Pagekit vs ProcessWire
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Pagekit | ProcessWire |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 79 · Good |
| Status | Archived | Actively maintained |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | MPL-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,454 | ★ 1,153 |
| First released | 2014 | 2010 |
| Replaces | WordPress | WordPress, Drupal |
What are Pagekit and ProcessWire?
Pagekit
Pagekit is a modular, open-source content management system with a clean, modern interface built on Symfony components and Vue.js. It includes a blog and a marketplace for extensions.
- Modern Vue.js interface
- Modular architecture
- Built-in blog
- Marketplace for extensions
ProcessWire
ProcessWire is an open-source CMS and framework that gives developers a powerful, jQuery-inspired API for working with content. It is known for flexible content modeling and clean front-end markup.
- Powerful content API
- Flexible field-based modeling
- Clean front-end output
- Module ecosystem
Pagekit vs ProcessWire: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: Pagekit's repository is archived and no longer developed, while ProcessWire is actively maintained. Both projects are written in PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Pagekit versus MPL-2.0 for ProcessWire. ProcessWire is the more established project (first released 2010), while Pagekit arrived in 2014. Pagekit has the considerably larger community, at 5,454 GitHub stars versus 1,153.
Why pick each one
Choose Pagekit if…
- Clean, modern admin
- Lightweight
Watch out for
- Development has stalled
- Limited active maintenance
Choose ProcessWire if…
- Excellent developer API
- Highly flexible
Watch out for
- Less polished for non-developers
- Smaller community
Frequently asked questions
Is Pagekit or ProcessWire better?
Pagekit is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Pagekit if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Pagekit and ProcessWire free and open-source?
Yes. Pagekit is licensed under MIT and ProcessWire under MPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Pagekit and ProcessWire with Docker?
Pagekit: yes. ProcessWire: yes.