What is Cofoundry used for?

Cofoundry is a code-first .NET CMS and application framework that integrates unobtrusively into ASP.NET Core projects with a simple content management interface. It is a good fit for adding CMS features to a custom .NET web app and building content-managed sites with a code-first workflow.

Is Cofoundry open source?

Yes. Cofoundry is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at cofoundry-cms/cofoundry and is written mainly in C#.

Yes. Cofoundry is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Cofoundry?

Yes. Cofoundry can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What are some alternatives to Cofoundry?

Similar open-source tools in the CMS category include Orchard Core, Umbraco CMS and Piranha CMS. SaaS products in the same category include Adobe Experience Manager, Contentful and Sitecore.

Is Cofoundry actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Cofoundry was on 13 February 2026, and the latest release is v0.13.2, published on 13 February 2026. The project has 902 stars on GitHub.

Cofoundry: open-source CMS

About Cofoundry

Cofoundry is an open-source CMS and application framework for .NET. It focuses on code-first development, unobtrusive integration into your own application, an extensible and flexible architecture, and content management that is simple and friendly for editors. It is aimed at .NET developers who want CMS features inside a custom ASP.NET Core application rather than a separate, opinionated website platform.

The project is written in C# on .NET and licensed under MIT. Documentation and getting-started guides are on cofoundry.org, and questions can be raised through GitHub issues, with updates available through the project blog and social channels. A roadmap is tracked through GitHub milestones.

Cofoundry follows semantic versioning but is still in the 0.x range, which the authors treat as early development. Patch releases are intended to be non-breaking, while minor releases may include breaking changes that are documented in the release notes. Teams adopting it should plan for upgrades accordingly.

Key features

Code-first development model
Unobtrusive integration into .NET applications
Extensible, flexible architecture
Simple content management for editors
Built on ASP.NET Core
Documented release notes for breaking changes

Good fit for

→Adding CMS features to a custom .NET web app
→Building content-managed sites with a code-first workflow

Built with: C#; .NET
Tags: cms; dotnet; aspnet-core; csharp; framework; code-first; content-management

Cofoundry: questions and answers

What is Cofoundry used for?: Cofoundry is a code-first .NET CMS and application framework that integrates unobtrusively into ASP.NET Core projects with a simple content management interface. It is a good fit for adding CMS features to a custom .NET web app and building content-managed sites with a code-first workflow.
Is Cofoundry open source?: Yes. Cofoundry is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at cofoundry-cms/cofoundry and is written mainly in C#.
Is Cofoundry free?: Yes. Cofoundry is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Cofoundry?: Yes. Cofoundry can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What are some alternatives to Cofoundry?: Similar open-source tools in the CMS category include Orchard Core, Umbraco CMS and Piranha CMS. SaaS products in the same category include Adobe Experience Manager, Contentful and Sitecore.
Is Cofoundry actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Cofoundry was on 13 February 2026, and the latest release is v0.13.2, published on 13 February 2026. The project has 902 stars on GitHub.