Microweber vs Winter CMS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Microweber | Winter CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 79 · Good | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | HTML | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,439 | ★ 1,520 |
| First released | 2013 | 2021 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Wix | WordPress |
What are Microweber and Winter CMS?
Microweber
Microweber is an open-source drag-and-drop website builder and content management system that includes blogging and e-commerce features. It uses a live editing interface so content can be arranged visually on the page.
- Live drag-and-drop editing
- Built-in online store
- Blogging module
- Template marketplace
Winter CMS
Winter CMS is a free, open-source content management system based on the Laravel framework, created as a community-driven fork of October CMS. It offers a clean backend, a plugin marketplace, and developer-friendly tooling.
- Laravel foundation
- Plugin marketplace
- Clean admin backend
- Developer tooling
Microweber vs Winter CMS: key differences
Microweber is written in HTML, while Winter CMS is built with PHP. Microweber is the more established project (first released 2013), while Winter CMS arrived in 2021. Microweber has the considerably larger community, at 3,439 GitHub stars versus 1,520.
Why pick each one
Choose Microweber if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (3.4k GitHub stars)
- Written in HTML
Choose Winter CMS if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.5k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Watch out for
- Requires PHP knowledge
- Smaller plugin catalog
Frequently asked questions
Is Microweber or Winter CMS better?
Neither is universally better. Microweber has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Microweber and Winter CMS free and open-source?
Yes. Microweber is licensed under MIT and Winter CMS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Microweber and Winter CMS with Docker?
Microweber: yes. Winter CMS: yes.