head to head · open source
Payload vs wagtail
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars, 4,384 forks, 1,127 open issues and last shipped yesterday. wagtail has 20,599 stars, 4,676 forks, 1,007 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Payload leads on adoption by 121% (45,624 vs 20,599 stars). Payload is written in TypeScript under MIT; wagtail is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause. Payload has attracted 10% as many forks as stars, wagtail 23%. Payload 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 | wagtail | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 46K | ★ 21K |
| License | MIT | BSD-3-Clause |
| Written in | TypeScript | Python |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-11-02 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.4K | ⑂ 4.7K |
| 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 wagtail if
- You want the wagtail feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the BSD-3-Clause license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You evaluated both and wagtail 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 wagtail
Wagtail is an open source content management system built on Django, with a strong community and commercial support. It's focused on user experience, and offers precise control for designers and developers. 🔥 Features A fast, attractive interface for authors Complete control over front end design and structure Scales to millions of pages and thousands of editors Fast out of the box, cache friendly when you need it Content API for 'headless' sites with decoupled front end Runs on a Raspberry Pi or a multi datacenter cloud platform StreamField encourages flexible content without compromising structure Powerful…
read the full wagtail overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Payload or wagtail more popular?
Payload has 45,624 GitHub stars and wagtail has 20,599. Payload has the larger community by that measure.
Are Payload and wagtail free?
Both are open source. Payload is licensed under MIT and wagtail under BSD-3-Clause. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Payload and wagtail?
Payload is written in TypeScript and wagtail in Python. 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 wagtail?
Choose Payload if you want the larger community (45,624 stars) or its MIT licence terms. Choose wagtail if its feature set, stack or BSD-3-Clause licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.