head to head · open source
wagtail vs Publii
wagtail has 20,599 GitHub stars, 4,676 forks, 1,007 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Publii has 7,387 stars, 475 forks, 300 open issues and last shipped 3 days ago. wagtail leads on adoption by 179% (20,599 vs 7,387 stars). wagtail is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; Publii is written in HTML under GPL-3.0. wagtail has attracted 23% as many forks as stars, Publii 6%. 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 | Publii | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 21K | ★ 7.4K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-11-02 | 2026-10-31 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.7K | ⑂ 475 |
| 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 Publii if
- You want the Publii feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-3.0 license terms
- Your stack matches HTML
- You evaluated both and Publii fits your workflow better
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 →
About Publii
Publii Static CMS for privacy focused, SEO optimized websites. Publii is a desktop based CMS for Windows, Mac and Linux that makes creating static websites fast and hassle free, even for beginners. Current version: 0.47.9 build 17481 Why Publii? Unlike static site generators that are often unwieldy and difficult to use, Publii provides an easy to understand UI much like server based CMSs such as WordPress or Joomla!, where users can create posts and other site content, and style their site using a variety of built in themes and options. Users can enjoy the benefits of a super fast and secure static website, with…
read the full Publii overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is wagtail or Publii more popular?
wagtail has 20,599 GitHub stars and Publii has 7,387. wagtail has the larger community by that measure.
Are wagtail and Publii free?
Both are open source. wagtail is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Publii under GPL-3.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between wagtail and Publii?
wagtail is written in Python and Publii in HTML. 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 Publii?
Choose wagtail if you want the larger community (20,599 stars) or its BSD-3-Clause licence terms. Choose Publii if its feature set, stack or GPL-3.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.