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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs TYPO3

Craft CMS vs TYPO3

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. TYPO3 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
  • TYPO3 Traditional · Open source · 20 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, TYPO3 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 TYPO3 feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
TYPO3 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 PHP CMS for multi-site, multilingual websites, with workspaces and granular backend permissions. Self-hosted, often run by agencies.
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 TYPO3 v14 LTS, version 14.3, open source Version 14.3.7, released 8 Sept 2026
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com TYPO3 Association (project); TYPO3 GmbH sells support and extended LTS typo3.org
Licence Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available Open source GPL-2.0-or-later
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 vendor SaaS. TYPO3 agencies and hosts run managed installations.
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigPHP, Symfony components, Fluid
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLMySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite
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. Commercial support and extended LTS are sold separately.
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 TCA in PHP. The Content Blocks extension adds YAML definitions. 11
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 6 Plugin or add-on Mask extension builds content elements in the backend. 12
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 Content elements on pages, reordered by drag and drop.
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 Page and record translations. Guided translation wizard in v14. 2
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 Server-side image processing with crop variants. 10
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 Plugin or add-on EXT:headless outputs pages as JSON. Core has no content API. 13
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 Built in Webhooks system extension, in core since v12. 6
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 Fluid templates. Camino default theme in v14. 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 Via the Workspaces system extension. 5
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 Start and stop dates on pages and content.
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 Record history with diff and undo.
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in Workspace preview links. 5
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 Plugin or add-on Visual Editor extension from Friends of TYPO3. TYPO3 plans core support for v15. 3
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 Built in Custom stages in Workspaces. 5
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Not available Built in Workspaces publish staged changes together. 5
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 Built in Backend user groups. 9
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 Built in Exclude fields per backend group. 9
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 Plugin or add-on OpenID Connect extensions such as causal/oidc. 14
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 Log module records backend changes by user.
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 Built in Several site configurations in one installation.
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in 18 Built in Backend modules and custom form elements.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Built in TYPO3 Extension Repository. 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 Built in Form Framework with a backend form editor. 7
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 Built in Frontend users and the felogin extension. 8
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 Core ships AI integration points only. Third-party extensions such as AI Suite. 417
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 only, e.g. hauptsache.net's TYPO3 MCP Server. 15

Considering more platforms? Compare Craft CMS and TYPO3 with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Craft CMS and TYPO3 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, TYPO3 has 20. 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). TYPO3 is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
Vendor cloud
Craft CMS has a vendor-run cloud. TYPO3 has no vendor-run cloud.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on TYPO3 2

  • Content model in the UI Craft CMS: Built in. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
  • GraphQL API Craft CMS: Built in. TYPO3: Not available.

Built in on TYPO3, a different answer on Craft CMS 8

  • Webhooks Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Content releases Craft CMS: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Custom roles Craft CMS: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Audit log Craft CMS: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Form builder Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. TYPO3: Built in.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

  • Visual editing Craft CMS: Limited. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
  • Single sign-on Craft CMS: Paid tier. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.

More comparisons

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

Craft CMS against other platforms

TYPO3 against other platforms

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

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