head to head · open source
Payload vs wondercms
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. wondercms has 741 stars, 169 forks, 16 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 6,057% (45,624 vs 741 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; wondercms is written in PHP under MIT. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, wondercms 23%. 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, content-management-system), 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 | wondercms | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 741 |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Written in | TypeScript | PHP |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 169 |
| 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 wondercms if
- You want the wondercms feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches PHP
- You evaluated both and wondercms 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 wondercms
WonderCMS small flat file CMS 5 files • ∼50KB zip 1 step install WonderCMS is an extremely small flat file CMS. It's fast, responsive and doesn't require any configuration . It provides a simple way for creating and editing websites. Includes features such as: 1 step install , 1 click updates , 1 click backups , theme/plugin installer and much more. Demo • Download • Community • News • Donate • Buy merch Small and simple flat file CMS No configuration needed unzip and upload. 5 files: database.js (JSON format), index.php, theme.php, style.css and htaccess. Transferring your website to a new host/server is done…
read the full wondercms overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or wondercms more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and wondercms has 741. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and wondercms free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and wondercms under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and wondercms?
Payload is written in TypeScript and wondercms 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 wondercms?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose wondercms if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.