Joomla!vsPayload CMS
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Joomla! | Payload CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 74/100 | 83/100 |
| Rank in category | #5 of 42 in Content Management | #2 of 13 in Headless CMS |
| GitHub stars | 5 157 | 45 561 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +14 | +649 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 12 | 20 |
| Latest release | 6.2.0 · 12 Oct 2026 | v3.92.1 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Main language | PHP | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Payload CMS scores 83/100 against 74/100 for Joomla!, so it is the safer default.
Payload CMS ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 12 for Joomla!.
Payload CMS is growing faster right now (+649 stars in 30 days).
Joomla! details →Payload CMS details →
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