Joomla vs Kirby
Joomla is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. Kirby 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 15.
- Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in
- Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Joomla on 29 Sept 2026, Kirby 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. | File-based PHP CMS with a configurable editing Panel. Content lives in text files on your own server, under a paid per-site licence. |
| 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 | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Open Source Matters, Inc. (Joomla project) joomla.org | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com |
| Licence | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later | Closed source Proprietary, source available |
| 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 |
| Built with | PHP | PHP, Vue for the Panel |
| Database | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL | Flat files, no database required |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. Hosting and commercial extensions cost extra. | No free option Basic €99 per site if revenue is under €1M. Enterprise €349 per site. Both include 3 years of updates. |
| 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 Blueprints are YAML files in site/blueprints. 5 |
| 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 You edit blueprints as files. The Panel has no schema editor. 5 |
| 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 Blocks and Layout fields. 6 |
| 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 | Built in Multi-language content is built in. 7 |
| 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 | Built in Thumbs with resize, crop and format conversion. 8 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in Web Services API with token authentication. 10 | Built in Authenticated REST API. The official KQL plugin serves headless queries. 910 |
| 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 None in core. Only small third-party extensions. 19 | Not available PHP hooks only. No webhook settings. |
| 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. | Built in PHP templates and snippets. |
| 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 | Built in Page drafts. Kirby 5 stores unsaved changes apart from the live version. 4 |
| 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 Kirby 5 keeps the live version and one set of changes. No revision history. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Preview view renders unsaved changes, with shareable links. 4 |
| 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 Preview view compares versions. No click-to-edit. 4 |
| 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 Fixed page statuses: draft, unlisted, listed. 11 |
| 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 Content locking stops two editors changing one page at once. 320 |
| 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 | Built in Roles are user blueprints with permissions. 12 |
| 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 | Not available Only by loading different blueprints per role in custom code. 13 |
| 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 No first-party SSO. Community OAuth plugins exist. |
| 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 One site per installation. |
| 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 Panel plugins add fields, sections, views and areas. 15 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14 | Built in Official plugin directory at plugins.getkirby.com. 16 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Paid DreamForm plugin by tobimori. 17 |
| 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 | Limited Frontend login is built in. Sign-up needs custom code. 14 |
| 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 No first-party AI. Kirby Copilot is a paid third-party plugin. 18 |
| 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 Third-party Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick. 19 |
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
Kirby sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha..
- Kirby pricing
- Kirby releases
- Kirby 5 release overview
- Kirby 5: Preview your changes
- Kirby docs: Blueprints
- Kirby docs: Blocks field
- Kirby docs: Languages
- Kirby docs: $file->thumb()
- Kirby docs: REST API
- Kirby Query Language (KQL) plugin
- Kirby docs: Publishing workflow
- Kirby docs: Permissions
- Kirby cookbook: Extending permissions
- Kirby docs: Frontend login
- Kirby docs: Plugin extensions
- Kirby plugin directory
- DreamForm plugin
- Kirby Copilot plugin
- Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick
- Kirby docs: Content options (locking)
Considering more platforms? Compare Joomla and Kirby with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Joomla and Kirby get a different status on 15 of the 28 features and the same status on 13. Joomla has 12 built in on its baseline edition, Kirby has 11. 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
- Joomla is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later). Kirby is closed source (Proprietary, source available).
- Free option
- Joomla has a free option. Kirby has no free option.
Built in on Joomla, a different answer on Kirby 6
- Scheduled publishing Joomla: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
- Version history Joomla: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
- Approval workflows Joomla: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
- Field-level permissions Joomla: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
- Audit log Joomla: Built in. Kirby: Not available.
- Site member accounts Joomla: Built in. Kirby: Limited.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on Joomla 5
- Content model in code Joomla: Not available. Kirby: Built in.
- Reusable blocks Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Built in.
- Image transformations Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Built in.
- Drafts Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Built in.
- Preview Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 4
- Content model in the UI Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Not available.
- Visual editing Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Not available.
- Single sign-on Joomla: Plugin or add-on. Kirby: Not available.
- Form builder Joomla: Limited. Kirby: Plugin or add-on.
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Kirby against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Kirby
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- DatoCMS vs Kirby
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- Drupal vs Kirby
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- Kirby vs Liferay DXP
- Kirby vs Optimizely CMS
- Kirby vs Payload
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- Kirby vs Sitecore
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- Kirby vs TYPO3
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- Kirby vs Wagtail
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- Kirby vs WordPress
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