head to head · open source
Payload vs squidex
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. squidex has 2,515 stars, 526 forks, 5 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 1,714% (45,624 vs 2,515 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; squidex is written in C# under MIT. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, squidex 21%. Payload was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 3 topic tags (cms, headless-cms, mongodb), 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 | squidex | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 2.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | C# |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 526 |
| 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 squidex if
- You want the squidex feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches C#
- You evaluated both and squidex 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 squidex
What is Squidex?? Squidex is an open source headless CMS and content management hub. In contrast to a traditional CMS Squidex provides a rich API with OData filter and Swagger definitions. It is up to you to build your UI on top of it. It can be website, a native app or just another server. We build it with ASP.NET Core and CQRS and is tested for Windows and Linux on modern browsers. Read the docs at (work in progress) or just check out the code and play around. How to make feature requests, get help or report bugs? Please join our community forum: Status Current Version Roadmap: Prerequisites Visual Studio Code…
read the full squidex overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or squidex more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and squidex has 2,515. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and squidex free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and squidex under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and squidex?
Payload is written in TypeScript and squidex 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 squidex?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose squidex if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.