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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs EmDash

Craft CMS vs EmDash

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. EmDash is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 12.

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  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • EmDash Traditional · Open source · 14 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, EmDash on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available
Craft CMS vs EmDash feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
EmDash Traditional
Overview
What it is Self-hosted PHP CMS with custom fields and Twig templates. Pixel & Tonic sells licences per project and runs Craft Cloud hosting.Open-source CMS from Cloudflare that runs inside an Astro site, with the admin and pages in one app on Cloudflare Workers or Node.js.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes. Craft CMS 5 in Solo, Team and Pro editions. Craft 6 is in alpha. Version 5.11.3, released 18 Sept 2026 EmDash 1.0, open source Version 1.0.1, released 28 Sept 2026
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com Cloudflare emdashcms.com
Licence Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available Open source MIT
Hosting Self-hosting Vendor cloud Craft Cloud starts at $120 per month per project and includes a Team licence. Self-hosting No vendor cloud No managed hosting. You deploy to your own Cloudflare account or Node.js server.
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigTypeScript, Astro
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLSQLite, Cloudflare D1, PostgreSQL, libSQL
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. Free to start Solo free for one user. Team $279, Pro $399 per project, then $99 per year for updates. Enterprise on request. Free to start Free and open source. You pay only for hosting.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited. Built in Project config YAML records sections, entry types and fields for Git. 7 Limited Seed files set up new sites. A live site's model changes through the admin, API or CLI. 20
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 6 Built in Admin role only. 220
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. Built in Matrix fields with nested entry types. 8 Built in Blocks field with versioned block types. 5
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. Built in Per-site and per-language field translation on every edition. 61 Built in Each translation is a separate entry with its own status. 6
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. Built in 10 Built in Uses Astro's image endpoint for sizes and formats. Crop and focal point in the editor. 78
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Element API plugin. 12 Built in 9
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Built in 111 Not available
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Webhooks plugin. 13 Plugin or add-on Official webhook-notifier plugin. 18
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. Built in Twig templates. Built in The Astro site renders the pages. 2
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in 14 Built in 10
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. Built in Post date and expiry date on entries. 15 Built in 10
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in Editors can view and restore revisions. 14 Built in On revision-enabled collections. 10
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in Signed preview links. 11
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. Limited Live Preview shows the edit form beside the page. No click-to-edit. 14 Built in Signed-in editors get visual editing on the rendered page. 11
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. Plugin or add-on Workflow plugin by Verbb, $49. 16 Not available Contributors cannot publish. No configurable review stages. 1210
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Not available Not available
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live. Not available Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. Paid tier Pro. Team allows one user group. Solo has one user. 51 Not available Five fixed roles from Subscriber to Admin. 12
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. Paid tier Per-field Current User Condition. Rules by user group need Pro. 65 Not available 12
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. Paid tier First-party SAML SSO on Enterprise. 13 Limited Microsoft Entra sign-in built in. Other IdPs through Cloudflare Access. No native SAML. 12
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. Not available No core log. Craft 5 audit plugins exist but are niche. 20 Plugin or add-on Official audit-log plugin. 19
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. Built in Included on every edition. 19 Not available
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in 18 Built in Plugins add admin pages and dashboard widgets. 13
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Built in Plugin registry, launched with 1.0. 143
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Plugin or add-on Formie by Verbb, $99. Pricing page lists forms as plugin-only. 171 Plugin or add-on Official forms plugin. 17
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. Paid tier Public registration needs Pro. 5 Limited Subscriber role reads member-only content. Members share the editors' user system. 12
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. Not available No first-party AI feature. Not available
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. Not available Third-party Craft CMS MCP plugin by Stimmt Digital. 19 Built in Built in and on by default. 15

Considering more platforms? Compare Craft CMS and EmDash with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Craft CMS and EmDash get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Craft CMS has 14 built in on its baseline edition, EmDash has 14. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Licence
Craft CMS is closed source (Proprietary Craft License, source available). EmDash is open source (MIT).
Vendor cloud
Craft CMS has a vendor-run cloud. EmDash has no vendor-run cloud.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on EmDash 3

  • Content model in code Craft CMS: Built in. EmDash: Limited.
  • GraphQL API Craft CMS: Built in. EmDash: Not available.
  • Multiple sites Craft CMS: Built in. EmDash: Not available.

Built in on EmDash, a different answer on Craft CMS 3

  • REST API Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. EmDash: Built in.
  • Visual editing Craft CMS: Limited. EmDash: Built in.
  • Official MCP server Craft CMS: Not available. EmDash: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 6

  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. EmDash: Not available.
  • Custom roles Craft CMS: Paid tier. EmDash: Not available.
  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. EmDash: Not available.
  • Single sign-on Craft CMS: Paid tier. EmDash: Limited.
  • Audit log Craft CMS: Not available. EmDash: Plugin or add-on.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. EmDash: Limited.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Craft CMS vs Payload.

Craft CMS against other platforms

EmDash against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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