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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs Instatic

Craft CMS vs Instatic

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Instatic is an open-source site builder that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 19.

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  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Instatic Site builder · Open source · 15 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, Instatic on 30 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 Instatic feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
Instatic Site builder
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, self-hosted CMS with a visual canvas editor. One Bun server runs the editor, content store and publisher, and publishing writes plain HTML files to disk.
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 Instatic 0.0.20, open source Version 0.0.20, released 13 Sept 2026
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com CoreBunch instatic.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 the Docker image to your own server, or use the Railway and Render templates.
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigTypeScript, Bun, React admin
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLSQLite, PostgreSQL
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, with no paid tiers. 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 Not available Tables and fields live in the database and change in the Data workspace. Plugins can create tables through the SDK. 610
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 Custom post types and data tables in the Data workspace. 616
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 Visual Components with typed parameters and named slots, placed and reordered on the canvas. 72
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 Not available One site-wide language setting. No per-locale fields or entries. 21
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 Uploads get a set of WebP sizes, and the publisher writes srcset and sizes from the layout. 81
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 Limited The JSON API under /admin/api/cms serves the admin behind a session cookie. No token-based content API outside MCP. 920
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 Not available No built-in webhooks. A plugin with network access can call a URL from content hooks. 10
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 Publishing renders every page to static HTML on the server's disk. 11
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 51
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 Per page and per post-type entry. 5
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 Published versions of pages and entries, restorable into the draft. Added in 0.0.20. 124
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in The canvas renders drafts in the site design. Branch preview links work without an account. 122
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 Editing happens on the rendered page canvas, with a live mode for the full-size page. 214
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 Limited Branch merge requests with a review page and comments. No configurable review stages. 12
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Not available Limited Publish ships all draft pages at once. Branches group edits across pages and entries, but entries still publish one by one. 125
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 Limited Live co-editing of pages, components and layouts in the Site editor. Content workspace entries save separately. 13144
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 Built in The Owner builds roles from a fixed list of capabilities. 1516
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 Capabilities apply per table type and edit category, not per field. 16
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 Not available Email and password with optional TOTP two-factor. 15
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 Built in Append-only log of logins, content changes, role edits and plugin actions. 17
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 One site per installation. 2
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, editor extensions, dashboard widgets and canvas modules. 10
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Not available Plugins install as uploaded zip packages. No official directory. 10
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 Built in Forms are built on the canvas and submissions land in a data table. 18
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 Not available
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. Not available No first-party AI feature. Built in Built-in agent in the Site and Content workspaces, with your own Claude, OpenAI, OpenRouter or Ollama key. 19
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 at /_instatic/mcp, with OAuth or scoped personal access tokens. 20

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

Where they differ

Craft CMS and Instatic get a different status on 19 of the 28 features and the same status on 9. Craft CMS has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Instatic has 15. 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). Instatic is open source (MIT).
Vendor cloud
Craft CMS has a vendor-run cloud. Instatic has no vendor-run cloud.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on Instatic 5

  • Content model in code Craft CMS: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
  • Localization Craft CMS: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
  • GraphQL API Craft CMS: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
  • Multiple sites Craft CMS: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
  • Plugin marketplace Craft CMS: Built in. Instatic: Not available.

Built in on Instatic, a different answer on Craft CMS 6

  • Visual editing Craft CMS: Limited. Instatic: Built in.
  • Custom roles Craft CMS: Paid tier. Instatic: Built in.
  • Audit log Craft CMS: Not available. Instatic: Built in.
  • Form builder Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Built in.
  • AI writing assistant Craft CMS: Not available. Instatic: Built in.
  • Official MCP server Craft CMS: Not available. Instatic: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 8

  • REST API Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Limited.
  • Webhooks Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Limited.
  • Content releases Craft CMS: Not available. Instatic: Limited.
  • Real-time co-editing Craft CMS: Not available. Instatic: Limited.
  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. Instatic: Not available.
  • Single sign-on Craft CMS: Paid tier. Instatic: Not available.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. Instatic: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Craft CMS against other platforms

Instatic against other platforms

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

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