head to head · open source
Payload vs mix.core
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars, 4,164 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. mix.core has 888 stars, 224 forks, 2 open issues and last shipped 8 months ago. Payload leads on adoption by 4,944% (44,793 vs 888 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; mix.core is written in C# under MIT. Payload has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, mix.core 25%. 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
| Payload | mix.core | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 888 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-01-29 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 224 |
| 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 mix.core if
- You want the mix.core feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and mix.core 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 mix.core
Mix.core is an MIT licensed, open source enterprise web content management system built on ASP.NET Core / .NET Core that supports both headless and decoupled delivery, aimed at teams building multi purpose web apps, mobile backends, and application services who want customizable APIs rather than a fixed product.
read the full mix.core overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or mix.core more popular?
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars and mix.core has 888. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and mix.core free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and mix.core under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and mix.core?
Payload is written in TypeScript and mix.core in C#. 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 mix.core?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (44,793 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose mix.core if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.