CMS & Content
Headless CMS
Headless content management systems and content APIs.
Best Headless CMS tools by public signals
These picks are computed from scored public evidence. Use the openness column in the ranking to separate OSI-approved, source-available, open-core, proprietary, and unverified-license tools.
Use Case Rankings
Ordered by ToolVitals score, then health, shipping, confidence, GitHub stars, and name.
| # | Tool | Health | Shipping | Openness | Stars | Score | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | Sanity Sanity Studio – Rapidly configure content workspaces powered by structured content | 97 | 98 | OSI-approved OSS | 6.3k | 98 | Active |
| 02 | dotCMS Visual headless content management system for enterprises. | 97 | 98 | OSI-approved OSS | 950 | 98 | Active |
| 03 | Strapi 🚀 Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS. It’s 100% JavaScript/TypeScript, fully customizable, and developer-first. | 98 | 97 | OSI-approved OSS | 73.1k | 97 | Active |
| 04 | Sveltia CMS Git-based headless CMS. Successor to Netlify CMS (now Decap CMS). Modern UX, first-class i18n support, mobile support + 100s of improvements. Framework-agnostic, open source & free. | 97 | 97 | OSI-approved OSS | 2.8k | 97 | Active |
| 05 | Payload Payload is the open-source, fullstack Next.js framework, giving you instant backend superpowers. Get a full TypeScript backend and admin panel instantly. Use Payload as a headless CMS or for building powerful applications. | 97 | 96 | OSI-approved OSS | 44.7k | 96 | Active |
| 06 | TinaCMS A fully open-source headless CMS that supports Markdown and Visual Editing | 96 | 95 | OSI-approved OSS | 13.8k | 96 | Active |
| 07 | Atomic Server An open source headless CMS / real-time database. Powerful table editor, full-text search, and SDKs for JS / React / Svelte. | 95 | 96 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.6k | 95 | Active |
| 08 | Enonic XP Enonic XP is an source-visible Java tool tracked for headless cms signals, maintenance activity, and public release evidence. | 95 | 95 | OSI-approved OSS | 211 | 95 | Active |
| 09 | Sulu Modern Symfony based CMS | 95 | 94 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.3k | 95 | Active |
| 10 | DNN Platform Open-source web content management platform. | 95 | 94 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.1k | 95 | Active |
| 11 | Webiny Open-source, self-hosted CMS platform on AWS serverless (Lambda, DynamoDB, S3). TypeScript framework with multi-tenancy, lifecycle hooks, GraphQL API, and AI-assisted development via MCP server. Built for developers at large organizations. | 94 | 95 | OSI-approved OSS | 8k | 94 | Active |
| 12 | Keystone The superpowered headless CMS for Node.js — built with GraphQL and React | 94 | 94 | OSI-approved OSS | 10k | 94 | Active |
| 13 | Gentics Mesh Gentics Mesh - The open source headless CMS for developers | 94 | 94 | OSI-approved OSS | 593 | 94 | Active |
| 14 | OpenDXP Open source platform for digital experiences connecting PIM, DAM, headless CMS, and composable commerce. | 94 | 93 | OSI-approved OSS | 99 | 94 | Active |
| 15 | SonicJS SonicJS - The edge-native headless CMS for Cloudflare Workers. Sub-100ms response times, zero cold starts, TypeScript-first. Built on D1, R2, and Hono. | 93 | 93 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.7k | 93 | Active |
| 16 | Concrete CMS for teams | 93 | 91 | OSI-approved OSS | 851 | 92 | Active |
| 17 | Decap CMS A Git-based CMS for Static Site Generators | 93 | 90 | OSI-approved OSS | 19.4k | 92 | Active |
| 18 | AWCMS Enterprise-grade, multi-tenant, ABAC-secured CMS. | 90 | 95 | OSI-approved OSS | 13 | 92 | Active |
| 19 | b10cks CMS Opinionated headless CMS based on Laravel and Vue. | 90 | 94 | OSI-approved OSS | 15 | 92 | Active |
| 20 | pagible Easy, flexible and powerful cloud-native Laravel CMS package powered by AI with JSON:API, GraphQL API, templates, and themes | 90 | 93 | OSI-approved OSS | 586 | 91 | Active |
| 21 | Daptin Daptin - Backend As A Service - GraphQL/JSON-API Headless CMS | 89 | 92 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.9k | 90 | Active |
| 22 | Byline CMS Headless, fast, AI-first CMS. | 87 | 94 | OSI-approved OSS | 34 | 90 | Active |
| 23 | Bolt CMS 🧿 Bolt core | 90 | 88 | OSI-approved OSS | 589 | 89 | Active |
| 24 | Backdrop CMS Open source CMS core code repository. | 90 | 87 | OSI-approved OSS | 1k | 89 | Active |
| 25 | CairnCMS Self-hosted headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs plus admin app. | 86 | 93 | OSI-approved OSS | 22 | 89 | Active |
