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Insights on custom software, from the people who build it

Practical guides, cost comparisons, and industry analysis from the Contensu team. Every article comes from real conversations with the businesses we serve.

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Must-read articles

Directus25 July 20256 min read

How to Safely Rename Collections and Fields in Directus (Without Breaking Everything)

Directus has no built-in safe rename. Our free open-source extension lets you rename collections and fields — and the tables and columns behind them — without breaking data, relations or automations.

DirectusOpen SourceExtensions
Business Guide15 July 202510 min read

How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost in 2025? [Honest Breakdown]

The #1 question every founder asks. Here is the honest answer — with real price ranges, what affects cost, and how to avoid budget surprises.

PricingCustom SoftwareSmall Business
Business Guide1 July 20258 min read

What Is Custom Software Development? A Guide for Non-Technical Founders

No jargon. No tech talk. Just a clear explanation of what custom software is, how it works, and why your business might need it.

Custom SoftwareNon-Technical FoundersBeginner Guide
Business Guide25 June 20257 min read

5 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Off-the-Shelf Software

You started with a great off-the-shelf tool. Now it is holding you back. Here are the signs you have outgrown it — and what to do about it.

Off-the-Shelf SoftwareGrowing BusinessCustom Software

All articles

Directus9 August 20269 min read

What happens to SSO in Directus v12?

Nothing about the OAuth flow changed in v12 — a provider configured for v11 carries over untouched. What changed is entitlement: SSO is no longer in the free Core tier, and whether you still get it for free now depends on which side of the grant thresholds you sit.

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Directus9 August 202611 min read

SSO and deep links in mobile apps: getting the redirect back

On the web, SSO ends with a redirect to your callback page. In a native app there is no page — the round trip has to end inside the app, and the deep link that makes that happen is where mobile SSO is actually won or lost.

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Directus8 August 20269 min read

How to Set Up Microsoft (Entra ID) SSO Login in Directus

Microsoft sign-in for Directus, step by step — including the issuer URL most guides get wrong, why the Web platform matters, and how to map Entra groups to Directus roles, which is something Google cannot do.

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Directus8 August 202612 min read

How to Set Up Google SSO Login in Directus (Step by Step)

Directus has no Google driver — Google is a configuration of the OpenID one. A complete walkthrough with the exact redirect URI, a copy-paste environment block, and the steps people skip that silently break the login.

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Directus5 August 20266 min read

How to Show an Image Gallery Carousel in Directus

Directus lists linked images as file cards, so reviewing a gallery means opening them one at a time. Our free open-source carousel interface turns a Files field into a browsable gallery with a full-screen lightbox and zoom.

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Directus5 August 20267 min read

How to Preview 3D Models (GLB, glTF, STL) in Directus

Directus shows a 3D file as a download link, so checking a model means downloading it. Our free open-source viewer renders GLB, glTF, STL, OBJ and PLY inline, with camera presets, lighting and animation playback.

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Directus5 August 20265 min read

How to Mask Sensitive Field Values in Directus

Directus can mask a value, but only as a fixed ten asterisks, and only in displays. Our free open-source interface masks partially — *****786 — in the edit form, so staff can identify a record without reading all of it.

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Directus25 July 20256 min read

How to Safely Rename Collections and Fields in Directus (Without Breaking Everything)

Directus has no built-in safe rename. Our free open-source extension lets you rename collections and fields — and the tables and columns behind them — without breaking data, relations or automations.

→
Business Guide15 July 202510 min read

How Much Does Custom Software Development Cost in 2025? [Honest Breakdown]

The #1 question every founder asks. Here is the honest answer — with real price ranges, what affects cost, and how to avoid budget surprises.

→
Business Guide1 July 20258 min read

What Is Custom Software Development? A Guide for Non-Technical Founders

No jargon. No tech talk. Just a clear explanation of what custom software is, how it works, and why your business might need it.

→
Business Guide25 June 20257 min read

5 Signs Your Business Has Outgrown Off-the-Shelf Software

You started with a great off-the-shelf tool. Now it is holding you back. Here are the signs you have outgrown it — and what to do about it.

→
CRM15 June 20257 min read

Why a Custom CRM Beats Salesforce or HubSpot for Small Businesses

Generic CRMs force your team to adapt to their workflow. A custom CRM adapts to yours.

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Web Development20 May 20258 min read

Headless CMS vs WordPress: Which Is Right for Your Business Website in 2025?

WordPress powers 40% of the web, but it is not always the right choice for growing businesses.

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Internal Tools10 April 20257 min read

Still Managing Your Business in Spreadsheets? Here Is When to Build a Real Tool

Spreadsheets are great for lists. They are terrible for workflows.

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Learning Platforms5 March 20257 min read

Custom Learning Platform vs Teachable or Thinkific: When to Own Your LMS

Teachable and Thinkific are easy to start with. But at scale, their pricing and limits become expensive.

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Agency Process14 February 20256 min read

Fixed-Price vs Hourly Billing in Software Development: Why We Chose Fixed

Most agencies bill by the hour. We bill by the project. Here is why fixed is better for both of us.

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Directus8 August 202613 min read

How to set up LDAP and Active Directory login in Directus

A complete, tested guide to the Directus LDAP driver — the bind-account trap, the search scope that hides half your users, group-to-role mapping, and the registration switch that does not exist.

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Directus8 August 202612 min read

How to set up GitHub SSO login in Directus

GitHub needs the oauth2 driver, not openid — and one setting that is optional everywhere else decides whether it works at all. A tested guide, including the failure that shows no error.

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