Instatic vs Joomla
Instatic is an open-source site builder 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 18.
- Instatic Site builder · Open source · 15 of 28 built in
- Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Instatic on 30 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, 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. | 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. | Instatic 0.0.20, open source Version 0.0.20, released 13 Sept 2026 | Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained. Version 6.1.3, released 18 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | CoreBunch instatic.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 the Docker image to your own server, or use the Railway and Render templates. | Self-hosting No vendor cloud The project's launch.joomla.org offers free hosted sites through a hosting partner. |
| Built with | TypeScript, Bun, React admin | PHP |
| Database | SQLite, PostgreSQL | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source, with no paid tiers. 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. | Not available Tables and fields live in the database and change in the Data workspace. Plugins can create tables through the SDK. 610 | 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 Custom post types and data tables in the Data workspace. 616 | 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 Visual Components with typed parameters and named slots, placed and reordered on the canvas. 72 | 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. | Not available One site-wide language setting. No per-locale fields or entries. 21 | 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 Uploads get a set of WebP sizes, and the publisher writes srcset and sizes from the layout. 81 | 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. | Limited The JSON API under /admin/api/cms serves the admin behind a session cookie. No token-based content API outside MCP. 920 | 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. | Not available No built-in webhooks. A plugin with network access can call a URL from content hooks. 10 | 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 Publishing renders every page to static HTML on the server's disk. 11 | 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 51 | 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 Per page and per post-type entry. 5 | 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 Published versions of pages and entries, restorable into the draft. Added in 0.0.20. 124 | 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 The canvas renders drafts in the site design. Branch preview links work without an account. 122 | 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 Editing happens on the rendered page canvas, with a live mode for the full-size page. 214 | 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. | Limited Branch merge requests with a review page and comments. No configurable review stages. 12 | 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. | Limited Publish ships all draft pages at once. Branches group edits across pages and entries, but entries still publish one by one. 125 | 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. | Limited Live co-editing of pages, components and layouts in the Site editor. Content workspace entries save separately. 13144 | 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. | Built in The Owner builds roles from a fixed list of capabilities. 1516 | 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 Capabilities apply per table type and edit category, not per field. 16 | 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. | Not available Email and password with optional TOTP two-factor. 15 | 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. | Built in Append-only log of logins, content changes, role edits and plugin actions. 17 | 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 One site per installation. 2 | 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, editor extensions, dashboard widgets and canvas modules. 10 | Built in Components, modules, plugins and custom field types. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Not available Plugins install as uploaded zip packages. No official directory. 10 | Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Built in Forms are built on the canvas and submissions land in a data table. 18 | 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. | Not available | 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. | Built in Built-in agent in the Site and Content workspaces, with your own Claude, OpenAI, OpenRouter or Ollama key. 19 | 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 at /_instatic/mcp, with OAuth or scoped personal access tokens. 20 | Not available Third-party only, e.g. Onepoint's MCP Server for Joomla. 16 |
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
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 Instatic and Joomla with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Instatic and Joomla get a different status on 18 of the 28 features and the same status on 10. Instatic has 15 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 Instatic, a different answer on Joomla 9
- Content model in the UI Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Reusable blocks Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Image transformations Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Drafts Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Preview Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Visual editing Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- Form builder Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
- AI writing assistant Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Not available.
- Official MCP server Instatic: Built in. Joomla: Not available.
Built in on Joomla, a different answer on Instatic 6
- Localization Instatic: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
- REST API Instatic: Limited. Joomla: Built in.
- Approval workflows Instatic: Limited. Joomla: Built in.
- Field-level permissions Instatic: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
- Plugin marketplace Instatic: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
- Site member accounts Instatic: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 3
- Content releases Instatic: Limited. Joomla: Not available.
- Real-time co-editing Instatic: Limited. Joomla: Not available.
- Single sign-on Instatic: Not available. Joomla: Plugin or add-on.
More comparisons
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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
- EmDash vs Joomla
- FirstSpirit vs Joomla
- Framer vs Joomla
- Ghost vs Joomla
- HubSpot CMS vs Joomla
- Hygraph 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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