41 open-source apps
Best self-hosted CMS apps
Content management systems and headless CMS platforms for websites and apps. Publish and manage content on a stack you control.
The most popular self-hosted apps for CMS on GitHub are Strapi, Payload CMS and WordPress, ranked by stars below.
Ranked by GitHub stars
All 41 CMS apps
Strapi
strapi/strapi
Headless CMS that lets developers build content APIs fast while giving content creators a friendly editing interface.
CMSTypeScriptPayload CMS
payloadcms/payload
Developer-first headless CMS and application framework.
CMSTypeScriptWordPress
WordPress/WordPress
World's most-used blogging and CMS engine.
CMSPHPWagtail
wagtail/wagtail
Django content management system focused on flexibility and user experience.
CMSPythonoctober
octobercms/october
CMS platform based on the Laravel PHP Framework.
CMSPHPKeystoneJS
keystonejs/keystone
CMS and web application platform.
CMSTypeScriptUmbraco
umbraco/Umbraco-CMS
The friendly CMS. Free and open source with an amazing community.
CMSC#Joomla!
joomla/joomla-cms
Advanced Content Management System (CMS).
CMSPHPMediaCMS
mediacms-io/mediacms
Modern, fully featured open source video and media CMS, written in Python/Django/React, featuring a REST API.
Media ServersPythonDockerApostrophe
apostrophecms/apostrophe
CMS with a focus on extensible in-context editing tools.
CMSJavaScriptPimcore
pimcore/pimcore
Multi-channel experience and engagement management platform.
CMSPHPDockerCraftCMS
craftcms/cms
Content-first CMS that aims to make life enjoyable for developers and content managers alike.
CMSPHPSquidex
Squidex/squidex
Headless CMS, based on MongoDB, CQRS and Event Sourcing.
CMSC#Ech0
lin-snow/Ech0
Lightweight federated publishing platform focused on personal idea sharing (documentation in Chinese).
Blogging PlatformsGoDockerPublify
publify/publify
Simple but full featured web publishing software.
CMSLessKirby
getkirby/kirby
File-based CMS. Easy to setup. Easy to use. Flexible as hell.
CMSPHPWinterCMS
wintercms/winter
Speedy and secure content management system built on the Laravel PHP framework.
CMSPHPBludit
bludit/bludit
Build a site or blog in seconds. Bludit uses flat-files (text files in JSON format) to store posts and pages.
CMSPHPeLabFTW
elabftw/elabftw
Online lab notebook for research labs. Store experiments, use a database to find reagents or protocols, use trusted timestamping to legally timestamp an experiment, export as pdf or zip archive…
CMSPHPDockerMODX
modxcms/revolution
Advanced content management and publishing platform. The current version is called 'Revolution'.
CMSPHPHTMLy
danpros/htmly
Databaseless PHP blogging platform. A flat-file CMS that allows you to create a fast, secure, and powerful website or blog in seconds.
Blogging PlatformsPHPTYPO3
TYPO3/typo3
Powerful and advanced CMS with a large community.
CMSPHPVvveb CMS
givanz/Vvveb
Powerful and easy to use CMS to build websites, blogs or e-commerce stores.
CMSHTMLDockerBackdrop CMS
backdrop/backdrop
Comprehensive CMS for small to medium sized businesses and non-profits.
CMSPHPAutomad
marcantondahmen/automad
Flat-file content management system and template engine.
CMSTypeScriptDockerTextpattern
textpattern/textpattern
Flexible, elegant and easy-to-use CMS.
CMSPHPConcrete 5 CMS
concretecms/concretecms
Open source content management system.
CMSPHPSuperdesk
superdesk/superdesk
End-to-end news creation, production, curation, distribution, and publishing platform.
CMSShellDockerCockpit
Cockpit-HQ/Cockpit
Simple content platform to manage any structured content.
CMSPHPWonderCMS
WonderCMS/wondercms
WonderCMS is the smallest flat file CMS since 2008.
CMSPHPTypemill
typemill/typemill
Author-friendly flat-file-cms with a visual markdown editor based on vue.js.
CMSJavaScriptBolt CMS
bolt/core
Content Management Tool, which strives to be as simple and straightforward as possible.
CMSPHPOmeka
omeka/Omeka
Create complex narratives and share rich collections, adhering to Dublin Core standards with Omeka on your server, designed for scholars, museums, libraries, archives, and enthusiasts.
CMSPHPExpressa
thomas4019/expressa
Content Management System for powering database driven websites using JSON schemas. Provides permission management and automatic REST APIs.
CMSJavaScriptContao
contao/contao
Powerful CMS that allows you to create professional websites and scalable web applications.
CMSPHPCouchCMS
CouchCMS/CouchCMS
CMS for designers.
CMSPHPREDAXO
redaxo/core
Simple, flexible and useful content management system (documentation in German).
CMSPHPDockerAlfresco Community Edition
Alfresco/alfresco-community-repo
The open source Enterprise Content Management software that handles any type of content, allowing users to easily share and collaborate on content.
CMSJavad9
LaWebcapsule/d9
Turn SQL databases into secure APIs through an intuitive admin interface. Data platform and headless CMS (fork of Directus).
Database ManagementTypeScriptLocaless
Lessify/localess
Powerful translation management and content management system. Manage and translate your website or app content into multiple languages, using AI to translate faster.
CMSTypeScriptDockerPushword
Pushword/Pushword
Content management system built on Symfony, where pages are Markdown and themes are Twig, with optional Git-based flat-file storage.
CMSPHP
What is the best self-hosted app for CMS?
By GitHub stars, Strapi is the most popular self-hosted app for CMS with 73,281 stars, followed by Payload CMS and WordPress. The best fit depends on your needs, so compare Docker support, license and recent activity on each app page.
Are these CMS apps free?
Yes. All 41 apps in this category are open source and free to run on your own server. A few also offer a paid hosted plan or enterprise add-ons, but self-hosting the open-source edition costs nothing beyond your hardware.
How do I install a self-hosted CMS app?
9 of the 41 apps here ship a Docker image, which is the easiest route: rent a small VPS or use a home server, install Docker, and start the app with its Docker Compose file. Apps without an image list their native install steps in the README.
Which CMS apps are most actively developed?
Measured by commits in the last twelve months, the most active projects are CraftCMS (3,426 commits), Umbraco (2,598 commits) and TYPO3 (2,188 commits). Active development usually means faster bug fixes and security patches.