Side by side
Joomla vs Kiln
Both stand on content management systems. Which one you can start free with, which one lets you read the code, and what each costs once you pay.
Free plan APILinuxSelf-hosted+1
Joomla! offers a broad set of publishing and access-control features for many kinds of websites. Choose between installing the CMS and using its free hosted website option.
Visit Joomla
Free plan Open source APISelf-hostedWeb
Kiln pairs on-page editing with Git-based publishing and review controls for static sites. Self-hosting is free, while Kiln Cloud costs $4.99 a month and Fully managed costs $14.99 a month.
Visit KilnThe facts
| Joomla | Kiln | |
|---|---|---|
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Open source | Not published | Yes |
| Runs on | API, Linux, Self-hosted, Web | API, Self-hosted, Web |
| Lowest paid plan | Free or on request | Kiln Cloud: $4.99 per site a month |
| Plans published | 1 | 6 |
| Maker | Joomla | Not published |
| Website | joomla.org | kilncms.com |
| On content management systems | #7 of 165 | #3 of 165 |
Joomla: what it does well
- Free and open-source CMS under the GPL.
- Supports multilingual content and custom content types.
- Includes scheduled publishing and content versioning.
- Offers a free hosted website through launch.joomla.org.
What to know first
- Running a Joomla! website has technical requirements.
- The self-hosted option requires installing the CMS.
Kiln: what it does well
- Editors update content directly on the page.
- Changes are stored as Git commits.
- Editors can be limited to pages or sections.
- Reviewers can comment without editing.
- Content remains in the owner's repository after leaving.
What to know first
- Uploaded documents are limited to 15 MB per file.
- Self-hosted users run the worker and GitHub App.
- Self-hosted users provide the site host.
- Eleventy, Hugo, and Jekyll adapters are planned, not documented as available.