# Best open source software for agencies and marketing teams

> For an agency or marketing team, a self-hosted stack starts with WordPress for client websites, Postiz for social scheduling and Listmonk for email campaigns. Each pick was chosen by hand for its job and is shown with GitHub data from October 2026.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Question | What is the best open source software for marketing agencies? |
| Picks | 19 |
| Top pick | WordPress (21,450 stars) |
| Data as of | Oct 7, 2026 |
| Canonical URL | https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-agencies |

An agency stack for client websites, social scheduling, email campaigns, analytics, client management and design, all self-hostable so each client's data can live on servers you control.

## Websites

- [WordPress](https://appsgit.com/apps/wordpress) (21,450 stars, GPL-2.0, PHP): WordPress has 21,450 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-2.0 license and had 2,047 commits in the last year; it replaces WordPress.com and Medium.
- [Ghost](https://appsgit.com/apps/ghost) (55,489 stars, MIT, TypeScript): Ghost has 55,489 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 5,329 commits in the last year; it replaces WordPress.com and Medium.
- [Strapi](https://appsgit.com/apps/strapi) (73,281 stars, MIT, TypeScript): Strapi has 73,281 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,477 commits in the last year; it replaces WordPress.com and Webflow.
- [Payload CMS](https://appsgit.com/apps/payload-cms) (45,100 stars, MIT, TypeScript): Payload CMS has 45,100 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license and had 1,635 commits in the last year; it replaces Webflow.

## Social media scheduling

- [Postiz](https://appsgit.com/apps/postiz) (36,730 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Postiz has 36,730 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 1,225 commits in the last year; it replaces Buffer / Hootsuite.
- [Socioboard](https://appsgit.com/apps/socioboard) (1,514 stars, GPL-3.0, JavaScript): Socioboard has 1,514 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 7 commits in the last year; it replaces Buffer / Hootsuite.

## Email marketing

- [Listmonk](https://appsgit.com/apps/listmonk) (23,701 stars, AGPL-3.0, Go, Docker): Listmonk has 23,701 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 227 commits in the last year; it replaces Mailchimp and Twilio SendGrid.
- [Mautic](https://appsgit.com/apps/mautic) (10,710 stars, GPL-3.0, PHP): Mautic has 10,710 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 5,274 commits in the last year; it replaces Mailchimp and HubSpot.
- [Keila](https://appsgit.com/apps/keila) (2,227 stars, AGPL-3.0, Elixir, Docker): Keila has 2,227 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 383 commits in the last year; it replaces Mailchimp and Substack.

## Analytics

- [Umami](https://appsgit.com/apps/umami) (39,188 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Umami has 39,188 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 1,087 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.
- [Plausible Analytics](https://appsgit.com/apps/plausible-analytics) (29,323 stars, AGPL-3.0, Elixir): Plausible Analytics has 29,323 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 545 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.
- [Matomo](https://appsgit.com/apps/matomo) (21,925 stars, GPL-3.0, PHP): Matomo has 21,925 GitHub stars, uses the GPL-3.0 license and had 954 commits in the last year; it replaces Google Analytics.

## Clients, time and invoices

- [Twenty](https://appsgit.com/apps/twenty) (57,949 stars, AGPL-3.0, TypeScript, Docker): Twenty has 57,949 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 7,656 commits in the last year; it replaces Salesforce and HubSpot.
- [Kimai](https://appsgit.com/apps/kimai) (5,057 stars, AGPL-3.0, PHP): Kimai has 5,057 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license and had 223 commits in the last year.
- [solidtime](https://appsgit.com/apps/solidtime) (8,965 stars, AGPL-3.0, PHP, Docker): solidtime has 8,965 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 402 commits in the last year.
- [Invoice Ninja](https://appsgit.com/apps/invoice-ninja) (10,223 stars, Elastic-2.0, source-available, PHP, Docker): Invoice Ninja has 10,223 GitHub stars, is source-available under the Elastic License 2.0 (not an open-source license), ships a Docker image and had 2,002 commits in the last year; it replaces QuickBooks and Xero.

## Design and sign-off

- [penpot](https://appsgit.com/apps/penpot) (60,729 stars, MPL-2.0, Clojure, Docker): penpot has 60,729 GitHub stars, uses the MPL-2.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 4,842 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Canva.
- [Excalidraw](https://appsgit.com/apps/excalidraw) (133,574 stars, MIT, TypeScript, Docker): Excalidraw has 133,574 GitHub stars, uses the MIT license, ships a Docker image and had 272 commits in the last year; it replaces Figma and Lucidchart.
- [Docuseal](https://appsgit.com/apps/docuseal) (18,658 stars, AGPL-3.0, Ruby, Docker): Docuseal has 18,658 GitHub stars, uses the AGPL-3.0 license, ships a Docker image and had 925 commits in the last year; it replaces DocuSign and Adobe Acrobat.

## How this list was made

- Apps were picked by hand from the appsgit catalog for each job, then checked against the snapshot: unknown or archived projects and projects with no commit in two years are dropped automatically.
- Inside each section the curated order is kept, most broadly useful first; an app appears only once on the page.
- Stars, license, Docker and activity facts come from the GitHub API as of October 2026.
- Source-available apps are labelled; they are not open source, so read their licenses before commercial use.

## FAQ

### Can one install serve many clients?

Some apps support several sites or workspaces in one install, others are easier to run once per client. Separate installs cost more server resources but keep each client's data apart.

### Is WordPress free?

Yes. WordPress is open-source software released under the GPL-2.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.

### Can I run this stack with Docker?

10 of the 19 apps here publish Docker images, including Postiz, Listmonk and Keila, so most of the stack can run side by side with Docker Compose on one server. Size the server for the heaviest app and add off-site backups.

## Related questions

- [What are the best open source AI tools for marketing?](https://appsgit.com/best/ai-tools-for-marketing)
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## See also

- [All CMS apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/cms)
- [All blogging platforms apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/blogging)
- [All analytics apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/analytics)
- [All newsletters & mailing lists apps](https://appsgit.com/categories/newsletters)
- [Open-source alternatives to WordPress.com](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/wordpress-com)
- [Open-source alternatives to Medium](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/medium)
- [Open-source alternatives to Webflow](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/webflow)
- [Open-source alternatives to Squarespace](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/squarespace)
- [Open-source alternatives to Wix](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/wix)
- [Open-source alternatives to Carrd](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/carrd)
- [Ghost vs WordPress](https://appsgit.com/compare/ghost-vs-wordpress)
- [listmonk vs Mautic](https://appsgit.com/compare/listmonk-vs-mautic)
- [Plausible Analytics vs Umami](https://appsgit.com/compare/plausible-analytics-vs-umami)
- [Umami vs Matomo](https://appsgit.com/compare/umami-vs-matomo)
- [Plausible Analytics vs Matomo](https://appsgit.com/compare/plausible-analytics-vs-matomo)
- [Strapi vs Directus](https://appsgit.com/compare/strapi-vs-directus)
- [How to self-host WordPress with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/wordpress)
- [How to self-host Umami with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/umami)
- [How to self-host Plausible Analytics with Docker Compose](https://appsgit.com/guides/plausible-analytics)

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Canonical page: https://appsgit.com/best/open-source-software-for-agencies
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