head to head · open source
Payload vs mediacms
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mediacms has 5,176 stars, 984 forks, 146 open issues and last shipped 8 days ago. Payload leads on adoption by 781% (45,624 vs 5,176 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; mediacms is written in Python under AGPL-3.0. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, mediacms 19%. 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 | mediacms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 5.2K |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-26 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 984 |
| 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 mediacms if
- You want the mediacms feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the AGPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and mediacms 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 mediacms
MediaCMS MediaCMS is a modern, fully featured open source video and media CMS. It is developed to meet the needs of modern web platforms for viewing and sharing media. It can be used to build a small to medium video and media portal within minutes. It is built mostly using the modern stack Django + React and includes a REST API. A demo is available at Screenshots Features Complete control over your data : host it yourself! Modern technologies : Django/Python/Celery, React. Support for multiple publishing workflows : public, private, unlisted and custom Role Based Access Control (RBAC) : create RBAC categories…
read the full mediacms overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or mediacms more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and mediacms has 5,176. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and mediacms free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and mediacms under AGPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and mediacms?
Payload is written in TypeScript and mediacms 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 mediacms?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mediacms if its feature set, stack or AGPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.