Open source headless-cms projects

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

projects 25 combined stars ★ 228K refresh nightly
01 Strapi ★ 73K

Headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs out of the box

last push4 hours ago languageTypeScript license
02 Payload ★ 45K

Headless CMS for developers, built with Node.js

last push6 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
03 Directus ★ 38K

Open-source data platform for effortless content management

last push4 hours ago languageTypeScript license
04 decap-cms ★ 19K

A Git-based CMS for Static Site Generators

last push12 hours ago languageJavaScript licenseMIT
05 Builder ★ 8.8K

Visual development platform for modern web experiences

last push24 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
06 Webiny ★ 8.0K

Open-source serverless CMS for modern web projects

last push4 hours ago languageTypeScript license
07 Plasmic ★ 7.0K

Visual app builder that integrates with your existing codebase

last push15 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
08 Twill CMS ★ 4.0K

Craft flexible, beautiful digital experiences with ease

last push8 days ago languagePHP licenseApache-2.0
09 Shopware ★ 3.4K

Open source ecommerce platform for modern businesses

last push5 hours ago languagePHP licenseMIT
10 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
11 sveltia-cms ★ 2.8K

Leading Git-based headless CMS. Successor to Netlify/Decap CMS. Modern UX, first-class i18n support, mobile support + numerous improvements. Framework-agnostic,

last push4 hours ago languageJavaScript licenseMIT
12 squidex ★ 2.5K

Headless CMS and Content Managment Hub

last push34 hours ago languageC# licenseMIT
13 Vrite ★ 2.0K

Collaborative content creation for technical teams

last push12 hours ago languageTypeScript license
14 daptin ★ 1.9K

Self-hosted application server for schema-driven APIs, identity, files, automation, integrations, realtime, metering, and protocols.

last push11 hours ago languageGo licenseLGPL-3.0
15 sonicjs ★ 1.7K

SonicJS - The edge-native headless CMS for Cloudflare Workers. Sub-100ms response times, zero cold starts, TypeScript-first. Built on D1, R2, and Hono.

last push5 days ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
16 next-wp ★ 1.3K

Headless WordPress built with the Next.js App Router and React Server Components

last push1 months ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
17 agency-os ★ 973

The open source operating system for digital agencies. Built with Directus and Nuxt.

last push7 months ago languageVue licenseMIT
18 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 push24 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
19 velite ★ 813

Turns Markdown / MDX, YAML, JSON, or others into app's data layer with Zod schema.

last push34 hours ago languageTypeScript licenseMIT
20 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
21 mesh ★ 593

Gentics Mesh - The open source headless CMS for developers

last push9 hours ago languageJava licenseApache-2.0
22 pagible ★ 587

Easy, flexible and powerful cloud-native Laravel CMS package powered by AI with JSON:API, GraphQL API, templates, and themes

last push11 hours ago languagePHP licenseMIT
23 fastschema ★ 573

All-in-One Backend as a Service with Headless CMS Power

last push2 months ago languageGo licenseMIT
24 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
25 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-cms projects are there?

This registry tracks 25 projects tagged headless-cms, with 228,331 GitHub stars between them. The most-adopted is Strapi at 73,184 stars.

Are these headless-cms projects free to use?

Yes — 21 of the 25 carry an explicit open-source licence across 4 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-cms 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-cms projects still maintained?

23 of the 25 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.