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Home/Categories/Web Development/Craft CMS
icon of Craft CMS

Craft CMS

Open source alternative to Contentful, Sanity and Storyblok

  • 3.6K stars
  • Active this week
  • Last commit 1 day ago

Last verified Oct 20, 2026

Build custom websites and headless content platforms with a self-hosted CMS that gives developers flexible content modeling, Twig templates, and GraphQL APIs.

Visit websiteGitHub3.6K starsDeploy on Hostinger
image of Craft CMS
TL;DR

Craft CMS is a self-hosted content management system for teams building custom websites, headless content APIs, and bespoke editorial workflows. It replaces hosted CMS or site-builder platforms for developers who want clean content modeling, Twig templates, GraphQL, plugins, and PHP hosting control.

Read the full breakdownHide the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs and the FAQ
who it's for

Who Craft CMS is for#

Agencies building bespoke marketing sites

Use Craft CMS when clients need custom content types, editorial control, and designed templates rather than a generic builder.

Skip if:

The client wants a fully hosted no-code site with minimal development.

Teams needing headless content and templates

Use Craft when a project needs both Twig-rendered pages and GraphQL access for decoupled front ends.

Skip if:

Your team wants a pure hosted content API with no server maintenance.

Custom commerce publishers

Use Craft when editorial content and bespoke commerce need to live in one PHP CMS ecosystem.

Skip if:

A standard Shopify storefront covers the whole business.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Many CMS tools force teams into either rigid templates or hosted content APIs. Custom sites need content models that match the business, editorial controls that non-developers can use, and front-end flexibility for bespoke designs. Proprietary headless CMS products solve some of this, but they add vendor pricing and data dependency to a core publishing workflow.

how Craft CMS solves it

How it solves it#

Custom content modeling

Craft uses a clean-slate content modeling approach that does not assume the content structure a project needs.

Twig templating and headless API

Twig templates support front-end development, while an auto-generated GraphQL API supports headless applications.

Self-hosted PHP application

Craft is a self-hosted PHP app that can connect to MySQL or PostgreSQL for content storage.

Plugin and commerce ecosystem

Craft includes a Plugin Store and a commerce platform for bespoke ecommerce experiences.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

  • Developer-friendly content structuresCraft is strong when developers need content fields and templates to match a custom design rather than adapting to a generic page builder.
  • Editorial UI with code controlEditors get a control panel while developers keep control over templates, GraphQL, plugins, and hosting.
  • Flexible deployment modelSelf-hosting with PHP, MySQL, or PostgreSQL gives teams more infrastructure choice than fully hosted CMS products.

Trade-offs

  • -Commercial license expectationsCraft CMS is source-available but not a generic permissive open source CMS. Teams should review Craft's project licensing and paid license requirements before choosing it for client work.
  • -Requires PHP CMS ownershipCraft is not a no-code hosted site builder. Teams need developers who can manage templates, hosting, plugins, and upgrades.
tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages
JavaScriptPHP
Frameworks
ReactVue
Tooling
GraphQL
frequently asked

FAQ#

What is Craft CMS?

Craft CMS is a flexible self-hosted PHP content management system for custom digital experiences.

Does Craft CMS support headless development?

Yes. Craft CMS includes an auto-generated GraphQL API for building headless applications.

What database does Craft CMS use?

Craft CMS can connect to MySQL and PostgreSQL for content storage.

also worth a look

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  • 73,351 GitHub stars
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TinaCMS

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Open source headless CMS with inline editing and Git backend

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Sulu

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Enterprise-ready open source CMS built on Symfony

  • 1,361 GitHub stars
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Git-based content management for static site generators

  • 19,440 GitHub stars
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by category

Open source tools in these categories#

196

Web Development

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Marketing & Growth

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Hostinger

Run Craft CMS on your own server

Self-host Craft CMS on a Hostinger VPS.

Deploy on Hostinger

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