No-Code · head to head
Corteza vs Directual
Corteza
No-Code
Apache-licensed open source low-code platform, formerly Crust, positioned against Salesforce
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Directual
No-Code
No-code backend with a visual workflow engine, used behind other tools rather than instead of them
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Corteza planet Crust is a small company of roughly a dozen or so people, so the entire commercial support capability behind Corteza is thin and a large deployment can outgrow the vendors ability to respond.; Directual the front-end builder is basic, so any project needing a designed interface means learning and paying for a second tool, and time to launch is closer to a two-system build than a one-tool build.
- They diverge on capability: Corteza covers Corteza Low Code, Directual covers Visual database designer.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Corteza and Directual actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated), category (No-Code).
What each one covers
Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.
Only in Corteza
- Corteza Low Code
- Automation and workflow
- Bundled CRM
- Case management
- Federation
- Role-based access control
- Corteza Messaging and integrations
- Apache 2.0 licence
Only in Directual
- Visual database designer
- Scenario builder
- Generated API endpoints
- Event-driven triggers
- Role and permission model
- Scheduled jobs
- Basic web page builder
Both cover
- Self-hosted deployment
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Corteza
- A European public body that needs a case management system on servers inside its own jurisdiction with an auditable licence and no per-seat vendor feenot Directual
- An NGO replacing a Salesforce donation that has run out, needing to keep the data model but remove the recurring costnot Directual
- An integrator building a regulated vertical application it intends to resell, requiring a permissive licence it can ship commerciallynot Directual
- A mid-size European company that wants one platform for internal applications and a sales pipeline without paying per seat as headcount growsnot Directual
Directual
- Providing the backend for a Webflow or FlutterFlow front end that needs real data, authentication and logicnot Corteza
- Replacing an Airtable base that has outgrown its row limits without hiring a backend developernot Corteza
- Event-driven workflows such as order processing or scheduled billing runs that must run without a person triggering themnot Corteza
- Organisations with a data residency requirement that rules out most no-code platforms, using the self-hosted tiernot Corteza
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Corteza
- Planet Crust is a small company of roughly a dozen or so people, so the entire commercial support capability behind Corteza is thin and a large deployment can outgrow the vendors ability to respond.
- No pricing is published for Planet Crusts support, hosting or implementation services, so the true running cost of a supported deployment cannot be estimated without a sales conversation.
- The connector ecosystem is small compared with commercial low-code platforms, so integrations with common SaaS tools usually mean writing against the REST API rather than installing something.
- Hiring is hard: almost nobody has Corteza on a CV, so you are training internal developers on a niche platform and you cannot easily replace them.
- The bundled CRM is a starting point rather than a mature product, and teams that expect Salesforce-equivalent sales functionality out of the box will spend months building the gap themselves.
Directual
- The front-end builder is basic, so any project needing a designed interface means learning and paying for a second tool, and time to launch is closer to a two-system build than a one-tool build.
- Visual scenarios become unreadable once the logic is non-trivial; a workflow that would be forty lines of code sprawls across a canvas, and reviewing what a colleague built is slow.
- Debugging asynchronous, event-triggered scenarios is harder than debugging code, because failures surface as records left in an unexpected state rather than as a stack trace at the point of failure.
- Self-hosting is confined to the top commercial tier, so the ownership advantage is available only to buyers already spending at the high end.
- The pool of agencies and freelancers who know Directual is small next to Bubble or Airtable, so handing a finished system to someone else to maintain is harder and more expensive.
Pricing, plan by plan
Corteza
Free- Corteza communityFree
- Apache 2.0 licensed with no feature gating
- Low-code builder, workflow engine, CRM and case management included
- Self-hosted on your own infrastructure
- Planet Crust support and services$undefined/year
- Commercial support, hosting and implementation from Planet Crust
- Custom application development
- Training
Directual
Free- Directual$undefined/month
- Free tier with capped records and API calls
- Paid tiers priced by database rows, API calls and scenario runs
- Self-hosted deployment on the top tier only
Which should you pick?
Choose Corteza if
- You need corteza low code.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker.
- You also want automation and workflow.
Choose Directual if
- You need visual database designer.
- You want to start without paying.
- You also want scenario builder.
Questions people ask
- Is Corteza or Directual better?
- Neither clearly leads. Corteza starts at Free and Directual at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Corteza or Directual?
- Corteza starts at Free and Directual at Free.
- Does Corteza or Directual run on more platforms?
- Corteza runs on Web, Linux, Self-hosted, Docker. Directual runs on Web.
- Can I use Corteza for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Corteza best used for?
- Corteza is most often used for a european public body that needs a case management system on servers inside its own jurisdiction with an auditable licence and no per-seat vendor fee, an ngo replacing a salesforce donation that has run out, needing to keep the data model but remove the recurring cost, an integrator building a regulated vertical application it intends to resell, requiring a permissive licence it can ship commercially, a mid-size european company that wants one platform for internal applications and a sales pipeline without paying per seat as headcount grows. Of those, a european public body that needs a case management system on servers inside its own jurisdiction with an auditable licence and no per-seat vendor fee and an ngo replacing a salesforce donation that has run out, needing to keep the data model but remove the recurring cost are not what Directual is typically brought in for.
- What can Corteza do that Directual cannot?
- Corteza covers Corteza Low Code, Automation and workflow, Bundled CRM, Case management. Directual covers Visual database designer, Scenario builder, Generated API endpoints, Event-driven triggers. Both handle Self-hosted deployment.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Corteza: Is Corteza the same thing as Crust?
Yes. The project was branded Crust and renamed Corteza in 2019 when Crust Technology donated it to the Commons Conservancy.
Directual: Is Directual a replacement for Bubble?
Not directly. Bubble builds the whole application; Directual builds the backend and expects you to bring a front end such as Webflow or FlutterFlow.
Corteza: Who owns the code?
The Commons Conservancy, a Dutch foundation. Planet Crust in Cork is the primary developer and sells commercial services around it.
Directual: Can I host it myself?
Yes, on the top commercial tier. That is unusual in no-code and it is the main reason regulated buyers look at it at all.
Corteza: Is there a paid enterprise edition?
No. Corteza is Apache 2.0 with no feature gating. Planet Crust sells support, hosting and development instead of a restricted edition.
Directual: How does it cope with large data volumes?
It is built on a real database with indexing rather than a spreadsheet abstraction, so record counts that break Airtable-class tools are within its normal range.
Corteza: Can it genuinely replace Salesforce?
For case management and a straightforward sales pipeline on a self-hosted footprint, yes. For a large sales organisation relying on AppExchange products and a mature ecosystem, no.
Directual: What happens to my logic if I leave?
The data exports and the API is documented, but scenarios are platform-specific and have to be reimplemented, unless you are already on the self-hosted tier.
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