Statamic raises prices: Craft, Statamic, or Kirby? Here's how I choose

When Statamic announced its first price increase in six years, my first thought was: what does this mean for my client recommendations? Not because $349 is unreasonable. It isn’t. But because Statamic now sits directly between Craft Team and Craft Pro in pricing. That changes the conversation.

I’m an official partner of all three: Craft CMS, Statamic, and Kirby. Most of my project work is built on these three systems. Here’s how I think about them now.

Craft CMS: over a decade of client work

Craft CMS is where most of my client work happens. I’ve been working with it since 2012 and using it in client projects since 2013. Craft remains my first choice for small to medium business projects. It's reliable, flexible enough for growth, and editors actually enjoy using it.

Craft Pro costs $399 per site, plus $99 per year for updates. For projects with multiple editors and individual roles, Craft Pro is the right choice. Craft Team at $279 caps the number of user accounts. A Craft setup often requires paid plugins. Formie handles forms, Blitz handles static caching.

Statamic: interesting, and getting more so

Starting May 1, 2026, Statamic Pro costs $349 per site. The first year of updates is free; after that, it's $99 per year. It was previously $275 with $65 per year after the first year. That places Statamic between Craft Team and Craft Pro. The price difference to Craft Pro shrinks from $124 to $50. But price was never the main reason to choose Statamic over Craft.

What makes Statamic interesting to me is its architecture. It has been running on Laravel since 2018, the same framework Craft CMS is migrating to, with a release planned for Q4 2026. Once that happens, both platforms will share the same foundation. For me, as a developer, investing in Laravel knowledge pays off across both platforms.

Another Statamic advantage is what’s included in the license: forms, static caching, and a drag-and-drop navigation builder. These features typically require paid plugins in Craft, like Formie and Blitz. Both cost $99. The first year of updates is free; after that, it is $49 per year. For navigation, you can use Craft's own tools or add Navigation by Verbb for $19 plus $5 per year. Depending on the project, Statamic can be cheaper overall despite the higher license price.

It’s flat-file by default, which works well for projects where content lives in Git or where a database isn’t needed. For projects that need more complex relational content, I’d still lean toward Craft.

The case for Kirby 

Compared to Craft and Statamic, Kirby flies under the radar. It's €99 per site, one-time, with three years of updates and no annual fee. On tight budgets, that's hard to match.  

The documentation is extensive, and the panel is clean and intuitive. Kirby isn't the answer for every project. For more complex projects with a highly branched content model and deep content relationships, Craft is the better choice. For business sites that don't need Craft's full feature set, Kirby does the job.

How do I choose between them?

It depends on the project, not just the budget.

For most business projects, I start with Craft. I’ve been using it in client projects since 2013, and it has a strong ecosystem.

When flat-file workflows make sense, or when Statamic’s included features save on plugin costs, I consider Statamic. The fact that both platforms will soon share a Laravel foundation makes Statamic an increasingly easier recommendation.

Kirby isn't just the cheap option. It's a thoughtful CMS that works well when a clean, lightweight setup is what the project calls for. In such cases, I recommend it without hesitation.

The Statamic price increase doesn’t change my approach much. It just means that in conversations about Statamic and Craft, the focus is now even more clearly on features and fit, not price.