Payload CMSvszoneless
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Payload CMS | zoneless | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 83/100 | 50/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 13 in Headless CMS | #4 of 10 in E-commerce |
| GitHub stars | 45 565 | 573 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +633 | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 20 | 1 |
| Latest release | v3.92.1 · 27 Oct 2026 | v0.1.0 · 23 Mar 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Payload CMS scores 83/100 against 50/100 for zoneless, so it is the safer default.
Payload CMS ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 1 for zoneless.
Payload CMS is growing faster right now (+633 stars in 30 days).
Payload CMS details →zoneless details →