Joomla vs Keystone
Joomla is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. Keystone is an open-source headless CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 19.
- Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in
- Keystone Headless · Open source · 6 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Joomla on 29 Sept 2026, Keystone 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 PHP CMS built around articles, custom fields, core multilingual support and group-based access control. Self-hosted. | Open-source Node.js headless CMS from Thinkmill that generates a GraphQL API and an admin UI from a TypeScript schema. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained. Version 6.1.3, released 18 Aug 2026 | Keystone 6, open source, from the @keystone-6/core package Version 8.1.0, released 31 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | Open Source Matters, Inc. (Joomla project) joomla.org | Thinkmill keystonejs.com |
| Licence | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud The project's launch.joomla.org offers free hosted sites through a hosting partner. | Self-hosting No vendor cloud No managed hosting. Thinkmill offers enterprise support. |
| Built with | PHP | TypeScript, Node.js, GraphQL, Prisma, Next.js for the admin UI |
| Database | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. Hosting and commercial extensions cost extra. | Free to start Free and open source. Enterprise support from Thinkmill on request. |
| 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 Fields live in the database. A new content type means writing a component. | Built in Lists and fields are TypeScript config. 4 |
| Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. | Limited Custom fields on articles, contacts, users and categories. No new content types. 5 | Not available |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Limited Modules placed in template positions. No page-level block editor in core. 4 | Built in Component blocks inside the document field. 8 |
| Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. | Built in Per-item language with multilingual associations. 7 | Not available No locale support documented. Model translations yourself. 12 |
| Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. | Limited Manual crop and resize in Media. No generated sizes or URL transforms. 9 | Not available Image field stores originals. The Cloudinary field hands resizing to Cloudinary. 711 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in Web Services API with token authentication. 10 | Not available GraphQL only. Custom REST routes through extendExpressApp. 4 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | Built in |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Not available None in core. Only small third-party extensions. 19 | Not available No webhook settings. Call URLs from hooks in code. 10 |
| Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. | Built in Template system, with Cassiopeia as the default. | Not available |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Limited Unpublished items only. Saving a published article updates it live. 8 | Not available |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in Start and finish publishing dates. 8 | Not available |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in Compare and restore. Includes custom field values since 6.0. 34 | Not available |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Limited Backend Preview shows the last saved version of an article. 8 | Not available |
| Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. | Limited Front-end editing opens the article or module form on the site. 4 | Not available |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Built in Workflows component, off by default. Visual workflow editor since 6.1. 112 | Not available |
| 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 Joomla checks out and locks an item while someone edits it. | Not available |
| Access and governance | ||
| Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. | Built in User groups, access levels and ACL. 4 | Limited Roles are access-control functions written in code. No role editor in the admin. 5 |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Built in Per-field Edit Custom Field Value permission. 6 | Built in Field-level access control. 5 |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Plugin or add-on SAML or OIDC extensions from the JED. Core authenticates against LDAP only. 1314 | Not available The auth package covers password login. SSO means custom session code. 6 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Built in User Actions Log. 12 | Not available |
| Platform and extensibility | ||
| Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. | Not available One site per install. Third-party multisite extensions only. 15 | Not available |
| Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. | Built in Components, modules, plugins and custom field types. | Built in Custom admin pages, navigation and field views. 9 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14 | Not available |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Limited Contact forms accept custom fields. Core emails submissions and does not store them. 20 | Not available |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Built in Front-end registration and login. 4 | Built in createAuth works on any list, including site users. 6 |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Not available No first-party AI. Third-party extensions such as 4AI. 18 | Not available |
| Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. | Not available Third-party only, e.g. Onepoint's MCP Server for Joomla. 16 | Not available |
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
Keystone sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Keystone 6, open source, from the @keystone-6/core package.
- @keystone-6/core on the npm registry
- Keystone releases on GitHub
- Keystone homepage
- Keystone docs: System configuration
- Keystone docs: Access control
- Keystone docs: Authentication
- Keystone docs: Image field
- Keystone docs: Document field demo
- Keystone docs: Custom admin UI pages
- Keystone docs: Hooks guide
- Keystone docs: Cloudinary image field
- Keystone documentation index (llms.txt)
Considering more platforms? Compare Joomla and Keystone with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Joomla and Keystone get a different status on 19 of the 28 features and the same status on 9. Joomla has 12 built in on its baseline edition, Keystone has 6. 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 Joomla, a different answer on Keystone 9
- Localization Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- REST API Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Renders the website Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Scheduled publishing Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Version history Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Approval workflows Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Custom roles Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Limited.
- Audit log Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Plugin marketplace Joomla: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
Built in on Keystone, a different answer on Joomla 3
- Content model in code Joomla: Not available. Keystone: Built in.
- Reusable blocks Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Built in.
- GraphQL API Joomla: Not available. Keystone: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 7
- Content model in the UI Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Image transformations Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Drafts Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Preview Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Visual editing Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Single sign-on Joomla: Plugin or add-on. Keystone: Not available.
- Form builder Joomla: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
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- Keystone vs Progress Sitefinity
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- Keystone vs Sitecore
- Keystone vs Squarespace
- Keystone vs Statamic
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- Keystone vs Strapi
- Keystone vs TYPO3
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- Keystone vs Wagtail
- Keystone vs Webflow
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- Keystone vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Keystone
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