head to head · open source
Payload vs Craft CMS
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars, 4,164 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Craft CMS has 3,608 stars, 705 forks, 529 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 1,141% (44,793 vs 3,608 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; Craft CMS is written in PHP under a custom or non-standard licence. Payload has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Craft CMS 20%. Craft CMS was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cms, content-management, graphql), 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 | Craft CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 3.6K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 705 |
| 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 Craft CMS if
- You want the Craft CMS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Craft 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 Craft CMS
Craft CMS is a content management system written in PHP for building custom digital experiences on the web and beyond. It lives in the PHP ecosystem and is distributed as a self hosted application, with official documentation covering templates, GraphQL, installation, and extension development.
read the full Craft CMS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or Craft CMS more popular?
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars and Craft CMS has 3,608. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and Craft CMS free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT, and Craft CMS has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Payload and Craft CMS?
Payload is written in TypeScript and Craft CMS in PHP. 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 Craft CMS?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (44,793 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Craft CMS if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.