# CMS Made Simple vs Payload CMS

> Two self-hosted [WordPress alternatives](https://selfhost.directory/alternative-to/wordpress), compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | CMS Made Simple | Payload CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 64/100 | 83/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #12 of 42 in Content Management | #2 of 13 in Headless CMS |
| GitHub stars | — | 45 550 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +638 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 0 | 20 ✓ |
| Latest release | — | v3.92.1 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | — | Typescript |

## Which one should you pick?

Payload CMS scores 83/100 against 64/100 for CMS Made Simple, so it is the safer default.

Payload CMS ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for CMS Made Simple.

Payload CMS is growing faster right now (+638 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [CMS Made Simple](https://selfhost.directory/project/cms-made-simple) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/cms-made-simple.md)
- [Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/project/payload-cms) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/payload-cms.md)

## Related comparisons

- [Ghost vs Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/compare/ghost-vs-payload-cms)
- [directus vs Ghost](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-ghost)
- [directus vs Payload CMS](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-payload-cms)
- [directus vs Wagtail](https://selfhost.directory/compare/directus-vs-wagtail)
- [Ghost vs Wagtail](https://selfhost.directory/compare/ghost-vs-wagtail)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/cms-made-simple-vs-payload-cms