SHSelfHostIndex

October 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?
OC October CMS Laravel-based CMS focused on simplicity for developers VS Statamic Laravel-powered flat-file CMS for custom sites
FeatureOctober CMSStatamic
Deploy effortUnder-an-hour setupUnder-an-hour setup
Health score93 · Excellent89 · Excellent
CategoryContent Management SystemsContent Management Systems
LicenseMITMIT
LanguagePHPPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 11,147★ 4,897
First released20142012
ReplacesWordPress, WixWordPress, Contentful

What are October CMS and Statamic?

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 →

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 →

October CMS vs Statamic: key differences

Both projects are written in PHP. Statamic is the more established project (first released 2012), while October CMS arrived in 2014. October CMS has the considerably larger community, at 11,147 GitHub stars versus 4,897.

Why pick each one

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

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 October CMS or Statamic 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 October CMS and Statamic free and open-source?

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

Can I run October CMS and Statamic with Docker?

October CMS: yes. Statamic: yes.

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