head to head · open source
Payload vs revolution
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. revolution has 1,415 stars, 532 forks, 687 open issues and last shipped 6 days ago. Payload leads on adoption by 3,124% (45,624 vs 1,415 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; revolution is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, revolution 38%. Payload was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 2 topic tags (content-management, 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 | revolution | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-28 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 532 |
| 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 revolution if
- You want the revolution feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and revolution 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 revolution
MODX Revolution MODX Revolution is the world’s fastest, most secure, flexible and scalable Open Source CMS Content Management System and Application Framework MODX lets you power anything from multi language, multi domain corporate sites to personal blogs to mobile APIs. Delivering true creative freedom and removing all restrictions, it lets you control the markup and design without having to code. You can also tailor its modular and extensible core to accommodate virtually any custom requirement or amount of traffic. MODX is the free open source software that meets your needs today—and tomorrow. MODX Revolution…
read the full revolution overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or revolution more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and revolution has 1,415. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and revolution free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and revolution under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and revolution?
Payload is written in TypeScript and revolution in PHP. 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 revolution?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose revolution if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.