head to head · open source
Payload vs frappe
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. frappe has 11,046 stars, 5,503 forks, 2,003 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 313% (45,624 vs 11,046 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; frappe is written in Python under MIT. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, frappe 50%. 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, javascript), 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 | frappe | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 11K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 5.5K |
| 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 frappe if
- You want the frappe feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and frappe 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 frappe
Frappe Framework Low Code Web Framework For Real World Applications, In Python And JavaScript Website Documentation Frappe Framework Full stack web application framework that uses Python and MariaDB on the server side and a tightly integrated client side library. Built for ERPNext. Philosophy The best code is the one that is not written Started in 2005, Frappe Framework was inspired by the Semantic Web. The "big idea" behind semantic web was of a framework that not only described how information is shown (like headings, body etc), but also what it means, like name, address etc. By creating a web framework that…
read the full frappe overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or frappe more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and frappe has 11,046. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and frappe free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and frappe under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and frappe?
Payload is written in TypeScript and frappe in Python. 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 frappe?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose frappe if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.