Comparison
Headless CMS vs full application platform
| Feature | Directus | NovaHelm |
|---|---|---|
| Content | Headless CMS (any content type) | TipTap editor + content module + schema builder |
| Database | Database-first (wraps existing DB) | Drizzle ORM (code-first or DDL-generated) |
| API | REST + GraphQL (auto-generated) | tRPC (typed, custom logic) |
| Auth | Built-in users + roles | Better Auth (RBAC, API keys, MFA, SSO) |
| UI | Admin app (Vue.js) | Console + Admin Kit (React, shadcn) |
| Commerce | Not included | Built-in commerce module |
| AI | AI panel (basic) | Full AI module (multi-provider, RAG, streaming) |
| Background Jobs | Flows (basic automation) | BullMQ (27+ job types, scheduling) |
| Frontend | Headless — bring your own | Full-stack (console, website, mobile, desktop) |