What is Alinea used for?

Alinea is an open-source, Git-based headless CMS for Next.js where content is typed in TypeScript and stored as JSON files in your repository. It is a good fit for Git-based content for Next.js sites and editors previewing drafts in server components.

Is Alinea open source?

Yes. Alinea is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at alineacms/alinea and is written mainly in TypeScript.

Yes. Alinea is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.

Can I self-host Alinea?

Yes. Alinea can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Alinea an alternative to?

Alinea is an open-source alternative to Storyblok, Contentstack, DatoCMS and Contentful. Other open-source alternatives to Storyblok include Strapi, SonicJS and Cockpit CMS.

Is Alinea actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Alinea was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.7.0, published on 26 June 2026. The project has 855 stars on GitHub.

Alinea: open-source alternative to Storyblok, Contentstack

About Alinea

Alinea is an open-source headless CMS built for Next.js. You describe your content model in TypeScript, editors work in a dashboard that ships inside your own app, and every entry is saved as a JSON file in your Git repository, so content can be reviewed, branched and rolled back like code.

Queries are typed directly from your schema without code generation. Content is indexed in SQLite and bundled with the site, so no separate content database server is needed, and the dashboard offers full-text search. Live previews render drafts through your server components while editors type, and each publish is a Git commit that deployed sites pick up without a rebuild. The dashboard is built on React Aria Components with dark mode, entry history, roles and permissions, and per-field translations.

You can self-host the backend on your own database or let Alinea Cloud handle sign-in and publishing. Alinea needs Node.js 24 or higher, React 19 and the Next.js App Router, installs with an alinea init command, and is licensed under MIT.

Key features

Content model defined in TypeScript
Entries stored as JSON in Git
Typed queries without codegen
Live draft previews
Dashboard with roles and translations
Self-host or Alinea Cloud

Good fit for

→Git-based content for Next.js sites
→Editors previewing drafts in server components

Built with: TypeScript; Bun; Node.js; Next.js
Tags: headless-cms; nextjs; typescript; git-based; cms; json; self-hosted

Alinea: questions and answers

What is Alinea used for?: Alinea is an open-source, Git-based headless CMS for Next.js where content is typed in TypeScript and stored as JSON files in your repository. It is a good fit for Git-based content for Next.js sites and editors previewing drafts in server components.
Is Alinea open source?: Yes. Alinea is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at alineacms/alinea and is written mainly in TypeScript.
Is Alinea free?: Yes. Alinea is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Alinea?: Yes. Alinea can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Alinea an alternative to?: Alinea is an open-source alternative to Storyblok, Contentstack, DatoCMS and Contentful. Other open-source alternatives to Storyblok include Strapi, SonicJS and Cockpit CMS.
Is Alinea actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Alinea was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is v1.7.0, published on 26 June 2026. The project has 855 stars on GitHub.