Kirby vs WordPress
Kirby is a closed-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. WordPress 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 16.
- Kirby Traditional · Closed source · 11 of 28 built in
- WordPress Traditional · Open source · 13 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Kirby on 29 Sept 2026, WordPress 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 that renders sites through themes and extends through plugins. Teams self-host it or buy managed WordPress hosting. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Kirby 5. Kirby 6 is in alpha. Version 5.6.0, released 16 Sept 2026 | WordPress 7.1 core, self-hosted from WordPress.org Version 7.1.2, released 22 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Content Folder GmbH & Co. KG getkirby.com | WordPress.org community project (Automattic is the largest contributor) wordpress.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 Automattic's WordPress.com and many third-party hosts sell managed WordPress. |
| Built with | PHP, Vue for the Panel | PHP, JavaScript, React block editor |
| Database | Flat files, no database required | MySQL, MariaDB |
| 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 download and self-host. Hosting and premium plugins cost extra. |
| 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 Post types, taxonomies and meta registered in PHP. |
| 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 ACF or Custom Post Type UI plugins. Core has no content type builder. 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 Block editor with patterns and synced patterns. |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on WPML or Polylang plugins. Core translates the interface only. 13 |
| 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 WordPress generates registered image sizes on upload. |
| 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 5 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | Plugin or add-on WPGraphQL, a canonical plugin on WordPress.org. 6 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Not available PHP hooks only. No webhook settings. | Plugin or add-on WP Webhooks plugin. Core sends no outgoing webhooks. 16 |
| 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 Block themes and classic PHP themes. |
| 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 | Limited Edits to a published post go live on update. PublishPress Revisions adds pending drafts. 11 |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Not available | Built in Scheduled publishing only. Scheduled unpublishing needs a plugin. |
| 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 Revisions with a visual scrubber since 7.0. 2 |
| 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 | Built in Block Editor and Site Editor edit content inside the theme's styles. |
| 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 PublishPress plugins. Core has only the Pending Review status. 711 |
| 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 Content locking stops two editors changing one page at once. 320 | Not available Pulled from 7.0. Still experimental in the Gutenberg plugin. 3418 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Plugins such as Members or User Role Editor. Core roles are fixed. 7 |
| 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 | Not available |
| 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 SAML or OIDC plugins, e.g. miniOrange SAML Single Sign On. 15 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Not available | Plugin or add-on Simple History or WP Activity Log plugins. 14 |
| 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 Multisite network in core, with shared users. 8 |
| 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 Custom blocks, admin pages and meta boxes. |
| 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 WordPress.org plugin directory. |
| 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 Form plugins such as WPForms or Contact Form 7. 17 |
| 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 Open registration with the Subscriber role. 7 |
| 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 Official AI plugin plus a connected provider. Core ships the AI Client only. 29 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on MCP Adapter plugin from the WordPress AI team. 10 |
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)
WordPress sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. WordPress 7.1 core, self-hosted from WordPress.org.
- WordPress 7.1.2 Release
- WordPress 7.0 "Armstrong" release announcement
- Real-time collaboration will not ship in WordPress 7.0
- Moving to a server-aware approach for collaboration
- REST API Handbook
- WPGraphQL plugin on WordPress.org
- Roles and Capabilities documentation
- WordPress Multisite / Network
- AI plugin on WordPress.org
- WordPress/mcp-adapter on GitHub
- PublishPress Revisions plugin
- ACF: Post Types and Taxonomies
- WPML multilingual plugin
- Simple History plugin
- SAML Single Sign On plugin (miniOrange)
- WP Webhooks plugin
- WPForms plugin
- Roadmap to 7.1
Considering more platforms? Compare Kirby and WordPress with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Kirby and WordPress get a different status on 16 of the 28 features and the same status on 12. Kirby has 11 built in on its baseline edition, WordPress has 13. 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). WordPress is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
- Free option
- Kirby has no free option. WordPress has a free option.
Built in on Kirby, a different answer on WordPress 3
- Localization Kirby: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Drafts Kirby: Built in. WordPress: Limited.
- Custom roles Kirby: Built in. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on WordPress, a different answer on Kirby 5
- Scheduled publishing Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Built in.
- Version history Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Built in.
- Visual editing Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Built in.
- Multiple sites Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Built in.
- Site member accounts Kirby: Limited. WordPress: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 8
- Content model in the UI Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- GraphQL API Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Webhooks Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Approval workflows Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Single sign-on Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Audit log Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- AI writing assistant Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
- Official MCP server Kirby: Not available. WordPress: Plugin or add-on.
More comparisons
Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: WordPress vs Payload.
Kirby against other platforms
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- Kirby vs Payload
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- Kirby vs Storyblok
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- Kirby vs TYPO3
- Kirby vs Umbraco
- Kirby vs Wagtail
- Kirby vs Webflow
- Kirby vs Wix
- Xperience by Kentico vs Kirby
WordPress against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs WordPress
- Contentful vs WordPress
- Contentstack vs WordPress
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs WordPress
- Craft CMS vs WordPress
- DatoCMS vs WordPress
- Decap CMS vs WordPress
- Directus vs WordPress
- Drupal vs WordPress
- EmDash vs WordPress
- FirstSpirit vs WordPress
- Framer vs WordPress
- Ghost vs WordPress
- HubSpot CMS vs WordPress
- Hygraph vs WordPress
- Instatic vs WordPress
- Joomla vs WordPress
- Keystone vs WordPress
- Liferay DXP vs WordPress
- Optimizely CMS vs WordPress
- WordPress vs Payload
- Prismic vs WordPress
- Progress Sitefinity vs WordPress
- Sanity vs WordPress
- Sitecore vs WordPress
- Squarespace vs WordPress
- Statamic vs WordPress
- Storyblok vs WordPress
- Strapi vs WordPress
- TYPO3 vs WordPress
- Umbraco vs WordPress
- Wagtail vs WordPress
- Webflow vs WordPress
- Wix vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs WordPress
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