OJS vs Wagtail
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?
OJS
Software to manage scholarly journals
VS
Wagtail
Developer-friendly Django CMS with a great editor experience
| Feature | OJS | Wagtail |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | GPL-3.0-only | BSD-3-Clause |
| Language | PHP | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 50 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,025 | ★ 20,433 |
| First released | 2024 | 2014 |
| Replaces | — | Adobe Experience Manager, WordPress |
Why pick each one
Choose OJS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0-only license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is OJS or Wagtail better?
Neither is universally better. Wagtail has the larger community, while OJS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are OJS and Wagtail free and open-source?
Yes. OJS is licensed under GPL-3.0-only and Wagtail under BSD-3-Clause. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run OJS and Wagtail with Docker?
OJS: check the project docs for container support. Wagtail: yes.