EmDash vs Joomla
EmDash is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. Joomla 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 16.
- EmDash Traditional · Open source · 14 of 28 built in
- Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in
Sources checked: EmDash on 29 Sept 2026, Joomla 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 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 PHP CMS built around articles, custom fields, core multilingual support and group-based access control. Self-hosted. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | EmDash 1.0, open source Version 1.0.1, released 28 Sept 2026 | Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained. Version 6.1.3, released 18 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | Cloudflare emdashcms.com | Open Source Matters, Inc. (Joomla project) joomla.org |
| Licence | Open source MIT | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later |
| 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 The project's launch.joomla.org offers free hosted sites through a hosting partner. |
| Built with | TypeScript, Astro | PHP |
| Database | SQLite, Cloudflare D1, PostgreSQL, libSQL | MySQL, MariaDB, 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. Hosting and commercial extensions cost extra. |
| 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 Fields live in the database. A new content type means writing a component. |
| 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 | Limited Custom fields on articles, contacts, users and categories. No new content types. 5 |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Built in Blocks field with versioned block types. 5 | Limited Modules placed in template positions. No page-level block editor in core. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Per-item language with multilingual associations. 7 |
| 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 | Limited Manual crop and resize in Media. No generated sizes or URL transforms. 9 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in 9 | Built in Web Services API with token authentication. 10 |
| 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 None in core. Only small third-party extensions. 19 |
| 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 Template system, with Cassiopeia as the default. |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in 10 | Limited Unpublished items only. Saving a published article updates it live. 8 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in 10 | Built in Start and finish publishing dates. 8 |
| 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 Compare and restore. Includes custom field values since 6.0. 34 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in Signed preview links. 11 | Limited Backend Preview shows the last saved version of an article. 8 |
| 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 | Limited Front-end editing opens the article or module form on the site. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Workflows component, off by default. Visual workflow editor since 6.1. 112 |
| 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 Joomla checks out and locks an item while someone edits it. |
| 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 User groups, access levels and ACL. 4 |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Not available 12 | Built in Per-field Edit Custom Field Value permission. 6 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on SAML or OIDC extensions from the JED. Core authenticates against LDAP only. 1314 |
| 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 User Actions Log. 12 |
| 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 install. Third-party multisite extensions only. 15 |
| 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 Components, modules, plugins and custom field types. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Plugin registry, launched with 1.0. 143 | Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Plugin or add-on Official forms plugin. 17 | Limited Contact forms accept custom fields. Core emails submissions and does not store them. 20 |
| 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 | Built in Front-end registration and login. 4 |
| 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. Third-party extensions such as 4AI. 18 |
| 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 | Not available Third-party only, e.g. Onepoint's MCP Server for Joomla. 16 |
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
Joomla sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained..
- Joomla Downloads: latest release
- Joomla 6.1 is here
- What's new in Joomla 6.0?
- Joomla Core Features
- Fields (user manual)
- Help5.x: Fields: Edit (permissions)
- Multilingual Associations
- Article: Preview
- Media: Image Crop Resize Rotate
- Web Services (programmers documentation)
- Workflows (user manual)
- User Actions Log
- LDAP authentication
- Joomla Extensions Directory
- JED: Multiple Sites category
- MCP Server for Joomla (JED)
- Free Hosting (user manual)
- 4AI (JED)
- Content Sharing - Webhooks (JED)
- Adding Custom Fields to the Joomla Contact Form
Considering more platforms? Compare EmDash and Joomla with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
EmDash and Joomla get a different status on 16 of the 28 features and the same status on 12. EmDash has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Joomla has 12. 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 Joomla 7
- Content model in the UI EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Reusable blocks EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Image transformations EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Drafts EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Preview EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Visual editing EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Official MCP server EmDash: Built in. Joomla: Not available.
Built in on Joomla, a different answer on EmDash 5
- Approval workflows EmDash: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
- Custom roles EmDash: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
- Field-level permissions EmDash: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
- Audit log EmDash: Plugin or add-on. Joomla: Built in.
- Site member accounts EmDash: Limited. Joomla: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 4
- Content model in code EmDash: Limited. Joomla: Not available.
- Webhooks EmDash: Plugin or add-on. Joomla: Not available.
- Single sign-on EmDash: Limited. Joomla: Plugin or add-on.
- Form builder EmDash: Plugin or add-on. Joomla: Limited.
More comparisons
EmDash against other platforms
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Joomla against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Joomla
- Contentful vs Joomla
- Contentstack vs Joomla
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Joomla
- Craft CMS vs Joomla
- DatoCMS vs Joomla
- Decap CMS vs Joomla
- Directus vs Joomla
- Drupal vs Joomla
- FirstSpirit vs Joomla
- Framer vs Joomla
- Ghost vs Joomla
- HubSpot CMS vs Joomla
- Hygraph vs Joomla
- Instatic vs Joomla
- Joomla vs Keystone
- Joomla vs Kirby
- Joomla vs Liferay DXP
- Joomla vs Optimizely CMS
- Joomla vs Payload
- Joomla vs Prismic
- Joomla vs Progress Sitefinity
- Joomla vs Sanity
- Joomla vs Sitecore
- Joomla vs Squarespace
- Joomla vs Statamic
- Joomla vs Storyblok
- Joomla vs Strapi
- Joomla vs TYPO3
- Joomla vs Umbraco
- Joomla vs Wagtail
- Joomla vs Webflow
- Joomla vs Wix
- Joomla vs WordPress
- Joomla vs Xperience by Kentico
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