Statamic 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.
Statamic
Laravel-powered flat-file CMS for custom sites
VS
Winter CMS
Laravel-based CMS focused on simplicity and stability
| Feature | Statamic | Winter CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 89 · Excellent | 84 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,897 | ★ 1,520 |
| First released | 2012 | 2021 |
| Replaces | WordPress, Contentful | WordPress |
What are Statamic and Winter CMS?
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
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
Statamic vs Winter CMS: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Statamic is the more established project (first released 2012), while Winter CMS arrived in 2021. Statamic has the considerably larger community, at 4,897 GitHub stars versus 1,520.
Why pick each one
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
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 Statamic or Winter CMS better?
Neither is universally better. Statamic has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Statamic and Winter CMS free and open-source?
Yes. Statamic is licensed under MIT and Winter CMS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Statamic and Winter CMS with Docker?
Statamic: yes. Winter CMS: yes.