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, health, shipping, confidence, and then adoption as a tie-breaker.

# Tool Health Shipping Openness Stars Score Status
01 Sanity
Sanity Studio – Rapidly configure content workspaces powered by structured content
98 100 OSI-approved OSS 6.2k 99 Active
02 EmDash CMS
EmDash is a full-stack TypeScript CMS based on Astro; the spiritual successor to WordPress
95 100 OSI-approved OSS 10.8k 98 Active
03 Statamic
The core Laravel CMS Composer package
93 100 License unknown 4.8k 96 Active
04 dotCMS
Visual headless content management system for enterprises.
91 100 OSI-approved OSS 947 96 Active
05 Craft CMS
Content management system for bespoke content experiences.
92 95 License unknown 3.6k 95 Active
06 Enonic XP
Enonic XP is an source-visible Java tool tracked for headless cms signals, maintenance activity, and public release evidence.
90 98 OSI-approved OSS 208 95 Active
07 Ycode
Open source visual website builder and CMS.
90 95 OSI-approved OSS 188 94 Active
08 Sulu
Modern Symfony based CMS
93 87 OSI-approved OSS 1.3k 93 Active
09 Kirby
Flat-file CMS and CMS framework for websites.
90 90 License unknown 1.5k 93 Active
10 ExpressionEngine
Open-source content management platform for building and managing websites.
81 95 OSI-approved OSS 501 89 Active
11 Outstatic
CMS for Markdown stored in GitHub repositories.
81 86 License unknown 3.1k 88 Active
12 DNN Platform
Open-source web content management platform.
86 83 OSI-approved OSS 1.1k 87 Active
13 Concrete
CMS for teams
83 82 OSI-approved OSS 842 86 Active
14 Conrete CMS
Open source content management system and framework.
83 82 OSI-approved OSS 842 86 Active
15 Bolt CMS
🧿 Bolt core
83 80 OSI-approved OSS 582 85 Active
16 Backdrop CMS
Open source CMS core code repository.
84 71 OSI-approved OSS 1k 84 Active
17 Frappe Wiki
Open-source wiki built on Frappe.
76 73 OSI-approved OSS 408 81 Active
18 Orchard Core
Open-source modular and multi-tenant application framework with content management.
77 72 OSI-approved OSS 8.1k 80 Active
19 OpenDXP
Open source platform for digital experiences connecting PIM, DAM, headless CMS, and composable commerce.
77 70 OSI-approved OSS 92 79 Active
20 Grav
Modern, Crazy Fast, Ridiculously Easy and Amazingly Powerful Flat-File CMS powered by PHP, Markdown, Twig, and Symfony
84 54 OSI-approved OSS 15.5k 78 Warning
21 CairnCMS
Self-hosted headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs plus admin app.
66 76 OSI-approved OSS 6 78 Warning
22 Pages CMS
GitHub-backed CMS for managing content and media in repositories.
81 53 OSI-approved OSS 3.7k 76 Warning
23 content
The file-based CMS for your Nuxt application, powered by Markdown and Vue components.
72 61 OSI-approved OSS 3.6k 76 Warning
24 Changelog
Open source platform for developer podcasts and publishing.
84 46 OSI-approved OSS 2.8k 75 Warning
25 DokuWiki
Open-source wiki engine.
79 65 OSI-approved OSS 4.6k 75 Active
26 Keystone
The superpowered headless CMS for Node.js — built with GraphQL and React
73 46 OSI-approved OSS 9.9k 71 Warning
27 FireCMS
Firebase and Firestore-based CMS and admin panel for managing application content.
67 52 License unknown 1.3k 71 Warning
28 openblog
Feature-rich open source blog platform with community features.
69 54 OSI-approved OSS 2 68 Warning
29 Nodify
Developer-first headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs.
48 72 License unknown 19 68 Warning
30 b10cks CMS
Opinionated headless CMS based on Laravel and Vue.
62 56 OSI-approved OSS 13 67 Warning
31 Archival
Content-first, database-free website builder and CMS.
57 49 License unknown 8 65 Warning
32 AWCMS
Enterprise-grade, multi-tenant, ABAC-secured CMS.
57 47 OSI-approved OSS 10 65 Warning
33 Astropress
Privacy-first website builder with built-in admin and portable hosting.
51 63 OSI-approved OSS 0 65 Warning
34 SkyCMS
Open-source CMS for developers.
59 52 License unknown 0 64 Warning
35 lara-zeus Sky
CMS for websites with posts, pages, tags, and categories.
62 34 OSI-approved OSS 214 62 Warning
36 Lektor
Static content management system.
65 20 OSI-approved OSS 3.9k 60 Warning
37 LeadCMS
AI-powered CMS and CRM for SaaS teams to build landing pages and manage content.
54 44 OSI-approved OSS 33 60 Warning
38 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.
59 28 OSI-approved OSS 9 56 Warning
39 ProcessWire
Open-source CMS and framework with a strong API.
62 0 License unknown 1.1k 51 Warning
40 LinkBCMS
Open-source Next.js framework with a type-safe configuration and instant admin panel.
54 0 OSI-approved OSS 2 45 Warning
41 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。
46 7 OSI-approved OSS 3.5k 44 Critical
42 VaahCMS
Laravel-based open-source web application development platform with headless CMS.
43 7 OSI-approved OSS 575 41 Critical
43 OpenMark Blog
Modern open-source blogging platform with a scalable technology stack.
36 17 License unknown 1 41 Critical
44 Blogifier
Open-source publishing platform written in ASP.NET and Blazor WebAssembly.
44 0 OSI-approved OSS 1.3k 40 Critical
45 Microfeed
Lightweight self-hosted CMS for podcasts, blogs, photos, videos, and documents.
36 0 OSI-approved OSS 4k 38 Critical
46 mave-cms
A Flexible, Scalable, and Open-Source Headless CMS Built on MACH Architecture
30 0 OSI-approved OSS 7 33 Critical
47 Contentport
Open-source content platform for technical founders.
28 0 OSI-approved OSS 763 33 Critical
48 cms
SSCMS 基于 .NET Core,能够以最低的成本、最少的人力投入在最短的时间内架设一个功能齐全、性能优异、规模庞大并易于维护的网站平台。链接是SSCMS推出的全新AI视频开源社区:献丑AI
23 0 OSI-approved OSS 3.9k 33 Critical
49 Cockpit CMS
Add content management functionality to any site - plug & play / headless / api-first CMS
31 0 OSI-approved OSS 5.4k 31 Critical
50 Puck CMS
Open-source cross-platform .NET CMS with code-first content modeling and Lucene search.
28 0 OSI-approved OSS 169 31 Critical
51 HashBrown CMS
A free and open-source headless CMS.
28 0 OSI-approved OSS 158 31 Critical
52 StartupEngine
Open-source startup platform with integrated CMS, analytics, and A/B testing.
28 0 OSI-approved OSS 140 30 Critical
53 Rpub
Free open-source CMS written in Clojure.
27 0 OSI-approved OSS 62 30 Critical
54 Contentive
Open-source headless CMS.
24 0 OSI-approved OSS 1 28 Critical
55 bhd-cms
bhd - an open source headless CMS inspired by Storyblok.
19 0 OSI-approved OSS 1 26 Critical

Evidence Watch

Tracked tools with useful public signals but no verdict score yet.