Decap CMS vs Kirby
Decap CMS is an open-source headless 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 12.
- Decap CMS Headless · Open source · 6 of 28 built in
- Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Decap 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
| Platform |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| What it is | Open-source Git-based CMS. A React admin app added to your site edits Markdown, YAML or JSON files and commits them to your repository. | 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. | Decap CMS 3, open source. Decap Turbo hosted backend is in public preview. Version 3.16.3, released 22 Sept 2026 | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Decap CMS project (formerly Netlify CMS), maintained in Europe decapcms.org | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com |
| Licence | Open source MIT | Closed source Proprietary, source available |
| Hosting | Self-hosting Vendor cloud Decap Turbo, a hosted backend for login and Git access, is in public preview. | Self-hosting No vendor cloud |
| Built with | JavaScript, React | PHP, Vue for the Panel |
| Database | Your Git repository on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea or Azure | Flat files, no database required |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. The Decap Turbo hosted backend, in public preview, has a Free plan and Pro at €19 per month. | 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 Collections and fields are defined in config.yml. 6 | 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. | Not available | 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 List widget with variable types. 7 | 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 Side-by-side editing per locale, stored per folder, file or field. 8 | 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. | Not available Media goes to the repo or an external media library. | Built in Thumbs with resize, crop and format conversion. 8 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Not available Content is files in Git. Read them through the Git host API. 2 | 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. | Not available | Not available |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Not available Use the Git host's webhooks on commit. | 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. | Not available Pairs with a static site generator. 2 | 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 Editorial workflow keeps drafts on a branch until merged. 9 | 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. | Not available | Not available |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Not available History lives in Git. The CMS has no revision view. | 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 Preview pane with custom templates and styles. 10 | 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 Preview pane beside the form. No click-to-edit on the live page. 10 | 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. | Limited Fixed Drafts, In review and Ready stages. No per-stage permissions. 9 | 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. | Plugin or add-on Decap Turbo, in public preview, has a custom roles add-on at €19 per month on Pro. Core uses Git access. 1214 | 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. | Not available | 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. | Limited Sign-in runs through the Git host or Turbo. SAML only where the Git host enforces it. 413 | 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. | Plugin or add-on Decap Turbo, in public preview, has an activity log on its Free plan. Core has Git history only. 12 | Not available |
| Platform and extensibility | ||
| Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. | Plugin or add-on Decap Turbo organizations share members across sites. Turbo is in public preview. Extra sites €10/month. 1412 | Not available One site per installation. |
| Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. | Built in Custom widgets, preview templates and editor components. 1110 | Built in Panel plugins add fields, sections, views and areas. 15 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Not available No official extension directory. | Built in Official plugin directory at plugins.getkirby.com. 16 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Not available | 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. | Not available | 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 | 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 | Not available Third-party Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick. 19 |
Decap CMS sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Decap CMS 3, open source. Decap Turbo hosted backend is in public preview..
- Decap CMS releases on GitHub
- Decap CMS overview
- Decap CMS features
- Decap docs: Backends overview
- Decap docs: Git Gateway backend
- Decap docs: Widgets
- Decap docs: Variable type widgets
- Decap docs: i18n support
- Decap docs: Editorial workflows
- Decap docs: Creating custom previews
- Decap docs: Creating custom widgets
- Decap Turbo plans
- Decap Turbo overview
- Decap Turbo: Organizations, sites and roles
- Decap Turbo: Billing and plans
Kirby sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha..
- Kirby pricing
- Kirby releases
- Kirby 5 release overview
- Kirby 5: Preview your changes
- Kirby docs: Blueprints
- Kirby docs: Blocks field
- Kirby docs: Languages
- Kirby docs: $file->thumb()
- Kirby docs: REST API
- Kirby Query Language (KQL) plugin
- Kirby docs: Publishing workflow
- Kirby docs: Permissions
- Kirby cookbook: Extending permissions
- Kirby docs: Frontend login
- Kirby docs: Plugin extensions
- Kirby plugin directory
- DreamForm plugin
- Kirby Copilot plugin
- Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick
- Kirby docs: Content options (locking)
Considering more platforms? Compare Decap CMS and Kirby with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Decap CMS and Kirby get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Decap CMS has 6 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.
- Licence
- Decap CMS is open source (MIT). Kirby is closed source (Proprietary, source available).
- Vendor cloud
- Decap CMS has a vendor-run cloud. Kirby has no vendor-run cloud.
- Free option
- Decap CMS has a free option. Kirby has no free option.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on Decap CMS 5
- Image transformations Decap CMS: Not available. Kirby: Built in.
- REST API Decap CMS: Not available. Kirby: Built in.
- Renders the website Decap CMS: Not available. Kirby: Built in.
- Custom roles Decap CMS: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Built in.
- Plugin marketplace Decap CMS: Not available. Kirby: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 7
- Visual editing Decap CMS: Limited. Kirby: Not available.
- Approval workflows Decap CMS: Limited. Kirby: Not available.
- Single sign-on Decap CMS: Limited. Kirby: Not available.
- Audit log Decap CMS: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Not available.
- Multiple sites Decap CMS: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Not available.
- Form builder Decap CMS: Not available. Kirby: Plugin or add-on.
- Site member accounts Decap CMS: Not available. Kirby: Limited.
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Kirby against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Kirby
- Contentful vs Kirby
- Contentstack vs Kirby
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Kirby
- Craft CMS vs Kirby
- DatoCMS vs Kirby
- Directus vs Kirby
- Drupal vs Kirby
- EmDash vs Kirby
- FirstSpirit vs Kirby
- Framer vs Kirby
- Ghost vs Kirby
- HubSpot CMS vs Kirby
- Hygraph vs Kirby
- Instatic vs Kirby
- Joomla vs Kirby
- Keystone vs Kirby
- Kirby vs Liferay DXP
- Kirby vs Optimizely CMS
- Kirby vs Payload
- Kirby vs Prismic
- Kirby vs Progress Sitefinity
- Kirby vs Sanity
- Kirby vs Sitecore
- Kirby vs Squarespace
- Kirby vs Statamic
- Kirby vs Storyblok
- Kirby vs Strapi
- Kirby vs TYPO3
- Kirby vs Umbraco
- Kirby vs Wagtail
- Kirby vs Webflow
- Kirby vs Wix
- Kirby vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Kirby
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