head to head · open source
Payload vs keystatic
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. keystatic has 2,494 stars, 181 forks, 184 open issues and last shipped 1 months ago. Payload leads on adoption by 1,729% (45,624 vs 2,494 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; keystatic is written in TypeScript under MIT. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, keystatic 7%. Payload 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-system, 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 | keystatic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-01 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 181 |
| 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 keystatic if
- You want the keystatic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and keystatic 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 keystatic
First class CMS experience, TypeScript API, Markdown & YAML/JSON based, no DB. Built with DNA from Keystone, connects directly to GitHub and doesn’t mess with your source code. Conceived for modern front end frameworks like Next.js, Remix and Astro, designed to fit into your workflow. Status We're working on it! Things are experimental at the moment. But if you're curious and brave, check out keystatic.com to try it out (and check out our growing collection of templates). Follow @thekeystatic on Twitter, and subscribe to our mailing list for updates. Feedback on how we're going, what you're looking for, and what…
read the full keystatic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or keystatic more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and keystatic has 2,494. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and keystatic free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and keystatic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and keystatic?
Payload is written in TypeScript and keystatic 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, Payload or keystatic?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose keystatic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.