head to head · open source
Payload vs filament
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars, 4,164 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. filament has 32,075 stars, 4,208 forks, 26 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 40% (44,793 vs 32,075 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; filament is written in PHP under MIT. Payload has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, filament 13%. Payload was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (cms), 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 | filament | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 32K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 4.2K |
| 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 filament if
- You want the filament feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and filament 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 filament
Filament is a free, MIT licensed UI framework for Laravel, built on Livewire, that gives PHP developers a cohesive set of components for building applications and admin panels quickly.
read the full filament overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or filament more popular?
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars and filament has 32,075. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and filament free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and filament under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and filament?
Payload is written in TypeScript and filament 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 filament?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (44,793 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose filament if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.