head to head · open source
Payload vs cms
Payload has 44,806 GitHub stars, 4,166 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. cms has 3,909 stars, 1,239 forks, 3,197 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Payload leads on adoption by 1,046% (44,806 vs 3,909 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; cms is written in JavaScript under AGPL-3.0. Payload has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, cms 32%. Payload was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (cms, content-management-system), so they are genuine substitutes rather than adjacent tools.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Payload | cms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 3.9K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | JavaScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-02-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 1.2K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Payload if
- You weight community size — 45K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick cms if
- You want the cms feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches JavaScript
- You evaluated both and cms fits your workflow better
About Payload
Payload is an open source, MIT licensed headless CMS and fullstack framework, written in TypeScript and built to run natively inside a Next.js /app folder, aimed at developers who want a TypeScript backend and admin panel without signing up for another SaaS.
read the full Payload overview →
About cms
SSCMS SSCMS 基于 .NET Core，能够以最低的成本、最少的人力投入在最短的时间内架设一个功能齐全、性能优异、规模庞大并易于维护的网站平台。 版本 项目发布的正式版本存放在 master 分支 开发文档 《SSCMS 使用指南》 《SSCMS 系统更新》 《SSCMS STL 语言》 《SSCMS 插件开发》 《SSCMS 官方插件》 《SSCMS 命令行》 《SSCMS REST API》 《SSCMS 数据结构》 SSCMS 源码结构 发布跨平台版本 Window(x64)： Note: 进入文件夹 ./publish/sscms win x64 获取最终发布版本 Window(x32)： Note: 进入文件夹 ./publish/sscms win x32 获取最终发布版本 Linux(x64)： Note: 进入文件夹 ./publish/sscms linux x64 获取最终发布版本 Linux(arm64)： Note: 进入文件夹 ./publish/sscms linux arm64 获取最终发布版本 在 Docker 中运行 拉取最新版本的 SSCMS 镜像 运行 SSCMS 容器 贡献代码 项目编译需要使用 Visual Studio 2022，你可以从这里下载 Visual Studio Community 2022 代码贡献有很多形式，从提交问题，撰写文档，到提交代码，我们欢迎任…
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or cms more popular?
Payload has 44,806 GitHub stars and cms has 3,909. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and cms free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and cms under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and cms?
Payload is written in TypeScript and cms in JavaScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Payload or cms?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (44,806 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose cms if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.