EmDash vs Instatic
EmDash 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 14.
- EmDash Traditional · Open source · 14 of 28 built in
- Instatic Site builder · Open source · 15 of 28 built in
Sources checked: EmDash 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 CMS from Cloudflare that runs inside an Astro site, with the admin and pages in one app on Cloudflare Workers or Node.js. | 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. | EmDash 1.0, open source Version 1.0.1, released 28 Sept 2026 | Instatic 0.0.20, open source Version 0.0.20, released 13 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Cloudflare emdashcms.com | CoreBunch instatic.com |
| Licence | Open source MIT | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud No managed hosting. You deploy to your own Cloudflare account or Node.js server. | 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 | TypeScript, Astro | TypeScript, Bun, React admin |
| Database | SQLite, Cloudflare D1, PostgreSQL, libSQL | SQLite, PostgreSQL |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. You pay only for hosting. | 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. | Limited Seed files set up new sites. A live site's model changes through the admin, API or CLI. 20 | 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 Admin role only. 220 | 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 Blocks field with versioned block types. 5 | 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 Each translation is a separate entry with its own status. 6 | 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 Uses Astro's image endpoint for sizes and formats. Crop and focal point in the editor. 78 | 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 9 | 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. | Not available | Not available |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Plugin or add-on Official webhook-notifier plugin. 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 The Astro site renders the pages. 2 | 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 10 | Built in 51 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in 10 | 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 On revision-enabled collections. 10 | 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 Signed preview links. 11 | 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. | Built in Signed-in editors get visual editing on the rendered page. 11 | 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. | Not available Contributors cannot publish. No configurable review stages. 1210 | 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. | Not available Five fixed roles from Subscriber to Admin. 12 | 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. | Not available 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. | Limited Microsoft Entra sign-in built in. Other IdPs through Cloudflare Access. No native SAML. 12 | 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. | Plugin or add-on Official audit-log plugin. 19 | 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. | Not available | 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 Plugins add admin pages and dashboard widgets. 13 | 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 Plugin registry, launched with 1.0. 143 | 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 Official forms plugin. 17 | 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. | Limited Subscriber role reads member-only content. Members share the editors' user system. 12 | Not available |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Not available | 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. | Built in Built in and on by default. 15 | Built in Built in at /_instatic/mcp, with OAuth or scoped personal access tokens. 20 |
EmDash sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. EmDash 1.0, open source.
- emdash on the npm registry
- EmDash homepage
- EmDash 1.0: an open source CMS for Astro
- EmDash repository on GitHub
- EmDash docs: Blocks
- EmDash docs: Internationalization
- EmDash docs: Configuration reference
- EmDash docs: Media Library
- EmDash docs: REST API
- EmDash docs: Content lifecycle
- EmDash docs: Preview mode
- EmDash docs: Authentication
- EmDash docs: Plugins overview
- EmDash docs: Plugin registry
- EmDash docs: AI tools and MCP server
- EmDash docs: Database options
- @emdash-cms/plugin-forms on the npm registry
- @emdash-cms/plugin-webhook-notifier on the npm registry
- @emdash-cms/plugin-audit-log on the npm registry
- EmDash docs: Evolving a deployed site
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 EmDash and Instatic with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
EmDash and Instatic get a different status on 14 of the 28 features and the same status on 14. EmDash 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.
Built in on EmDash, a different answer on Instatic 3
- Localization EmDash: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
- REST API EmDash: Built in. Instatic: Limited.
- Plugin marketplace EmDash: Built in. Instatic: Not available.
Built in on Instatic, a different answer on EmDash 4
- Custom roles EmDash: Not available. Instatic: Built in.
- Audit log EmDash: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Built in.
- Form builder EmDash: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Built in.
- AI writing assistant EmDash: Not available. Instatic: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 7
- Content model in code EmDash: Limited. Instatic: Not available.
- Webhooks EmDash: Plugin or add-on. Instatic: Not available.
- Approval workflows EmDash: Not available. Instatic: Limited.
- Content releases EmDash: Not available. Instatic: Limited.
- Real-time co-editing EmDash: Not available. Instatic: Limited.
- Single sign-on EmDash: Limited. Instatic: Not available.
- Site member accounts EmDash: Limited. Instatic: Not available.
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EmDash against other platforms
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Instatic against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Instatic
- Contentful vs Instatic
- Contentstack vs Instatic
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Instatic
- Craft CMS vs Instatic
- DatoCMS vs Instatic
- Decap CMS vs Instatic
- Directus vs Instatic
- Drupal vs Instatic
- FirstSpirit vs Instatic
- Framer vs Instatic
- Ghost vs Instatic
- HubSpot CMS vs Instatic
- Hygraph vs Instatic
- Instatic vs Joomla
- Instatic vs Keystone
- Instatic vs Kirby
- Instatic vs Liferay DXP
- Instatic vs Optimizely CMS
- Instatic vs Payload
- Instatic vs Prismic
- Instatic vs Progress Sitefinity
- Instatic vs Sanity
- Instatic vs Sitecore
- Instatic vs Squarespace
- Instatic vs Statamic
- Instatic vs Storyblok
- Instatic vs Strapi
- Instatic vs TYPO3
- Instatic vs Umbraco
- Instatic vs Wagtail
- Instatic vs Webflow
- Instatic vs Wix
- Instatic vs WordPress
- Instatic vs Xperience by Kentico
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