head to head · open source
Payload vs Twill CMS
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Twill CMS has 3,972 stars, 591 forks, 136 open issues and last shipped 2 months ago. Payload leads on adoption by 1,049% (45,624 vs 3,972 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; Twill CMS is written in PHP under Apache-2.0. Payload has attracted 10% 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 | ★ 46K | ★ 4.0K |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-09-09 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 591 |
| 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 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
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 Twill CMS
About Twill Twill is an open source Laravel package that helps developers rapidly create a custom CMS that is beautiful, powerful, and flexible. By standardizing common functions without compromising developer control, Twill makes it easy to deliver a feature rich admin console that focuses on modern publishing needs. Twill is an AREA 17 product. It was crafted with the belief that content management should be a creative, productive, and enjoyable experience for both publishers and developers. Benefits overview With a vast number of pre built features and custom built Vue.js UI components, developers can focus…
read the full Twill CMS overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or Twill CMS more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and Twill CMS has 3,972. 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 (45,624 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.