Anchor CMS vs Orchard Core
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Anchor CMS
Lightweight blogging-focused CMS
VS
Orchard Core
Modular, multi-tenant CMS built on ASP.NET Core
| Feature | Anchor CMS | Orchard Core |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,298 | ★ 8,148 |
| First released | 2012 | 2018 |
| Replaces | WordPress | Sitecore, WordPress |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Anchor CMS or Orchard Core better?
Neither is universally better. Orchard Core has the larger community, while Anchor CMS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Anchor CMS and Orchard Core free and open-source?
Yes. Anchor CMS is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Orchard Core under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Anchor CMS and Orchard Core with Docker?
Anchor CMS: yes. Orchard Core: yes.