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Looking for an Best open source headless CMS’s to handle your content? So, don’t be afraid. Here are some of the best and most popular Open-Source Headless CMS. If you don’t know what CMS is, it is a system or piece of software that is used to organize content. It makes it easy to make, store, manage, and change content fast.
With a good CMS like WordPress, Wix, Joomla, etc., you can build a website and start putting content on it right away, even if you don’t know how to code or have any technical understanding.
A study says that in 2019, the global headless CMS market was worth US$ 328.5 million. By 2027, this is expected to be worth US$ 1,628,6 million. Now, there are a lot of service providers who offer headless CMS options, both for a fee and for free. So, if your next app needs the best open-source headless CMS option, we have listed some of the best ones.
Best open source headless CMS Comparison Table
| Product | Features | Visit Link |
|---|---|---|
| Strapi | Customizable API-based CMS, intuitive admin panel, content modeling, role-based access control | Visit Website |
| Ghost CMS | Blog-focused CMS, Markdown editor, customizable themes, SEO-friendly, content scheduling | Visit Website |
| Apostrophe | Node.js CMS with focus on content editing, modular architecture, in-context editing, multisite management | Visit Website |
| Webiny | Serverless CMS, headless CMS with drag-and-drop editor, GraphQL API, pre-built templates and plugins | Visit Website |
| Storyblok | Headless CMS with visual editor, multi-platform content management, internationalization and localization | Visit Website |
| Contentful | Flexible headless CMS, content modeling and structured data, API-first approach, collaboration features | Visit Website |
| Ghost | Blog-focused CMS, Markdown editor, customizable themes, SEO-friendly, content scheduling | Visit Website |
Strapi
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Customizable API-based CMS | Build and manage APIs for content delivery and management |
| Intuitive admin panel | User-friendly interface for content creation and management |
| Content modeling and customization | Define custom content structures and fields to suit specific project needs |
| Role-based access control | Control user permissions and access levels for content management |
| Extensive plugin ecosystem | Extend functionality with a wide range of community-developed plugins |
Get Strapi’s Best open source headless CMS’s, which is the best open-source CMS, for your next application. It is 100% JavaScript, can be changed, and is made with developers in mind. This makes it easy and simple to build a content API that works well, can be changed, and is self-hosted.
Strapi is an open-source tool because all of its code is available to the public and is kept up to date on GitHub by many people. It’s easy to change both the API and the admin panel, and you can add custom tools to the content management in a flash. You can also use the API from different clients, like Vue, Angular, React, IoT devices, or mobile apps, by using GraphQL or RESTful.
The Good
- Flexible content modeling
- Extensive plugin ecosystem
The Bad
- Beginners have a harder time getting started.
Ghost CMS
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Blog-focused CMS | Ideal for publishing and managing blog content |
| Markdown editor | Write content in Markdown format for easy formatting and readability |
| Customizable themes | Choose from a variety of themes or create custom designs |
| SEO-friendly | Built-in features to optimize content for search engines |
| Content scheduling and publishing | Schedule posts in advance and control when they are published |
Start your journey toward a Best open source headless CMS’s with Ghost and learn how to make beautiful, independent articles. You can easily install the program by following its setup guide from the local environment to product development. It lets you run self-hosted applications on the Ubuntu server.
You can use the same guide to make your own themes. If you know how Ghost is set up and how it works, you will always be able to build new websites, apps, etc. With the open-source theme starter structure, making custom themes can be done faster.
The Good
- Markdown-based writing that is light and quick
- Making it easier to manage content
The Bad
- Compared to other CMSs, it has few built-in features.
Apostrophe
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Node.js CMS with focus on content editing | User-friendly content editing experience for non-technical users |
| Modular architecture | Customize and extend functionality with reusable modules |
| In-context editing | Edit content directly on the website in real-time |
| Multisite management | Manage multiple websites from a single installation |
| Flexible content structures | Create custom content types and relationships for flexible content modeling |
Get Best open source headless CMS’s Apostrophe, a strong and flexible open-source website builder that is good for SaaS companies, businesses, higher education, digital agencies, and much more. It lets you customize a no-code website factory using a current tech stack and improve your digital experiences from the same dashboard.
Apostrophe has a drag-and-drop editor that lets writers make changes in real time. You will also find easy-to-use tools for visual design that let you change the way things look without going against your brand’s rules. So, your market speed will go up by 10 times.
