TYPO3 vs Wagtail
TYPO3 is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. 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.
- TYPO3 Traditional · Open source · 20 of 28 built in
- Wagtail Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: TYPO3 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 | Open-source PHP CMS for multi-site, multilingual websites, with workspaces and granular backend permissions. Self-hosted, often run by agencies. | 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. | TYPO3 v14 LTS, version 14.3, open source Version 14.3.7, released 8 Sept 2026 | Wagtail 8, open source Version 8.0, released 25 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | TYPO3 Association (project); TYPO3 GmbH sells support and extended LTS typo3.org | Wagtail core team (created by Torchbox) wagtail.org |
| Licence | Open source GPL-2.0-or-later | Open source BSD-3-Clause |
| Hosting | Self-hosting No vendor cloud No vendor SaaS. TYPO3 agencies and hosts run managed installations. | Self-hosting No vendor cloud The Wagtail project runs no managed hosting. Deploy it like any Django app. |
| Built with | PHP, Symfony components, Fluid | Python, Django |
| Database | MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | Free to start Free and open source. Commercial support and extended LTS are sold separately. | 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 TCA in PHP. The Content Blocks extension adds YAML definitions. 11 | 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. | Plugin or add-on Mask extension builds content elements in the backend. 12 | 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 Content elements on pages, reordered by drag and drop. | 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 Page and record translations. Guided translation wizard in v14. 2 | 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 Server-side image processing with crop variants. 10 | Built in Renditions with resize, crop and format filters. 4 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Plugin or add-on EXT:headless outputs pages as JSON. Core has no content API. 13 | 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. | Not available | 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 Webhooks system extension, in core since v12. 6 | 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 Fluid templates. Camino default theme in v14. 2 | Built in |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in Via the Workspaces system extension. 5 | Built in |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in Start and stop dates on pages and content. | 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 Record history with diff and undo. | 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 Workspace preview links. 5 | 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. | Plugin or add-on Visual Editor extension from Friends of TYPO3. TYPO3 plans core support for v15. 3 | 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 Custom stages in Workspaces. 5 | 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. | Built in Workspaces publish staged changes together. 5 | 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 | 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 Backend user groups. 9 | 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. | Built in Exclude fields per backend group. 9 | 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. | Plugin or add-on OpenID Connect extensions such as causal/oidc. 14 | 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. | Built in Log module records backend changes by user. | 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 Several site configurations in one installation. | 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 Backend modules and custom form elements. | Built in Hooks, viewsets and custom panels. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in TYPO3 Extension Repository. 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 Form Framework with a backend form editor. 7 | 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 Frontend users and the felogin extension. 8 | 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. | Not available Core ships AI integration points only. Third-party extensions such as AI Suite. 417 | 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. | Not available Third-party only, e.g. hauptsache.net's TYPO3 MCP Server. 15 | Limited Experimental wagtail-mcp package, announced September 2026. 16 |
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)
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
Considering more platforms? Compare TYPO3 and Wagtail with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
TYPO3 and Wagtail get a different status on 9 of the 28 features and the same status on 19. TYPO3 has 20 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.
Built in on TYPO3, a different answer on Wagtail 3
- Webhooks TYPO3: Built in. Wagtail: Not available.
- Content releases TYPO3: Built in. Wagtail: Not available.
- Site member accounts TYPO3: Built in. Wagtail: Limited.
Built in on Wagtail, a different answer on TYPO3 1
- REST API TYPO3: Plugin or add-on. Wagtail: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 5
- Content model in the UI TYPO3: Plugin or add-on. Wagtail: Not available.
- GraphQL API TYPO3: Not available. Wagtail: Plugin or add-on.
- Visual editing TYPO3: Plugin or add-on. Wagtail: Limited.
- AI writing assistant TYPO3: Not available. Wagtail: Plugin or add-on.
- Official MCP server TYPO3: Not available. Wagtail: Limited.
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- Squarespace vs Wagtail
- Statamic vs Wagtail
- Storyblok vs Wagtail
- Strapi vs Wagtail
- Umbraco vs Wagtail
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- Wagtail vs Wix
- Wagtail vs WordPress
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