Kirby vs Umbraco
Kirby is a closed-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. Umbraco is an open-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. 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
- Umbraco Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Kirby on 29 Sept 2026, Umbraco 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 .NET CMS that renders sites with Razor or serves content headless. Self-hosted or run on Umbraco Cloud. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 | Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release. Version 17.7.0, released 17 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com | Umbraco A/S umbraco.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary, source available | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud | Self-hosting Vendor cloud Forms and Deploy are paid add-ons when self-hosted. Umbraco Cloud includes both. |
| Built with | PHP, Vue for the Panel | C#, ASP.NET Core on .NET 10, TypeScript backoffice |
| Database | Flat files, no database required | SQL Server, 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 to self-host. Umbraco Cloud Starter €45, Standard €280, Professional €730 per month. Enterprise 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. | Built in Blueprints are YAML files in site/blueprints. 5 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Deploy saves document types as .uda files in Git. Paid on-premises, included on Umbraco Cloud. 45 |
| 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 | Built in Document types are built in the backoffice. |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Built in Blocks and Layout fields. 6 | Built in Block List and Block Grid editors. 6 |
| 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 Culture variants per property. |
| 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 ImageSharp crops and resizes images from query string parameters. 9 |
| 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 | Built in Content Delivery API. 7 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | Not available No official GraphQL. Community package Nikcio.UHeadless adds one. 20 |
| 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 8 |
| 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 Razor templates. |
| 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 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Not available | Built in 10 |
| 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 Rollback compares and restores earlier versions. 11 |
| 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 |
| 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 | Not available |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Workflow add-on. Its free version is capped at five approval groups. Full use is paid. 1221 |
| Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. | Not available | Plugin or add-on Release Sets in a licensed Umbraco Workflow. 13 |
| 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 User groups with granular permissions. |
| 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 | Limited Per-property read and write limits per user group, enforced in the UI only. 14 |
| 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. | Built in OpenID Connect providers such as Entra ID, configured in code. 15 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Not available | Limited Audit trail per item plus a log viewer. No installation-wide audit screen in core. 16 |
| 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 root nodes, each with its own domains. |
| 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 Backoffice extensions. |
| 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 Umbraco Marketplace. |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Plugin or add-on Paid DreamForm plugin by tobimori. 17 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Forms, paid licence. Included on Umbraco Cloud. 217 |
| 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 Members, separate from backoffice users. |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Free Umbraco.AI packages add prompts and an editor copilot. 18 |
| 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 | Built in Umbraco CMS Developer MCP server. 19 |
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)
Umbraco sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release..
- Umbraco releases
- Umbraco pricing
- Umbraco 18 release
- Umbraco Deploy licensing
- Umbraco Cloud: UDA files
- Umbraco docs: Block Grid
- Umbraco docs: Content Delivery API
- Umbraco docs: Webhooks
- Umbraco docs: Image Cropper
- Umbraco docs: Scheduled Publishing
- Umbraco docs: Rollback to a previous version
- Umbraco Workflow
- Umbraco Workflow docs: Release Sets
- Umbraco docs: Property Level UI Permissions
- Umbraco docs: External Login Providers
- Umbraco docs: Log Viewer
- Umbraco Forms licensing
- Umbraco.AI on GitHub
- Umbraco MCP on GitHub
- Nikcio.UHeadless on Umbraco Marketplace
- Umbraco Workflow docs: Licensing
Considering more platforms? Compare Kirby and Umbraco with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Kirby and Umbraco 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, Umbraco has 18. 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). Umbraco is open source (MIT).
- Vendor cloud
- Kirby has no vendor-run cloud. Umbraco has a vendor-run cloud.
- Free option
- Kirby has no free option. Umbraco has a free option.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on Umbraco 1
- Content model in code Kirby: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on Umbraco, a different answer on Kirby 8
- Content model in the UI Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Webhooks Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Scheduled publishing Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Version history Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Single sign-on Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Multiple sites Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Site member accounts Kirby: Limited. Umbraco: Built in.
- Official MCP server Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 5
- Approval workflows Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Content releases Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Field-level permissions Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Limited.
- Audit log Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Limited.
- AI writing assistant Kirby: Not available. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
More comparisons
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Umbraco against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Umbraco
- Contentful vs Umbraco
- Contentstack vs Umbraco
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Umbraco
- Craft CMS vs Umbraco
- DatoCMS vs Umbraco
- Decap CMS vs Umbraco
- Directus vs Umbraco
- Drupal vs Umbraco
- EmDash vs Umbraco
- FirstSpirit vs Umbraco
- Framer vs Umbraco
- Ghost vs Umbraco
- HubSpot CMS vs Umbraco
- Hygraph vs Umbraco
- Instatic vs Umbraco
- Joomla vs Umbraco
- Keystone vs Umbraco
- Liferay DXP vs Umbraco
- Optimizely CMS vs Umbraco
- Umbraco vs Payload
- Prismic vs Umbraco
- Progress Sitefinity vs Umbraco
- Sanity vs Umbraco
- Sitecore vs Umbraco
- Squarespace vs Umbraco
- Statamic vs Umbraco
- Storyblok vs Umbraco
- Strapi vs Umbraco
- TYPO3 vs Umbraco
- Umbraco vs Wagtail
- Umbraco vs Webflow
- Umbraco vs Wix
- Umbraco vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Umbraco
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