SHSelfHostIndex

Craft CMS vs October CMS

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?
CR Craft CMS Flexible CMS for custom-designed websites VS OC October CMS Laravel-based CMS focused on simplicity for developers
FeatureCraft CMSOctober CMS
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score88 · Excellent93 · Excellent
CategoryContent Management SystemsContent Management Systems
LicenseMITMIT
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 3,608★ 11,147
First released20132014
ReplacesWordPress, SitecoreWordPress, Wix

What are Craft CMS and October CMS?

Craft CMS

Craft CMS is a content management system focused on giving developers and designers complete control over content structure and markup. The core product is open source with optional commercial editions.

  • Flexible content modeling
  • Twig templating
  • GraphQL API
  • Plugin store

Read the full Craft CMS guide →

October CMS

October CMS is a self-hosted content management system built on the Laravel framework, designed to make web development simple again. It uses flat-file templating with a clean backend for content editors.

  • Built on Laravel
  • Flat-file twig-style templating
  • Plugin marketplace
  • Clean developer experience

Read the full October CMS guide →

Craft CMS vs October CMS: key differences

Both projects are written in PHP. October CMS has the considerably larger community, at 11,147 GitHub stars versus 3,608.

Why pick each one

Choose Craft CMS if…

  • Excellent for bespoke sites
  • Clean control panel

Watch out for

  • Pro edition is paid
  • Not ideal for non-developers
Craft CMS details

Choose October CMS if…

  • Great for Laravel developers
  • Simple, transparent architecture

Watch out for

  • Some plugins are paid
  • Less suited to non-developers
October CMS details

Frequently asked questions

Is Craft CMS or October CMS better?

Neither is universally better. October CMS has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Craft CMS and October CMS free and open-source?

Yes. Craft CMS is licensed under MIT and October CMS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Craft CMS and October CMS with Docker?

Craft CMS: yes. October CMS: yes.

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