head to head · open source
wagtail vs Instatic
wagtail has 20,503 GitHub stars, 4,608 forks, 1,007 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Instatic has 8,691 stars, 802 forks, 134 open issues and last shipped 5 days ago. wagtail leads on adoption by 136% (20,503 vs 8,691 stars). wagtail is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; Instatic is written in TypeScript under MIT. wagtail has attracted 22% as many forks as stars, Instatic 9%. wagtail 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
| wagtail | Instatic | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 8.7K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | MIT |
| Written in | Python | TypeScript |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-13 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.6K | ⑂ 802 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick wagtail if
- You weight community size — 21K stars and counting
- You want the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick Instatic if
- You want the Instatic feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the MIT license terms
- Your stack matches TypeScript
- You evaluated both and Instatic fits your workflow better
About wagtail
Wagtail is an open source content management system built on Django, for developers, designers and editors who need a fast authoring interface alongside precise control over front end design and content structure.
read the full wagtail overview →
About Instatic
Instatic is an MIT licensed, TypeScript built visual CMS that lets designers, developers, and small teams self host their entire website stack — editor, content engine, and publisher — on a single Bun server and publish clean static pages.
read the full Instatic overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is wagtail or Instatic more popular?
wagtail has 20,503 GitHub stars and Instatic has 8,691. wagtail has the larger community by that measure.
Are wagtail and Instatic free?
Both are open source. wagtail is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Instatic under MIT. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between wagtail and Instatic?
wagtail is written in Python and Instatic 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, wagtail or Instatic?
Choose wagtail if you want the larger community (20,503 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose Instatic if its feature set, stack or MIT licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.