Joomla vs Statamic
Joomla is an open-source traditional CMS 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 19.
- Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in
- Statamic Traditional · Closed source · 8 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Joomla on 29 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 PHP CMS built around articles, custom fields, core multilingual support and group-based access control. Self-hosted. | 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. | Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained. Version 6.1.3, released 18 Aug 2026 | Statamic 6, Core and Pro Version 6.34.1, released 23 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Open Source Matters, Inc. (Joomla project) joomla.org | Statamic, LLC statamic.com |
| Licence | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later | Closed source Proprietary, source available. Core is free to use. |
| 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, Laravel, Vue |
| Database | MySQL, MariaDB, 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. Hosting and commercial extensions cost extra. | 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 Fields live in the database. A new content type means writing a component. | 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. | Limited Custom fields on articles, contacts, users and categories. No new content types. 5 | Built in Blueprint builder in the Control Panel. 4 |
| 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 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. | Built in Per-item language with multilingual associations. 7 | 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. | Limited Manual crop and resize in Media. No generated sizes or URL transforms. 9 | Built in Glide resizes and crops on request. 7 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in Web Services API with token authentication. 10 | 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 None in core. Only small third-party extensions. 19 | 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 Template system, with Cassiopeia as the default. | 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. | Limited Unpublished items only. Saving a published article updates it live. 8 | 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 Start and finish publishing dates. 8 | 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 Compare and restore. Includes custom field values since 6.0. 34 | Paid tier Revisions on Pro. 10 |
| 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 121 |
| 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 | 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. | Built in Workflows component, off by default. Visual workflow editor since 6.1. 112 | 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. | 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. | 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 User groups, access levels and ACL. 4 | 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. | Built in Per-field Edit Custom Field Value permission. 6 | 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. | Plugin or add-on SAML or OIDC extensions from the JED. Core authenticates against LDAP only. 1314 | 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 User Actions Log. 12 | 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 install. Third-party multisite extensions only. 15 | Paid tier Pro. 61 |
| 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 fieldtypes, widgets and Control Panel pages. 17 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14 | Built in Statamic Marketplace for addons. 18 |
| 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 | 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. | Built in Front-end registration and login. 4 | 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. | 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 Third-party addons only, such as MCP Server for Statamic by Cbox. 20 |
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
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 Joomla and Statamic with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Joomla and Statamic 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, 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
- Joomla is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later). Statamic is closed source (Proprietary, source available. Core is free to use.).
Built in on Joomla, a different answer on Statamic 9
- Localization Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- REST API Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Scheduled publishing Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Limited.
- Version history Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Approval workflows Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Not available.
- Custom roles Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Field-level permissions Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Not available.
- Audit log Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Site member accounts Joomla: Built in. Statamic: Paid tier.
Built in on Statamic, a different answer on Joomla 5
- Content model in code Joomla: Not available. Statamic: Built in.
- Content model in the UI Joomla: Limited. Statamic: Built in.
- Reusable blocks Joomla: Limited. Statamic: Built in.
- Image transformations Joomla: Limited. Statamic: Built in.
- Preview Joomla: Limited. Statamic: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 5
- GraphQL API Joomla: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Drafts Joomla: Limited. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Real-time co-editing Joomla: Not available. Statamic: Plugin or add-on.
- Single sign-on Joomla: Plugin or add-on. Statamic: Paid tier.
- Multiple sites Joomla: Not available. Statamic: Paid tier.
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