head to head · open source
Payload vs sanity
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. sanity has 6,383 stars, 558 forks, 221 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 615% (45,624 vs 6,383 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; sanity is written in TypeScript under MIT. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, sanity 9%. 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, headless), 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 | sanity | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 6.4K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 558 |
| 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 sanity if
- You want the sanity feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and sanity 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 sanity
Sanity Get Started Docs Website Build powerful production ready content workspaces The Sanity Composable Content Cloud lets teams create remarkable digital experiences at scale. Sanity Studio is an open source, single page application that is fast to set up and quick to configure. The Studio comes with a complete studio customization framework that lets you tailor the workspace as your needs grow. Sanity hosts your content in a real time, hosted data store called Content Lake. Get started with the free plan with generous bandwidth and hosting included and pay as you go for overages. Quickstart Initiate a new…
read the full sanity overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or sanity more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and sanity has 6,383. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and sanity free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and sanity under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and sanity?
Payload is written in TypeScript and sanity in TypeScript. 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 sanity?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose sanity if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.