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, 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.