Orchard Core vs PublicCMS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Orchard Core | PublicCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C# | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,187 | ★ 2,097 |
| First released | 2018 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Sitecore, WordPress | WordPress |
What are Orchard Core and PublicCMS?
Orchard Core
Orchard Core is an open-source, modular, and multi-tenant application framework and CMS built on ASP.NET Core. It enables building content-driven sites and SaaS-style multi-site setups.
- Multi-tenant by design
- Modular architecture
- GraphQL API
- Decoupled and headless modes
PublicCMS
PublicCMS is an open-source content management system written in Java that generates static pages for high performance and supports managing multiple sites. It is aimed at organizations needing a fast, template-driven publishing platform.
- Static page generation
- Template-driven
- Multi-site support
- High performance
Orchard Core vs PublicCMS: key differences
Orchard Core is written in C#, while PublicCMS is built with Java. Licensing differs — BSD-3-Clause for Orchard Core versus Apache-2.0 for PublicCMS. PublicCMS is the more established project (first released 2015), while Orchard Core arrived in 2018. Orchard Core has the considerably larger community, at 8,187 GitHub stars versus 2,097. Orchard Core lists first-class Docker deployment; PublicCMS does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Orchard Core if…
- Powerful multi-tenancy
- Modern .NET architecture
Watch out for
- Steep learning curve
- Smaller ecosystem than Umbraco
Choose PublicCMS if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Active community (2.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in Java
Frequently asked questions
Is Orchard Core or PublicCMS better?
Neither is universally better. Orchard Core has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Orchard Core and PublicCMS free and open-source?
Yes. Orchard Core is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and PublicCMS under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Orchard Core and PublicCMS with Docker?
Orchard Core: yes. PublicCMS: check the project docs for container support.