# AFFiNE Community Edition vs Payload CMS

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | AFFiNE Community Edition | Payload CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 83/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 42 in Knowledge Management | #2 of 13 in Headless CMS |
| GitHub stars | 73 952 ✓ | 45 568 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +1 006 ✓ | +636 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 4 | 20 ✓ |
| Latest release | v0.27.4 · 17 Aug 2026 | v3.92.1 · 27 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | Other | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

AFFiNE Community Edition and Payload CMS score the same (83/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.

Payload CMS ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for AFFiNE Community Edition.

## Details

- [AFFiNE Community Edition](https://selfhost.directory/project/affine-community-edition) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/affine-community-edition.md)
- [Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/project/payload-cms) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/payload-cms.md)

## Related comparisons

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- [Ghost vs Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/compare/ghost-vs-payload-cms)
- [AFFiNE Community Edition vs AppFlowy](https://selfhost.directory/compare/affine-community-edition-vs-appflowy)
- [Affine vs AFFiNE Community Edition](https://selfhost.directory/compare/affine-vs-affine-community-edition)
- [directus vs Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-payload-cms)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/affine-community-edition-vs-payload-cms