head to head · open source
Payload vs revolution
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars, 4,164 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. revolution has 1,409 stars, 527 forks, 687 open issues and last shipped 15 days ago. Payload leads on adoption by 3,079% (44,793 vs 1,409 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; revolution is written in PHP under GPL-2.0. Payload has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, revolution 37%. 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.
← all 8884 open source comparisons
Side by side
| Payload | revolution | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 1.4K |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-03 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 527 |
| 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 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
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 revolution
MODX Revolution is an open source content management system and application framework written in PHP. It lives in the MODX open source PHP CMS ecosystem and is distributed under the GNU General Public License version 2 or later. The project provides a downloadable PHP application that can be installed on a server, configured through MODX documentation, and extended through its modular core.
read the full revolution overview →
More in Content & Publishing
Related comparisons
More Content Management Systems (CMS) projects
Compare either of these against the rest of the Content Management Systems (CMS) field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or revolution more popular?
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars and revolution has 1,409. 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 (44,793 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose revolution if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.