Instatic vs Statamic
Instatic is an open-source site builder that you host yourself. Statamic 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 20.
- Instatic Site builder · Open source · 15 of 28 built in
- Statamic Traditional · Closed source · 8 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Instatic on 30 Sept 2026, Statamic 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. | Laravel-based PHP CMS that stores content in flat files by default. Free Core edition. Pro adds users, APIs and multi-site. You host it. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Instatic 0.0.20, open source Version 0.0.20, released 13 Sept 2026 | Statamic 6, Core and Pro Version 6.34.1, released 23 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | CoreBunch instatic.com | Statamic, LLC statamic.com |
| Licence | Open source MIT | Closed source Proprietary, source available. Core is free to use. |
| 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 |
| Built with | TypeScript, Bun, React admin | PHP, Laravel, Vue |
| Database | SQLite, PostgreSQL | Flat files by default, SQL databases via the Eloquent Driver |
| 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 Core free for one admin user. Pro $349 per site, then $99 per year for updates. Enterprise from $10k per year. |
| 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 | Built in Blueprints and fieldsets are YAML files in the project. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Blueprint builder in the Control Panel. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Replicator and Bard sets. 5 |
| 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 | Paid tier Multi-site and multilingual content need Pro. 61 |
| 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 | Built in Glide resizes and crops on request. 7 |
| 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 | Paid tier Read-only REST API on Pro. 8 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | Paid tier Read-only GraphQL API on Pro. 9 |
| 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 Laravel events only. No webhook settings in core. |
| 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 Antlers or Blade templates. |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in 51 | Paid tier Working copies of live entries need Revisions on Pro. Core has unpublished entries. 101 |
| 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 | Limited Future-dated entries stay private until their date. Set per collection. 11 |
| 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 | Paid tier Revisions on Pro. 10 |
| 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 | Built in 121 |
| 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 Live Preview shows the edit form beside the page. No click-to-edit. 12 |
| 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 | Not available Approval workflows are on the roadmap as planned. 19 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Free first-party Collaboration addon. Requires Pro. 18 |
| 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 | Paid tier Roles and permissions need Pro. 131 |
| 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 | Not available Field conditions depend on field values. User roles can't drive them. 4 |
| 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 | Paid tier Pro via Laravel Socialite providers such as SAML2. Enterprise tier lists SSO. 1521 |
| 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 | Paid tier Enterprise tier, from $10k per year, lists audit logging. 121 |
| 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 | Paid tier Pro. 61 |
| 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 Custom fieldtypes, widgets and Control Panel pages. 17 |
| 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 Statamic Marketplace for addons. 18 |
| 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 Core allows one form. Pro removes the limit. 116 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Not available | Paid tier Member accounts, registration and login tags need Pro. 1416 |
| 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 |
| 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 addons only, such as MCP Server for Statamic by Cbox. 20 |
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
Statamic sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Statamic 6, Core and Pro.
- Statamic pricing
- statamic/cms release metadata on Packagist
- Statamic 6 release announcement
- Statamic docs: Blueprints
- Statamic docs: Replicator fieldtype
- Statamic docs: Multi-site
- Statamic docs: Image manipulation (Glide)
- Statamic docs: REST API
- Statamic docs: GraphQL API
- Statamic docs: Revisions
- Statamic docs: Collections and date behavior
- Statamic docs: Live Preview
- Statamic docs: Permissions
- Statamic docs: Users
- Statamic docs: OAuth
- Statamic docs: Forms
- Statamic docs: Extending the Control Panel
- Collaboration addon by Statamic
- Statamic roadmap
- MCP Server for Statamic addon by Cbox
- Statamic Enterprise
Considering more platforms? Compare Instatic and Statamic with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Instatic and Statamic get a different status on 20 of the 28 features and the same status on 8. Instatic has 15 built in on its baseline edition, Statamic has 8. 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
- Instatic is open source (MIT). Statamic is closed source (Proprietary, source available. Core is free to use.).
Built in on Instatic, a different answer on Statamic 9
- Drafts Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Scheduled publishing Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Limited.
- Version history Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Visual editing Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Limited.
- Custom roles Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Audit log Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Form builder Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Limited.
- AI writing assistant Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Not available.
- Official MCP server Instatic: Built in. Statamic: Not available.
Built in on Statamic, a different answer on Instatic 2
- Content model in code Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Built in.
- Plugin marketplace Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 9
- Localization Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
- REST API Instatic: Limited. Statamic: Paid tier.
- GraphQL API Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Approval workflows Instatic: Limited. Statamic: Not available.
- Content releases Instatic: Limited. Statamic: Not available.
- Real-time co-editing Instatic: Limited. Statamic: Plugin or add-on.
- Single sign-on Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Multiple sites Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Site member accounts Instatic: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
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Statamic against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Statamic
- Contentful vs Statamic
- Contentstack vs Statamic
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Statamic
- Craft CMS vs Statamic
- DatoCMS vs Statamic
- Decap CMS vs Statamic
- Directus vs Statamic
- Drupal vs Statamic
- EmDash vs Statamic
- FirstSpirit vs Statamic
- Framer vs Statamic
- Ghost vs Statamic
- HubSpot CMS vs Statamic
- Hygraph vs Statamic
- Joomla vs Statamic
- Keystone vs Statamic
- Kirby vs Statamic
- Liferay DXP vs Statamic
- Optimizely CMS vs Statamic
- Statamic vs Payload
- Prismic vs Statamic
- Progress Sitefinity vs Statamic
- Sanity vs Statamic
- Sitecore vs Statamic
- Squarespace vs Statamic
- Statamic vs Storyblok
- Statamic vs Strapi
- Statamic vs TYPO3
- Statamic vs Umbraco
- Statamic vs Wagtail
- Statamic vs Webflow
- Statamic vs Wix
- Statamic vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Statamic
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