head to head · open source
Payload vs Twill CMS
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars, 4,164 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Twill CMS has 3,975 stars, 589 forks, 136 open issues and last shipped 9 days ago. Payload leads on adoption by 1,027% (44,793 vs 3,975 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; Twill CMS is written in PHP under Apache-2.0. Payload has attracted 9% as many forks as stars, Twill CMS 15%. 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, content-management-system, headless-cms), 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 | Twill CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 45K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.2K | ⑂ 589 |
| 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 Twill CMS if
- You want the Twill CMS feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and Twill CMS 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 Twill CMS
Twill is an open source CMS toolkit and Laravel package. It helps developers create a custom admin console for content management. The project lives in the Laravel ecosystem and uses Vue.js for the interface. It is intended for modern publishing needs, where developers need an intuitive and flexible admin console without building every standard feature from scratch.
read the full Twill CMS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or Twill CMS more popular?
Payload has 44,793 GitHub stars and Twill CMS has 3,975. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and Twill CMS free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and Twill CMS under Apache-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and Twill CMS?
Payload is written in TypeScript and Twill CMS 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 Twill CMS?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (44,793 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose Twill CMS if its feature set, stack or Apache-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.