Drupal vs Instatic
Drupal is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. 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.
- Drupal Traditional · Open source · 16 of 28 built in
- Instatic Site builder · Open source · 15 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Drupal 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
| Platform |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| What it is | Open-source PHP CMS with fieldable content types, core JSON:API and multilingual modules. Teams self-host it or use Drupal hosting platforms. | 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. | Drupal 11 core. Drupal CMS 2 bundles core with selected contrib modules. Version 11.4.8, released 26 Sept 2026 | Instatic 0.0.20, open source Version 0.0.20, released 13 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Drupal community, supported by the Drupal Association drupal.org | CoreBunch instatic.com |
| Licence | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud Acquia, Pantheon and other companies sell managed Drupal hosting. | 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, Symfony, Twig | TypeScript, Bun, React admin |
| Database | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite | SQLite, PostgreSQL |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. Hosting, support and contrib services cost extra. | 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 Content types and fields export to YAML config files. | 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 Field UI in core. | 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 Layout Builder in core. Paragraphs and Drupal Canvas are contrib. 910 | 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 Field-level content translation in core. 7 | 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 Image styles scale, crop and convert images. 8 | 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. | Built in JSON:API and REST modules in core. 3 | 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. | Plugin or add-on GraphQL contrib module. Developers build the schema. 4 | Not available |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Plugin or add-on Webhooks contrib module. Core has no outgoing webhooks. 18 | 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 themes. | 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 Drafts of published content need the core Content Moderation module. 5 | Built in 51 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Plugin or add-on Scheduler contrib module. 11 | 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 Revert in core. Side-by-side compare needs the Diff contrib module. | 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 Preview button on the edit form. | 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 Layout Builder edits blocks on a rendered preview. Drupal Canvas is contrib. 910 | 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. | Built in Workflows and Content Moderation modules in core. 5 | 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. | Built in Workspaces module, stable in core since 10.3. 6 | 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. | Built in | 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. | Plugin or add-on Field Permissions contrib module. 12 | 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. | Plugin or add-on OpenID Connect or SAML Authentication contrib modules. 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. | Limited Database Logging records content events by user. It caps and prunes entries. 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. | Plugin or add-on Domain contrib module. Core multisite shares only the codebase. 14 | 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 Custom field widgets, forms and admin routes. | 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 drupal.org module directory. | 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 Webform contrib module. Core Contact is deprecated in 11.4. 152 | 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. | Built in | Not available |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Plugin or add-on AI module from the Drupal AI Initiative, bundled with Drupal CMS. 1619 | 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 Community contrib only, e.g. the MCP Server module by Lullabot and Omedia. 17 | Built in Built in at /_instatic/mcp, with OAuth or scoped personal access tokens. 20 |
Drupal sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Drupal 11 core. Drupal CMS 2 bundles core with selected contrib modules..
- drupal 11.4.8 release
- drupal 11.4.0 release notes
- JSON:API module documentation
- GraphQL module
- Content Moderation module documentation
- Mark Workspaces as a stable core module (#3088643)
- Multilingual guide: translating content
- Image module: working with images
- Layout Builder module documentation
- Drupal Canvas
- Scheduler module
- Field Permissions module
- OpenID Connect / OAuth client module
- Domain module
- Webform module
- AI (Artificial Intelligence) module
- MCP Server module
- Webhooks module
- Drupal CMS 2.0 is here
- Database Logging module documentation
Instatic sources
Checked 30 Sept 2026. Instatic 0.0.20, open source.
- Instatic homepage
- Instatic repository on GitHub
- Instatic 0.0.20 release
- Instatic changelog
- Instatic docs: Content storage
- Instatic docs: Data workspace
- Instatic docs: Visual Components
- Instatic docs: Media
- Instatic docs: Server
- Instatic docs: Plugin system
- Instatic docs: Publisher
- Instatic docs: Site branches
- Instatic docs: Site shell and real-time co-editing
- Instatic docs: Content workspace
- Instatic docs: Auth and access
- Instatic docs: Capabilities
- Instatic docs: Audit log
- Instatic docs: CMS-native forms
- Instatic docs: AI agent
- Instatic docs: MCP connectors
- Instatic docs: Editor
Considering more platforms? Compare Drupal and Instatic with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Drupal and Instatic get a different status on 19 of the 28 features and the same status on 9. Drupal has 16 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.
Built in on Drupal, a different answer on Instatic 7
- Content model in code Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
- Localization Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
- REST API Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Limited.
- Approval workflows Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Limited.
- Content releases Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Limited.
- Plugin marketplace Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
- Site member accounts Drupal: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
Built in on Instatic, a different answer on Drupal 6
- Scheduled publishing Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Built in.
- Visual editing Drupal: Limited. Instatic: Built in.
- Audit log Drupal: Limited. Instatic: Built in.
- Form builder Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Built in.
- AI writing assistant Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Built in.
- Official MCP server Drupal: Not available. Instatic: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 6
- GraphQL API Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
- Webhooks Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
- Real-time co-editing Drupal: Not available. Instatic: Limited.
- Field-level permissions Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
- Single sign-on Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
- Multiple sites Drupal: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
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