head to head · open source
wagtail vs Publii
wagtail has 20,503 GitHub stars, 4,608 forks, 1,007 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Publii has 7,312 stars, 468 forks, 300 open issues and last shipped yesterday. wagtail leads on adoption by 180% (20,503 vs 7,312 stars). wagtail is written in Python under BSD-3-Clause; Publii is written in HTML under GPL-3.0. wagtail has attracted 22% 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 | ★ 7.3K |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-3.0 |
| Written in | Python | HTML |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 4.6K | ⑂ 468 |
| 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, 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 Publii
Publii is a desktop based content management system for Windows, Mac and Linux, built with Electron, that produces static websites from a graphical interface. It is licensed under GPL 3.0, carries over 7,300 stars and 469 forks on GitHub, and sits in the static site generator ecosystem alongside HTML and Handlebars based tooling. Themes and templating use Handlebars, and the shipped application targets Linux distributions including Fedora, macOS and Windows.
read the full Publii overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is wagtail or Publii more popular?
wagtail has 20,503 GitHub stars and Publii has 7,312. 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 (20,503 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.