head to head · open source
Payload vs OrchardCore
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. OrchardCore has 8,223 stars, 2,607 forks, 854 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 455% (45,624 vs 8,223 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; OrchardCore is written in C# under BSD-3-Clause. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, OrchardCore 32%. 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 | OrchardCore | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 8.2K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 2.6K |
| 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 OrchardCore if
- You want the OrchardCore feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and OrchardCore 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 OrchardCore
Orchard Core Orchard Core is an open source, modular, multi tenant application framework and CMS for ASP.NET Core. Orchard Core consists of two distinct projects: Orchard Core Framework : An application framework for building modular, multi tenant applications on ASP.NET Core. Orchard Core CMS : A Web Content Management System (CMS) built on top of the Orchard Core Framework. Build Status Stable ( release/3.0 ): Nightly ( main ): Project Status: v3.0.1 The software is production ready and capable of serving large, mission critical applications. We are not aware of any fundamental bugs or missing features we deem…
read the full OrchardCore overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or OrchardCore more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and OrchardCore has 8,223. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and OrchardCore free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and OrchardCore under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and OrchardCore?
Payload is written in TypeScript and OrchardCore 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 OrchardCore?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose OrchardCore if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.