The Good
- Powerful editing in context
- Robust multi-site management
- Easy to customize
The Bad
- Few integrations with third-party services
Webiny
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Serverless CMS | Built on serverless infrastructure, providing scalability and cost-efficiency |
| Headless CMS with drag-and-drop editor | Create and manage content using a visual editor with no coding required |
| GraphQL API | Access content through a powerful and flexible GraphQL API |
| Pre-built templates and plugins | Get started quickly with pre-built templates and extend functionality with plugins |
| Form builder and submissions | Easily create and manage forms with submissions tracking and management |
Webiny Best open source headless CMS’s gives you an answer for your content needs that is flexible, scalable, and quick. Since different businesses have different needs, it gives your company, from your development team to your marketing team, useful tools that they can use on their own.
The open CMS from Webiny is built on GraphQL and has powerful modeling tools. It lets you build landing pages in minutes with its strong GraphQL and fine-grained permission control. With built-in multi-tenancy, you can manage information in different languages and on different websites.
The Good
- Architecture without servers
- GraphQL is a flexible and scalable API for getting data.
The Bad
- Platform that is still new and changing
Storyblok
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Headless CMS with visual editor | Build and manage content with a visual editor and real-time preview |
| Multi-platform content management | Publish content across websites, apps, and various digital platforms |
| Internationalization and localization | Easily manage multilingual and localized content |
| Customizable workflows | Define custom content workflows and approval processes |
| Content versioning and history | Track and revert changes with content versioning and history management |
Storyblok helps your team tell your story and handle content for every use case, including corporate websites, e-commerce, helpdesks, mobile apps, and screen displays. Storyblok is a Headless CMS for coders, marketers, and content editors that has a Visual Editor. The Problem: It can be hard to manage digital material with a CMS that doesn’t have a front end.
Without a visual preview, editors often get lost and have to ask for help to make even easy changes. The solution is that Storyblok works like a page builder but has a modern headless design behind the scenes. This gives the creator freedom and makes the editor’s interface easy to understand.
The Good
- Visual content editing
- Multichannel content management
- Helps with translations and localization
The Bad
- Costs can be high for bigger projects.
Contentful
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Flexible headless CMS | Manage content independently from the presentation layer |
| Content modeling and structured data | Define custom content models and relationships for structured content |
| API-first approach | Access content through a powerful and flexible API |
| Collaboration and content approval | Workflow features for collaboration, content review, and approval |
| Extensive integration capabilities | Integrate with various third-party tools, services, and frameworks |
The Contentful Composable Content Platform brings together the building blocks of content so that they can be made once and used for any digital experience. As digital experiences and technology change, the API-first platform is easy to connect to new data sources and new functions. With built-in orchestration, a strong app ecosystem, and an app framework that makes it easy to extend the platform, Contentful lets teams from all over the business work together to connect, build, and share content more efficiently.
Contentful helps companies unlock the power of their digital content so they can build faster and deliver at scale, turning their content into a strategic business advantage. Contentful helps nearly 30% of the Fortune 500 and thousands of other companies around the world bring their best ideas to life.
The Good
- Headless CMS that has strong APIs
- Content modeling and versioning that work well
- Integrations of a lot of things
The Bad
- Higher pricing plans for enterprise-level usage
Ghost
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Blog-focused CMS | Specifically designed for blogging and content publishing |
| Markdown editor | Write content using Markdown for simplified formatting |
| Customizable themes | Choose from a variety of themes or create custom designs |
| SEO-friendly | Built-in features to optimize content for search engines |
| Content scheduling and publishing | Schedule posts in advance and control when they are published |
Ghost is number two on our list because it can post beautiful content and help any business grow around it. This headless, open-source, API-driven tool is a top decoupled CMS built on the Node.js framework that you can use with templates or without a user interface.
With the help of a set of REST API endpoints (webhooks, admin, and content API), Ghost serves the content, sends newsletters, builds new websites, and offers paid subscriptions to users. It comes with a lot of tools right out of the box, such as.
The Good
- Markdown-based writing that is light and quick
- Making it easier to manage content
The Bad
- Compared to other CMSs, it has few built-in features.
FAQs
A: Yes, you can self-host most open-source headless CMSs on your own computer or in the cloud. This gives you full power over the hosting environment and the data storage.
A: Yes, virtual CMSs that are free and open source can be used for enterprise-level projects. They can be scaled, can be changed, and have strong APIs that can handle complicated content management needs. But it’s important to figure out what your project needs and think about things like help, security, and integration.
A: Yes, many open-source headless CMSs have tools for logging in users and controlling access. With these features, you can control the jobs and permissions of users, making sure that they have safe access to content management functions.