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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs Kirby

Craft CMS vs Kirby

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Kirby is a closed-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 13.

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  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, Kirby 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 Kirby feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
Kirby 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.File-based PHP CMS with a configurable editing Panel. Content lives in text files on your own server, under a paid per-site licence.
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 Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com
Licence Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available Closed source Proprietary, source available
Hosting Self-hosting Vendor cloud Craft Cloud starts at $120 per month per project and includes a Team licence. Self-hosting No vendor cloud
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigPHP, Vue for the Panel
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLFlat files, no database required
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. No free option Basic €99 per site if revenue is under €1M. Enterprise €349 per site. Both include 3 years of updates.
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 Built in Blueprints are YAML files in site/blueprints. 5
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 6 Not available You edit blueprints as files. The Panel has no schema editor. 5
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 and Layout fields. 6
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 Multi-language content is built in. 7
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 Thumbs with resize, crop and format conversion. 8
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 Authenticated REST API. The official KQL plugin serves headless queries. 910
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 PHP hooks only. No webhook settings.
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 PHP templates and snippets.
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 Page drafts. Kirby 5 stores unsaved changes apart from the live version. 4
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 Not available
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 Not available Kirby 5 keeps the live version and one set of changes. No revision history. 4
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in Preview view renders unsaved changes, with shareable links. 4
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 Not available Preview view compares versions. No click-to-edit. 4
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 Fixed page statuses: draft, unlisted, listed. 11
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 Content locking stops two editors changing one page at once. 320
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 Roles are user blueprints with permissions. 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 Only by loading different blueprints per role in custom code. 13
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 No first-party SSO. Community OAuth plugins exist.
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 Not available
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.
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in 18 Built in Panel plugins add fields, sections, views and areas. 15
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Built in Official plugin directory at plugins.getkirby.com. 16
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 Paid DreamForm plugin by tobimori. 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 Frontend login is built in. Sign-up needs custom code. 14
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 No first-party AI. Kirby Copilot is a paid third-party plugin. 18
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 Not available Third-party Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick. 19

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

Where they differ

Craft CMS and Kirby get a different status on 13 of the 28 features and the same status on 15. Craft CMS has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Kirby has 11. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Vendor cloud
Craft CMS has a vendor-run cloud. Kirby has no vendor-run cloud.
Free option
Craft CMS has a free option. Kirby has no free option.

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

  • Content model in the UI Craft CMS: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
  • GraphQL API Craft CMS: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
  • Scheduled publishing Craft CMS: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
  • Version history Craft CMS: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
  • Multiple sites Craft CMS: Built in. Kirby: Not available.

Built in on Kirby, a different answer on Craft CMS 2

  • REST API Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Built in.
  • Custom roles Craft CMS: Paid tier. Kirby: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 6

  • Webhooks Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Not available.
  • Visual editing Craft CMS: Limited. Kirby: Not available.
  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Not available.
  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. Kirby: Not available.
  • Single sign-on Craft CMS: Paid tier. Kirby: Not available.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. Kirby: Limited.

More comparisons

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

Craft CMS against other platforms

Kirby against other platforms

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

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