Progress Sitefinity vs Wagtail
Progress Sitefinity is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Wagtail 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 9.
- Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in
- Wagtail Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Progress Sitefinity on 29 Sept 2026, Wagtail 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 | Progress's .NET CMS and DXP for websites, run self-hosted or on the Sitefinity Cloud PaaS, with ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers. | Open-source CMS built on Django. Content types are Python models, and you host it yourself on any Python stack. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud Version 15.4.8639, released 29 Sept 2026 | Wagtail 8, open source Version 8.0, released 25 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | Progress Software progress.com | Wagtail core team (created by Torchbox) wagtail.org |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Open source BSD-3-Clause |
| Hosting | Self-hosting Vendor cloud | Self-hosting No vendor cloud The Wagtail project runs no managed hosting. Deploy it like any Django app. |
| Built with | .NET, ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers | Python, Django |
| Database | Microsoft SQL Server | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | No free option Pricing on request. DX and DX+Enterprise editions, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud. | Free to start Free and open source. No licence fee. |
| 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 Export for deployment writes module and field changes to files for source control. 3 | Built in Page and snippet types are Django models. 2 |
| Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. | Built in Module Builder. | Not available Developers define content types in Python only. |
| Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. | Built in Page editor widgets. | Built in StreamField blocks. 2 |
| Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. | Built in Multilingual content per item. | Built in Core i18n with simple_translation. The wagtail-localize package adds a translation workflow. 3 |
| Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. | Built in Resize through URL parameters and thumbnail profiles. 4 | Built in Renditions with resize, crop and format filters. 4 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in OData REST web services. 5 | Built in Read-only v2 API. Writable v3 API in preview since 8.0. 51 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in GraphQL on the web services layer. 6 | Plugin or add-on wagtail-grapple, maintained by Torchbox. 6 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Built in Service hooks with a webhook action, available on all licences. 7 | Not available Django signals such as page_published. No webhook settings. 18 |
| Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. | Built in ASP.NET Core, Next.js or legacy MVC renderers. 1 | Built in |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in | Built in |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in Scheduled publish and unpublish per item. 9 | Built in Go-live and expiry dates. 7 |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in Revision history. | Built in Editors can compare and revert revisions. 11 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in | Built in 20 |
| Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. | Built in Page editor with widgets. | Limited Preview panel beside the edit form. No click-to-edit on the page. 20 |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Built in One or two approval levels, or a custom workflow. 8 | Built in Moderation workflows with tasks assigned to groups. 8 |
| Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. | Not available Publishing and scheduling work per item. 9 | 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 Pages lock while another user edits them. 10 | Not available Concurrent editing notifications warn editors. No live co-editing. 12 |
| Access and governance | ||
| Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. | Built in 11 | Built in Groups with page, collection and model permissions. 9 |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Limited Module Builder types only, in the classic editing UI. Built-in content types have none. 12 | Built in Set in code with the permission argument on panels. 10 |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Built in OpenID Connect and external providers such as Azure AD. 13 | Plugin or add-on django-allauth supports SAML and OpenID Connect. 19 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Paid tier DX + Enterprise includes Audit Trail. Progress sells it as an add-on for DX. 142 | Built in Site-wide history report of logged actions. 11 |
| Platform and extensibility | ||
| Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. | Built in Multisite with shared content and per-site permissions. 15 | Built in Several sites in one installation with shared users. 9 |
| Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. | Built in Custom fields, widgets and AdminApp extensions. | Built in Hooks, viewsets and custom panels. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Sitefinity integrations directory. 16 | Built in Wagtail packages directory on wagtail.org. 17 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Built in Forms module with a drag-and-drop builder. | Built in wagtail.contrib.forms form builder. 13 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Built in Front-end users with registration and login widgets. | Limited Login for private pages is built in. Public sign-up needs a package such as django-allauth. 14 |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Plugin or add-on Sitefinity AI subscription for text generation and agents. 17 | Plugin or add-on Wagtail AI, an officially supported package. 15 |
| Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. | Plugin or add-on Sitefinity MCP Server, 15.4.8633 or later, needs a Sitefinity AI subscription. 18 | Limited Experimental wagtail-mcp package, announced September 2026. 16 |
Progress Sitefinity sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.
- Sitefinity CMS 15.4.8639 release notes
- Sitefinity packaging and deployment options
- Export and deploy database changes
- Resize images through the URL
- Set up a web service
- Use GraphQL protocol
- Service hooks
- Content lifecycle and workflow
- Manage scheduled tasks
- Unlock pages
- Permissions
- Progress knowledge base: How to set up field permissions in Sitefinity
- Authentication
- Sitefinity Audit Trail
- Multisite
- Sitefinity integrations directory
- Sitefinity AI
- Sitefinity MCP Server
- Sitefinity release history
- Sitefinity Cloud documentation
Wagtail sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Wagtail 8, open source.
- Wagtail 8.0 release notes
- How to use StreamField for mixed content
- Wagtail docs: Internationalization
- Wagtail docs: Images
- Wagtail API v2 usage guide
- wagtail-grapple on GitHub
- Wagtail guide: Scheduled publishing
- Wagtail guide: Configure workflows for moderation
- Wagtail docs: Permissions
- Wagtail docs: Panels reference
- Wagtail docs: Audit log
- Wagtail 6.2: content metrics and concurrent editing
- Wagtail docs: Form builder
- Wagtail docs: Private pages
- Wagtail AI
- Experiments with MCP in Wagtail
- Wagtail docs: Packages
- Wagtail docs: Signals
- django-allauth: SAML provider
- Wagtail 4.0 release notes: live preview panel
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Where they differ
Progress Sitefinity and Wagtail get a different status on 9 of the 28 features and the same status on 19. Progress Sitefinity has 22 built in on its baseline edition, Wagtail 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
- Progress Sitefinity is closed source (Proprietary). Wagtail is open source (BSD-3-Clause).
- Vendor cloud
- Progress Sitefinity has a vendor-run cloud. Wagtail has no vendor-run cloud.
- Free option
- Progress Sitefinity has no free option. Wagtail has a free option.
Built in on Progress Sitefinity, a different answer on Wagtail 6
- Content model in the UI Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Wagtail: Not available.
- GraphQL API Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Wagtail: Plugin or add-on.
- Webhooks Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Wagtail: Not available.
- Visual editing Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Wagtail: Limited.
- Single sign-on Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Wagtail: Plugin or add-on.
- Site member accounts Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Wagtail: Limited.
Built in on Wagtail, a different answer on Progress Sitefinity 2
- Field-level permissions Progress Sitefinity: Limited. Wagtail: Built in.
- Audit log Progress Sitefinity: Paid tier. Wagtail: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 1
- Official MCP server Progress Sitefinity: Plugin or add-on. Wagtail: Limited.
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- Sitecore vs Wagtail
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- Strapi vs Wagtail
- TYPO3 vs Wagtail
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- Wagtail vs Wix
- Wagtail vs WordPress
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