Kirby vs TYPO3
Kirby is a closed-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. TYPO3 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 14.
- Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in
- TYPO3 Traditional · Open source · 20 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Kirby on 29 Sept 2026, TYPO3 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 | File-based PHP CMS with a configurable editing Panel. Content lives in text files on your own server, under a paid per-site licence. | Open-source PHP CMS for multi-site, multilingual websites, with workspaces and granular backend permissions. Self-hosted, often run by agencies. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 | TYPO3 v14 LTS, version 14.3, open source Version 14.3.7, released 8 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com | TYPO3 Association (project); TYPO3 GmbH sells support and extended LTS typo3.org |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary, source available | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud | Self-hosting No vendor cloud No vendor SaaS. TYPO3 agencies and hosts run managed installations. |
| Built with | PHP, Vue for the Panel | PHP, Symfony components, Fluid |
| Database | Flat files, no database required | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | No free option Basic €99 per site if revenue is under €1M. Enterprise €349 per site. Both include 3 years of updates. | Free to start Free and open source. Commercial support and extended LTS are sold separately. |
| 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. | Built in Blueprints are YAML files in site/blueprints. 5 | Built in TCA in PHP. The Content Blocks extension adds YAML definitions. 11 |
| Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. | Not available You edit blueprints as files. The Panel has no schema editor. 5 | Plugin or add-on Mask extension builds content elements in the backend. 12 |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Built in Blocks and Layout fields. 6 | Built in Content elements on pages, reordered by drag and drop. |
| Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. | Built in Multi-language content is built in. 7 | Built in Page and record translations. Guided translation wizard in v14. 2 |
| Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. | Built in Thumbs with resize, crop and format conversion. 8 | Built in Server-side image processing with crop variants. 10 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in Authenticated REST API. The official KQL plugin serves headless queries. 910 | Plugin or add-on EXT:headless outputs pages as JSON. Core has no content API. 13 |
| 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 PHP hooks only. No webhook settings. | Built in Webhooks system extension, in core since v12. 6 |
| Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. | Built in PHP templates and snippets. | Built in Fluid templates. Camino default theme in v14. 2 |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in Page drafts. Kirby 5 stores unsaved changes apart from the live version. 4 | Built in Via the Workspaces system extension. 5 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Not available | Built in Start and stop dates on pages and content. |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Not available Kirby 5 keeps the live version and one set of changes. No revision history. 4 | Built in Record history with diff and undo. |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in Preview view renders unsaved changes, with shareable links. 4 | Built in Workspace preview links. 5 |
| Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. | Not available Preview view compares versions. No click-to-edit. 4 | Plugin or add-on Visual Editor extension from Friends of TYPO3. TYPO3 plans core support for v15. 3 |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Not available Fixed page statuses: draft, unlisted, listed. 11 | Built in Custom stages in Workspaces. 5 |
| Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. | Not available | Built in Workspaces publish staged changes together. 5 |
| 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 Content locking stops two editors changing one page at once. 320 | Not available |
| Access and governance | ||
| Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. | Built in Roles are user blueprints with permissions. 12 | Built in Backend user groups. 9 |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Not available Only by loading different blueprints per role in custom code. 13 | Built in Exclude fields per backend group. 9 |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Not available No first-party SSO. Community OAuth plugins exist. | Plugin or add-on OpenID Connect extensions such as causal/oidc. 14 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Not available | Built in Log module records backend changes by user. |
| 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. | Built in Several site configurations in one installation. |
| Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. | Built in Panel plugins add fields, sections, views and areas. 15 | Built in Backend modules and custom form elements. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Official plugin directory at plugins.getkirby.com. 16 | Built in TYPO3 Extension Repository. 16 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Plugin or add-on Paid DreamForm plugin by tobimori. 17 | Built in Form Framework with a backend form editor. 7 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Limited Frontend login is built in. Sign-up needs custom code. 14 | Built in Frontend users and the felogin extension. 8 |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Not available No first-party AI. Kirby Copilot is a paid third-party plugin. 18 | Not available Core ships AI integration points only. Third-party extensions such as AI Suite. 417 |
| Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. | Not available Third-party Kirby MCP plugin by Bruno Meilick. 19 | Not available Third-party only, e.g. hauptsache.net's TYPO3 MCP Server. 15 |
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)
TYPO3 sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. TYPO3 v14 LTS, version 14.3, open source.
- get.typo3.org: latest TYPO3 14 release
- TYPO3 Releases v14 LTS (press release)
- Changing the Playing Field: Visual Editing in TYPO3 v14
- TYPO3 v14: Building a System for Community-Driven AI Integrations
- TYPO3 Workspaces documentation
- TYPO3 Webhooks documentation
- TYPO3 Form documentation
- TYPO3 Frontend Login documentation
- Access control options (TYPO3 Explained)
- Crop variants for images (TYPO3 Explained)
- TYPO3 Content Blocks documentation
- Mask extension (TER)
- EXT:headless documentation
- OpenID Connect integration for TYPO3
- hauptsacheNet/typo3-mcp-server on GitHub
- How to find extensions (Getting Started)
- AI Suite extension (TER)
Considering more platforms? Compare Kirby and TYPO3 with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Kirby and TYPO3 get a different status on 14 of the 28 features and the same status on 14. Kirby has 11 built in on its baseline edition, TYPO3 has 20. 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
- Kirby is closed source (Proprietary, source available). TYPO3 is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
- Free option
- Kirby has no free option. TYPO3 has a free option.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on TYPO3 1
- REST API Kirby: Built in. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on TYPO3, a different answer on Kirby 10
- Webhooks Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Scheduled publishing Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Version history Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Approval workflows Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Content releases Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Field-level permissions Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Audit log Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Multiple sites Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
- Form builder Kirby: Plugin or add-on. TYPO3: Built in.
- Site member accounts Kirby: Limited. TYPO3: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 3
- Content model in the UI Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
- Visual editing Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
- Single sign-on Kirby: Not available. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
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TYPO3 against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs TYPO3
- Contentful vs TYPO3
- Contentstack vs TYPO3
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs TYPO3
- Craft CMS vs TYPO3
- DatoCMS vs TYPO3
- Decap CMS vs TYPO3
- Directus vs TYPO3
- Drupal vs TYPO3
- EmDash vs TYPO3
- FirstSpirit vs TYPO3
- Framer vs TYPO3
- Ghost vs TYPO3
- HubSpot CMS vs TYPO3
- Hygraph vs TYPO3
- Instatic vs TYPO3
- Joomla vs TYPO3
- Keystone vs TYPO3
- Liferay DXP vs TYPO3
- Optimizely CMS vs TYPO3
- TYPO3 vs Payload
- Prismic vs TYPO3
- Progress Sitefinity vs TYPO3
- Sanity vs TYPO3
- Sitecore vs TYPO3
- Squarespace vs TYPO3
- Statamic vs TYPO3
- Storyblok vs TYPO3
- Strapi vs TYPO3
- TYPO3 vs Umbraco
- TYPO3 vs Wagtail
- TYPO3 vs Webflow
- TYPO3 vs Wix
- TYPO3 vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs TYPO3
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