head to head · open source
hugo vs Payload
hugo has 90,326 GitHub stars, 8,447 forks, 235 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload has 45,624 stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. hugo leads on adoption by 98% (90,326 vs 45,624 stars). hugo is written in Go under Apache-2.0; Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT. hugo has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Payload 10%. 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
| hugo | Payload | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 90K | ★ 46K |
| License | Apache-2.0 | MIT |
| Written in | Go | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 8.4K | ⑂ 4.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick hugo if
- You weight community size — 90K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Go
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Payload if
- You want the Payload feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Payload fits your workflow better
About hugo
[Clang]: [GCC]: [Git]: [Go]: [bep]: [bugs]: [contributing]: CONTRIBUTING.md [create a proposal]: [dart sass]: [details]: [documentation repository]: [documentation]: [dragonfly bsd, freebsd, netbsd, and openbsd]: [features]: [forum]: [friends]: [hugo modules]: [installation]: [issue queue]: [linux]: [macos]: [prebuilt binary]: [requesting help]: [spf13]: [static site generator]: [support]: [themes]: [transpile sass to css]: [website]: [windows]: A fast and flexible static site generator built with love by [bep][], [spf13][], and [friends][] in Go. [Website][] [Installation][] [Documentation][] [Support][]…
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is hugo or Payload more popular?
hugo has 90,326 GitHub stars and Payload has 45,624. hugo has the larger community by that measure.
Are hugo and Payload free?
Both are open source. hugo is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Payload under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between hugo and Payload?
hugo is written in Go and Payload in TypeScript. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, hugo or Payload?
Choose hugo if you want the larger community (90,326 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose Payload if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.