head to head · open source
Payload vs winter
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. winter has 1,523 stars, 250 forks, 124 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 2,896% (45,624 vs 1,523 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; winter is written in PHP under MIT. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, winter 16%. winter was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee. The two share 1 topic tag (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 | winter | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 1.5K |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 250 |
| 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 winter if
- You want the winter feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and winter 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 winter
Winter is a free, open source content management system based on the Laravel PHP framework. Developers and agencies all around the world rely upon Winter for its quick prototyping and development, safe and secure codebase and dedication to simplicity. No matter how large or small your project is, Winter provides a rich development environment, regardless of your level of experience. Installing Winter Winter can be installed in several ways for both new users and experienced developers see our Installation page for more information. Quick start with Composer For advanced users, run the following command in your…
read the full winter overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or winter more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and winter has 1,523. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and winter free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and winter under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and winter?
Payload is written in TypeScript and winter 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 winter?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose winter if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.