head to head · open source
Strapi vs Payload
Strapi has 73,425 GitHub stars, 10,050 forks, 558 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload has 45,624 stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Strapi leads on adoption by 61% (73,425 vs 45,624 stars). Strapi is written in TypeScript under a custom or non-standard licence; Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT. Strapi has attracted 14% as many forks as stars, Payload 10%. Payload was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 7 topic tags (cms, content-management, content-management-system, graphql), 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
| Strapi | Payload | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 73K | ★ 46K |
| License | Custom / other | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 10K | ⑂ 4.4K |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Strapi if
- You weight community size — 73K stars and counting
- You want the Custom / other license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Payload if
- You want the Payload feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Payload fits your workflow better
About Strapi
Open source headless CMS, self hosted or Cloud you're in control. The leading open source headless CMS, 100% JavaScript/TypeScript, flexible and fully customizable. Docs · Strapi Cloud · Roadmap · Discord · Discussions Strapi is an open source, self hosted headless CMS that lets developers build content APIs fast while giving content creators a friendly editing interface. Define your content models and Strapi generates a full API, ready to consume from any frontend, mobile app, or IoT device. Design content structures visually with the Content Type Builder , no code required Auto generated REST & GraphQL APIs…
read the full Strapi overview →
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 →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Strapi or Payload more popular?
Strapi has 73,425 GitHub stars and Payload has 45,624. Strapi has the larger community by that measure.
Are Strapi and Payload free?
Both are open source. Strapi has no licence declared in this registry, and Payload is licensed under MIT. Both are free to self-host.
What is the difference between Strapi and Payload?
Strapi is written in TypeScript and Payload 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, Strapi or Payload?
Choose Strapi if you want the larger community (73,425 stars) or its Custom / other licence terms. Choose Payload if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.