head to head · open source
Payload vs Drupal
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Drupal has 4,296 stars, 1,979 forks, 0 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 962% (45,624 vs 4,296 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; Drupal is written in PHP under a licence not recorded in this registry. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, Drupal 46%. Payload was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
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 | Drupal | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 4.3K |
| License | MIT | Custom / other |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 2.0K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Payload if
- You weight community size — 46K stars and counting
- You want the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Drupal if
- You want the Drupal feature set and don't need the biggest community
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Drupal fits your workflow better
About Payload
Explore the Docs · Community Help · Roadmap · View G2 Reviews [!IMPORTANT] Star this repo or keep an eye on it to follow along. Payload is the first ever Next.js native CMS that can install directly in your existing /app folder. It's the start of a new era for headless CMS. Benefits over a regular CMS It's both an app framework & headless CMS Deploy anywhere, including serverless on Vercel for free Combine your front+backend in the same /app folder if you want Don't sign up for yet another SaaS Payload is open source Query your database in React Server Components Both admin and backend are 100% extensible No…
read the full Payload overview →
About Drupal
Drupal is an open source content management platform supporting a variety of websites ranging from personal weblogs to large community driven websites. For more information, visit the Drupal website, [Drupal.org][Drupal.org], and join the [Drupal community][Drupal community]. Contributing Drupal is developed on [Drupal.org][Drupal.org], the home of the international Drupal community since 2001! [Drupal.org][Drupal.org] hosts Drupal's [GitLab repository][GitLab repository], its [issue queue][issue queue], and its [documentation][documentation]. Before you start working on code, be sure to search the [issue…
read the full Drupal overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or Drupal more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and Drupal has 4,296. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and Drupal free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT, and Drupal has no licence declared in this registry. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Payload and Drupal?
Payload is written in TypeScript and Drupal 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 Drupal?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Drupal if its feature set, stack or Custom / other licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.