Open-source Cosmic alternatives

Strapi is a headless content management system. Developers define content models, and Strapi generates a complete API that a website, mobile app or other client can consume, while editors get a friendly admin interface for writing and managing content. It is written entirely in JavaScript and TypeScript on Node.js.

A visual Content-Type Builder lets you design structures without code, and every content type gets REST and GraphQL endpoints automatically. Granular roles and permissions, a media library, internationalization and draft and publish workflows are built in. It works with SQLite, PostgreSQL, MySQL and MariaDB, and offers a plugin system and a customizable admin dashboard. Requests pass through routes, middlewares, controllers and services, which is where backend customization happens. Strapi AI adds help with content modeling, media alt text and translations.

You can self-host Strapi on your own infrastructure or use Strapi Cloud, the managed service. Its license is listed as 'Other' in the repository metadata, so confirm the terms for any enterprise features. It suits teams building Jamstack or multi-channel sites that want a flexible, developer-first backend.

Payload is an open-source CMS and application framework built on Next.js. Rather than running as a separate service, it can be installed directly into an existing Next.js app folder, giving you a TypeScript backend and an admin panel in the same codebase. You can use it as a headless CMS or as the foundation for a full application.

Because the backend lives alongside the front end, you can query your database straight from React Server Components and deploy anywhere, including serverless platforms such as Vercel. Both the admin interface and backend logic are described as fully extensible, with GraphQL and REST access, support for MongoDB and PostgreSQL, and no dependence on another SaaS vendor. A website template demonstrates rich text blocks, on-demand revalidation and live preview.

Payload is MIT licensed and written in TypeScript. It suits development teams that already build with Next.js and React and want content management they fully control, as an alternative to hosted headless CMS products or to maintaining a traditional PHP-based system.

Directus is a collaborative backend and headless CMS that sits on top of an existing SQL database. You connect a database, and it generates production-ready REST and GraphQL APIs, leaving your schema exactly as built, along with a no-code interface where non-developers can manage content and data.

Beyond content management it provides authentication and access control, so the same install can power websites, apps, admin panels and internal tools. A native Model Context Protocol server gives AI assistants such as Claude, ChatGPT and Cursor secure access to business data. Supported databases include SQLite, MySQL, PostgreSQL and SQL Server, and the app is built with TypeScript and Vue. A template CLI, run through npx, can initialize a project quickly.

Directus can be self-hosted on servers you control, or run on the vendor's Directus Cloud. The repository license is listed as 'Other', so review the terms to see which uses are free. It suits teams that want an API and admin layer over data they already have, without writing a custom backend.

Keystone is a headless CMS and application framework for Node.js. You describe your schema in code, and it produces a GraphQL API and a management UI for your content and data, without boilerplate or bootstrapping, while still letting you extend the back end like a custom one.

Keystone 6 is published on npm under the @keystone-6 namespace, and its packages target the Node maintenance and active LTS versions. The documentation includes a Why Keystone page, a getting-started guide using the create-keystone-app CLI, examples, an API reference and practical guides. Keystone 5 is in maintenance mode and lives in a separate repository.

The project is written in TypeScript and licensed under MIT. You host it yourself on a Node.js server with a database of your choice, and it is used by developers who want a code-first CMS with a typed GraphQL API for websites, apps and internal tools.

Webiny is a content platform designed to be hosted in your own AWS account on serverless services. It is built as a TypeScript framework that developers extend with code, rather than a closed product configured only through a UI, and it runs on Lambda, DynamoDB, S3 and CloudFront with infrastructure provisioned by Pulumi in a single deploy command.

The platform includes a headless CMS with custom content models, a GraphQL API, field-level permissions, localization and versioning, plus a visual website builder with a Next.js SDK, a file manager for digital assets with CDN delivery, multi-step publishing workflows with approvals and scheduling, and native multi-tenancy that isolates data, users, assets and permissions from one deployment. The Webiny Framework adds lifecycle hooks, dependency injection and GraphQL schema extension, and an MCP server supports AI-assisted development.

It is aimed at developers at larger organizations, including SaaS companies that white-label it inside their products. The repository lists the licence as Other, so check the licence file for terms. It is self-hosted on AWS, so teams need AWS expertise and accept AWS costs for the underlying services.

Sanity is a headless content management platform for teams that treat content as structured data. Its open-source Sanity Studio is a React application that developers configure in code to build editing workspaces, while content is stored in Sanity's hosted backend and delivered to websites, mobile apps and other applications through APIs.

The vendor's site describes a wider product line: Content Lake as the data store, Live CDN for delivery, Content Releases, a Media Library, Functions, an App SDK, an MCP server and a Content Agent for AI-assisted content operations. Real-time editing is a long-standing trait of the Studio, according to the repository topics. Solutions are pitched at e-commerce, media and publishing, and SaaS teams.

The Studio code is MIT-licensed and can be deployed on any host you choose, but the content backend is operated by Sanity as a managed service, so a fully self-hosted setup is not available. A pricing page on the vendor's site lists the plans.

Squidex is an open-source headless CMS and content management hub. Unlike a traditional CMS, it provides an API-first back end and leaves the user interface to you, whether that is a website, a native app, or another server. It is built with ASP.NET Core and CQRS, tested on Windows and Linux, and released under the MIT license.

Its API supports OData filters and publishes Swagger definitions, making it easy to integrate with other tools. For storage it works with MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, or SQL Server. The project documents its roadmap on Trello and uses a community forum for feature requests, help, and bug reports.

Development requires Visual Studio Code or Visual Studio 2022, Node.js, and one of the supported databases. Squidex suits teams that need structured content with workflows and APIs to feed multiple channels, especially developers in the .NET ecosystem. A hosted version is offered on squidex.io.

Cockpit is a headless content management system for developers who want to manage content in one place and deliver it to websites, mobile apps or IoT devices. It is frontend-agnostic, so it works with React, Vue, Flutter or anything else that can call an API, and it avoids vendor lock-in because you run it yourself and own the data. It is written in PHP.

Content is modeled with collections, singletons and trees using more than 20 field types, and exposed through REST and GraphQL APIs. The feature list includes asset management with image processing, video thumbnails and CDN integration, user management with roles, permissions, two-factor authentication and API tokens, and localized content with fallbacks. Extensibility comes from custom fields, addons, hooks and events, and spaces let one installation serve several sites or clients. Developer tools include a GraphQL playground, REST documentation and CLI commands.

Storage is SQLite by default or MongoDB. Requirements are PHP 8.3 with PDO and GD, Apache with mod_rewrite or Nginx, and a writable storage directory. The README recommends Docker for quick starts. The repository metadata lists the license as Other, so review the license file before commercial use.