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Craft CMS vs Statamic

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 Statamic Laravel-powered flat-file CMS for custom sites
FeatureCraft CMSStatamic
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score88 · Excellent89 · 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★ 4,897
First released20132012
ReplacesWordPress, SitecoreWordPress, Contentful

What are Craft CMS and Statamic?

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 →

Statamic

Statamic is a content management system built on Laravel that can run flat-file or database-backed. It offers a friendly control panel and a developer-focused workflow for building custom websites.

  • Flat-file or database storage
  • Built on Laravel
  • Git-friendly content
  • Polished control panel

Read the full Statamic guide →

Craft CMS vs Statamic: key differences

Both projects are written in PHP.

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 Statamic if…

  • Great for Laravel developers
  • Easy version control of content

Watch out for

  • Solo and Pro licenses can be paid
  • Best suited to developers
Statamic details

Frequently asked questions

Is Craft CMS or Statamic better?

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

Are Craft CMS and Statamic free and open-source?

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

Can I run Craft CMS and Statamic with Docker?

Craft CMS: yes. Statamic: yes.

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