| 26 | content The file-based CMS for your Nuxt application, powered by Markdown and Vue components. | 89 | 83 | OSI-approved OSS | 3.7k | 86 | Active |
| 27 | Archival Content-first, database-free website builder and CMS. | 84 | 88 | OSI-approved OSS | 8 | 86 | Active |
| 28 | Vrite Open-source developer content platform | 79 | 79 | OSI-approved OSS | 2k | 79 | Active |
| 29 | Contentful JavaScript library for Contentful's Delivery API (node & browser) | 82 | 71 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.3k | 78 | Active |
| 30 | openblog Feature-rich open source blog platform with community features. | 67 | 52 | OSI-approved OSS | 2 | 61 | Warning |
| 31 | Squidex Headless CMS and Content Managment Hub | 66 | 42 | OSI-approved OSS | 2.5k | 57 | Warning |
| 32 | Astropress Privacy-first website builder with built-in admin and portable hosting. | 56 | 29 | OSI-approved OSS | 5 | 45 | Warning |
| 33 | Twill Twill is an open source CMS toolkit for Laravel that helps developers rapidly create a custom admin console that is intuitive, powerful and flexible. Chat with us on Discord at https://discord.gg/cnWk7EFv8R. | 52 | 27 | OSI-approved OSS | 4k | 42 | Warning |
| 34 | MZinga MZinga is a modern, modular Content Management System (CMS) built on top of Payload CMS, designed for high extensibility and seamless integration with MongoDB, Redis, and RabbitMQ. Tailored for SaaS and enterprise environments, MZinga provides a scalable, secure, and developer-friendly platform for managing complex applications and workflows. | 53 | 22 | OSI-approved OSS | 9 | 41 | Warning |
| 35 | LeadCMS AI-powered CMS and CRM for SaaS teams to build landing pages and manage content. | 50 | 29 | OSI-approved OSS | 36 | 41 | Critical |
| 36 | mave-cms A Flexible, Scalable, and Open-Source Headless CMS Built on MACH Architecture | 46 | 20 | OSI-approved OSS | 7 | 36 | Critical |
| 37 | DoraCMS DoraCMS 是一个基于 EggJS 3.x + Vue 3 + TypeScript 的现代化内容管理系统，采用 pnpm monorepo 架构管理。它不仅仅是一个 CMS 系统，更是一个优秀的企业级应用架构实践。 | 36 | 14 | OSI-approved OSS | 3.5k | 27 | Critical |
| 38 | BCMS ⭐️ BCMS is a Headless CMS for developers & their clients. Works nicely with Gatsby, Next.js & Nuxt. This is an open-source version for self-hosting. | 28 | 10 | OSI-approved OSS | 464 | 21 | Critical |
| 39 | LinkBCMS Open-source Next.js framework with a type-safe configuration and instant admin panel. | 34 | 0 | OSI-approved OSS | 2 | 20 | Critical |
| 40 | Pages CMS GitHub-backed CMS for managing content and media in repositories. | 22 | 6 | OSI-approved OSS | 4k | 15 | Critical |
| 41 | FormCMS AI Agent: Open-source headless CMS built with ASP.NET Core (C#) and React, featuring REST APIs, GraphQL, and a GrapesJS page designer. | 18 | 4 | OSI-approved OSS | 269 | 12 | Critical |
| 42 | VaahCMS Laravel-based open-source web application development platform with headless CMS. | 11 | 0 | OSI-approved OSS | 573 | 7 | Critical |
| 43 | Blogifier Open-source publishing platform written in ASP.NET and Blazor WebAssembly. | 9 | 0 | OSI-approved OSS | 1.3k | 5 | Critical |
Not Scored
Tracked for context, but excluded from rankings because comparable open/source-visible evidence is unavailable.
ApostropheCMS
A full-featured, open-source content management framework built with Node.js that empowers organizations by combining in-context editing and headless architecture in a full-stack JS environment.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.Craft CMS
Content management system for bespoke content experiences.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.Directus
The flexible backend for all your projects 🐰 Turn your DB into a headless CMS, admin panels, or apps with a custom UI, instant APIs, auth & more.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.FireCMS
Firebase and Firestore-based CMS and admin panel for managing application content.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.Nodify
Developer-first headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.OpenMark Blog
Modern open-source blogging platform with a scalable technology stack.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.Outstatic
CMS for Markdown stored in GitHub repositories.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.SkyCMS
Open-source CMS for developers.
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.Statamic
The core Laravel CMS Composer package
ToolVitals does not score proprietary or unknown-license tools because their public source evidence is not comparable to open/source-visible projects.