Open source headless projects

Every project in the registry tagged headless, ranked by real GitHub adoption.

projects 26 combined stars ★ 327K refresh nightly
01 Payload ★ 45K

Headless CMS for developers, built with Node.js

last push7 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
02 Refine ★ 36K

Build data-rich React apps with ease and flexibility

last push8 days ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
03 Lightpanda ★ 35K

Fast, AI-native web browser built for automation and scraping

last push9 hours ago languageZig licenseAGPL-3.0
04 obscura ★ 27K

The headless browser for AI agents and web scraping

last push3 days ago languageRust licenseApache-2.0
05 crawlee ★ 26K

Crawlee—A web scraping and browser automation library for Node.js to build reliable crawlers. In JavaScript and TypeScript. Extract data for AI, LLMs, RAG, or G

last push8 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseApache-2.0
06 Saleor ★ 23K

Flexible e-commerce platform for modern businesses

last push10 hours ago languagePython licenseBSD-3-Clause
07 katana ★ 18K

A next-generation crawling and spidering framework.

last push4 days ago languageGo licenseMIT
08 Spree Commerce ★ 16K

Open source headless commerce with REST API, no platform fees, built for B2B and marketplaces

last push7 hours ago languageRuby licenseBSD-3-Clause
09 reaction ★ 12K

Project has been discontinued ////// Mailchimp Open Commerce is an API-first, headless commerce platform built using Node.js, React, GraphQL. Deployed via Docke

last push7 months ago languageJavaScript licenseGPL-3.0
10 Alokai ★ 11K

Build and deploy scalable storefronts with ease

last push3 months ago language license
11 crawlee-python ★ 9.5K

Crawlee—A web scraping and browser automation library for Python to build reliable crawlers. Extract data for AI, LLMs, RAG, or GPTs. Download HTML, PDF, JPG, P

last push35 hours ago languagePython licenseApache-2.0
12 Builder ★ 8.8K

Visual development platform for modern web experiences

last push25 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
13 Sylius ★ 8.5K

Headless open-source eCommerce platform on top of PHP/Symfony/API Platform

last push12 hours ago languagePHP licenseMIT
14 Vendure ★ 8.4K

Flexible e-commerce for modern businesses

last push8 hours ago languageTypeScript license
15 rod ★ 7.1K

A Chrome DevTools Protocol driver for web automation and scraping.

last push1 months ago languageGo licenseMIT
16 pydoll ★ 7.1K

Pydoll is a library for automating chromium-based browsers without a WebDriver, offering realistic interactions.

last push31 hours ago languageHTML licenseMIT
17 Plasmic ★ 7.0K

Visual app builder that integrates with your existing codebase

last push16 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
18 sanity ★ 6.3K

Sanity Studio – Rapidly configure content workspaces powered by structured content

last push5 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
19 Statamic ★ 4.9K

Craft flexible, powerful websites with ease

last push5 hours ago languagePHP license
20 terminusdb ★ 3.4K

TerminusDB is a distributed, collaborative database designed for building, sharing, versioning, and reasoning on structured data.

last push5 days ago languageProlog licenseApache-2.0
21 LearnHouse ★ 2.3K

Create, sell, and manage online courses with full control

last push5 days ago languagePython licenseAGPL-3.0
22 Vrite ★ 2.0K

Collaborative content creation for technical teams

last push13 hours ago languageTypeScript license
23 studiocms ★ 833

Dedicated SSR (Server-side-rendered) Astro native Headless CMS, built from the ground up for the Astro community and by Astro community members

last push25 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
24 next-drupal ★ 711

Next.js for Drupal has everything you need to build a next-generation front-end for your Drupal site: SSG, SSR, and ISR, Multi-site, Authentication, Webforms, S

last push1 months ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
25 vaahcms ★ 573

VaahCMS is a laravel based open-source web application development platform shipped with a headless content management system (CMS).

last push5 months ago languagePHP licenseMIT
26 Marble CMS ★ 385

Simple content management for modern sites

last push3 days ago languageTypeScript licenseAGPL-3.0

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Frequently asked questions

How many open source headless projects are there?

This registry tracks 26 projects tagged headless, with 326,913 GitHub stars between them. The most-adopted is Payload at 44,793 stars.

Are these headless projects free to use?

Yes — 22 of the 26 carry an explicit open-source licence across 5 distinct licences, so there is no licence fee. Where a project also sells a hosted or enterprise version, the self-hosted path remains free.

Which headless project should I choose?

The list above is ranked by GitHub stars, but stars measure attention rather than fit. Check three things on each card: the licence (permissive versus copyleft), the language it is written in, and the last-push date — a high-star project that has not been pushed in a year is a liability.

Are these headless projects still maintained?

23 of the 26 were pushed in the last 90 days, and every card shows its exact last-push date so you can see the rest. Sort your shortlist by that date before committing to a migration.