Cybersecurity · head to head
Cosign vs Directus
Cosign
Cybersecurity
Signs and verifies container images and artifacts, with or without managing keys
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
Directus
APIs
Open-source data platform providing REST and GraphQL APIs
- From
- Free
- Rated
- -
The short version
- Each has a real cost: Cosign keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.; Directus free permissive use of the self hosted product is limited to organisations under $5M annual revenue with fewer than 50 employees, so crossing either threshold turns a free dependency into a paid licence
- They diverge on capability: Cosign covers Keyless signing, Directus covers REST API.
- Prices and features above were last checked on 31 August 2026.
Where they differ
Only the attributes on which Cosign and Directus actually diverge.
Identical on both: starting price (Free), free tier (Yes), user rating (Not yet rated).
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 Cosign
- Keyless signing
- Key and KMS signing
- Registry-native storage
- In-toto attestations
- Offline verification
- Trusted root and signing config
Only in Directus
- REST API
- GraphQL API
- Database management
- PostgreSQL
- MySQL
- SQLite
- Webhooks
- Node.js support
What people use each for
The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.
Cosign
- Signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keysnot Directus
- Attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenancenot Directus
- Meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifactsnot Directus
- Verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registrynot Directus
Directus
- Wrapping an existing SQL database in a REST and GraphQL API with an admin interfacenot Cosign
- Running a self hosted headless CMS over a schema you already ownnot Cosign
Where each one falls short
Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.
Cosign
- Keyless signing inherits every weakness of the identity provider behind it. Sigstore’s own threat model states that if an identity provider is compromised, Sigstore will issue certificates to those identities, so a compromised account produces perfectly valid signatures.
- A signature proves who signed, never whether they should have. The documentation is explicit that Sigstore cannot determine authorisation, so every consumer must write and maintain their own identity and issuer policy or verification means nothing.
- Nothing is enforced without an admission controller. Signing changes what you can prove, not what runs, and the official policy controller has a small maintainer base for a component sitting in a cluster admission path.
- Upgrades break pipelines. Version 3 changed defaults, version 4 is announced as removing legacy functionality and roughly half the command line flags, and two official client libraries still lacked support for the new log format as of mid 2026.
- Signatures do not expire. An artifact signed before a maintainer account was compromised and one signed after are indistinguishable unless somebody is actively monitoring the transparency log, and almost nobody is.
Directus
- Free permissive use of the self hosted product is limited to organisations under $5M annual revenue with fewer than 50 employees, so crossing either threshold turns a free dependency into a paid licence
- The free Core tier is a hard limit of 3 seats, 25 collections and 5 flows
- The Team plan is $499 a month billed annually, or $599 monthly, with extra seats at $50 each
- Team caps collections at 50, expandable to 100, and flows at 20
Pricing, plan by plan
Cosign
Free- CosignFree
- Apache-2.0
- Public Sigstore infrastructure free to use
- No usage limits published
Directus
Free- CommunityFree
- Self-hosted Directus
- Community support
- Cloud$25/monthly
- Managed cloud
- Automatic updates
- Backups
Which should you pick?
Choose Cosign if
- You need keyless signing.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker.
- You also want key and kms signing.
Choose Directus if
- You need rest api.
- You want to start without paying.
- You work on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
- You also want graphql api.
Questions people ask
- Is Cosign or Directus better?
- Neither clearly leads. Cosign starts at Free and Directus at Free, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
- Which is cheaper, Cosign or Directus?
- Cosign starts at Free and Directus at Free.
- Does Cosign or Directus run on more platforms?
- Cosign runs on macOS, Linux, Windows, Docker. Directus runs on Node.js, Cloud, Self-hosted, Docker.
- Can I use Cosign for free?
- Both have a free tier, so you can try either at no cost before committing.
- What is Cosign best used for?
- Cosign is most often used for signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keys, attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenance, meeting a customer or regulatory requirement for signed artifacts, verifying third-party images before they enter an internal registry. Of those, signing container images in a build pipeline without managing long-lived private keys and attaching a signed bill of materials to a release so consumers can verify its provenance are not what Directus is typically brought in for.
- What can Cosign do that Directus cannot?
- Cosign covers Keyless signing, Key and KMS signing, Registry-native storage, In-toto attestations. Directus covers REST API, GraphQL API, Database management, PostgreSQL.
Answered from the vendors’ own pages
Cosign: Does Cosign tell me if an image is vulnerable?
No. It has no vulnerability knowledge whatsoever. It can carry an SBOM as a signed attestation but never reads it. Pair it with a scanner.
Directus: What is Directus's pricing?
Directus Core is free and self-hosted. The Team tier costs $499/month (annual) or $599/month (rolling), including 10 user seats and cloud hosting at $99/month additional. Enterprise plans have custom pricing. Additional seats cost $50/month each.
SourceCosign: Is signing alone enough?
No. Verification is a command somebody runs. Without an admission controller enforcing it, an unsigned image still runs.
Directus: Can I use Directus for free?
Yes, Directus Core is completely free with 3 user seats, 25 Collections, 5 Flows, AI Assistant, and Advanced RBAC. Self-hosting is available at no cost.
SourceCosign: What does a bare cosign verify actually prove?
Very little. Without a pinned certificate identity and OIDC issuer, it accepts a valid signature from any identity at all.
Directus: How many user seats does each Directus tier include?
Core includes 3 user seats, Team includes 10 SSO seats, and Enterprise includes custom SSO seat counts. Additional Team seats cost $50/seat per month.
SourceCosign: What is the risk of keyless signing?
Your OIDC provider becomes the root of trust. Compromise of that account yields genuine, verifiable signatures, so account security is the control that matters.
Directus: What happens to my monthly Directus plan if I switch?
Monthly plans are grandfathered for six months after switching, and annual plans are honored until renewal. Self-hosted licenses are handled case-by-case at renewal.
SourceCosign: Should we expect breaking changes?
Yes. Version 4 is announced to remove roughly half the flags, and a post-quantum migration is named as a further breaking change after that.
Directus: Is there a free trial for Directus?
No trial period is mentioned. Users can start with the free Core tier immediately without a credit card.
SourceRelated pages
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