, results, statistics, and fan data for a sports league management system.
Sports Management Application
Directus can manage team rosters, schedules, stats, and other sports-related data, making it suitable for a sports management app.
Music and the Arts
Music Library or Platform
With its robust digital asset management capabilities, Directus can be used to create a platform for storing, categorizing, and streaming music files.
Art and Portfolio Platforms
Artists and designers can use Directus to build a platform for showcasing their work, managing images, descriptions, categories, and other relevant data.
Music Band Management Platform
Musicians can use Directus to manage band profiles, concert dates, ticket sales, merchandise, and fan data for a music band management platform.
Museum Collection Database
Directus can store and organize collections data, exhibition schedules, visitor information, and other related data for a museum or gallery.
Film Production Management System
Producers can use Directus to manage production schedules, crew information, script data, budgeting, and other relevant data for a film production management system.
Theater Management System
Performing groups can use Directus to track and manage show schedules, ticket sales, actor profiles, and customer data.
Travel
Travel and Tourism Portal
Directus can manage listings for hotels, attractions, packages, reviews, and other travel-related data.
Tour Guide Booking Platform
Tour guide companies can use Directus to manage tour guide profiles, tour data, bookings, customer profiles, and reviews.
Public Transport Management System
Directus can manage timetables, route data, ticket sales, and passenger information for public transportation providers.
Events
Event Ticketing Platform
Directus can organize and track event details, ticket inventory, sales transactions, and customer data for an event ticketing platform.
Virtual Event Platform
Directus can be used to manage event schedules, attendee data, ticket sales, and live streaming for virtual events.
Festival Management System
Event planners can use Directus to manage artist and performer lineups, booth rentals, ticket sales, venue data, and customer data.
Nonprofit
Nonprofit Donation Platform
By handling donor data, donation amounts, and payment processing, Directus can be used to build a platform for nonprofit organizations to manage donations.
Crowdfunding Platform
Directus can handle project listings, donation amounts, user data, and payment processing for a crowdfunding platform.
Membership Management System
Nonprofits and other organizations can use Directus to track and manage member profiles, subscriptions, renewals, and event information for associations or clubs.
Pet Adoption Platform
Directus can store and organize pet profiles, adoption applications, donor data, and volunteer profiles.
Philanthropy Platform
Directus can be used to manage donor profiles, donation amounts, beneficiary profiles, and project data.
Energy and Environment
Energy Management System
Energy consumption data, user profiles, energy saving recommendations, and billing information can all be stored, organized and managed with Directus.
Environmental Monitoring System
Directus can be used to manage data from environmental sensors, such as air quality, temperature, humidity, and pollution levels.
Gaming
Gaming Platform
For online gamers, Directus can store and manage game data, player profiles, scores, and other relevant information.
Online Gaming Leaderboard System
You can build a leaderboard system in Directus to track player profiles, game scores, rankings, and game stats.
Virtual Reality Content Management
Directus can handle VR content, user profiles, reviews, and user interactions, all in one place.
Online Directories
Online Classifieds Portal
Directus can manage user profiles, product listings, inquiries, and transactions for an online classifieds portal.
Freelancer Marketplace
Directus can handle freelancer profiles, job postings, proposals, transactions, and reviews, making it easy for employers to find freelancers.
Special Interests
Recipe and Cooking Platform
Directus can be used to store and organize recipe data, user profiles, comments, and ratings for a cooking or recipe sharing platform.
Fitness Tracking App
Directus can be used to manage workout logs, user profiles, progress tracking, and health data for a fitness tracking application.
Genealogy Database
Hobby or professional genealogists can build an app with Directus for managing family tree data, individual profiles, and family history records.
Online Debate Platform
Directus can manage debate topics, participant profiles, argument data, and user votes.
Public Policy Database
Directus can be used to manage policy documents, related statistics, public comments, and amendments, serving as a comprehensive resource for understanding and discussing public policies.
What are you looking to build?
In all of these use cases, Directus Studio – our no-code app – makes it super easy to configure your project to be user-friendly (for your non-technical team), highly functional (for your technical team), and beautiful, as well!
Got a project in mind? Get a demo or get started with Directus today and discover what you can build!