What is Craft CMS used for?

Craft CMS is a flexible PHP content management system with clean-slate content modeling, Twig templates, a GraphQL API and optional ecommerce. It is a good fit for bespoke marketing and editorial sites, headless content backends with GraphQL, and agency client websites.

Is Craft CMS open source?

Yes. Craft CMS is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at craftcms/cms and is written mainly in PHP.

Yes. Craft CMS is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. Paid plans are also available, starting at $279 as a one-time payment.

Can I self-host Craft CMS?

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

What is Craft CMS an alternative to?

Craft CMS is an open-source alternative to Contentstack, Storyblok, Webflow and HubSpot CMS Hub. Other open-source alternatives to Contentstack include Cockpit CMS, Cromwell CMS and Strapi.

Is Craft CMS actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Craft CMS was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 5.11.4, published on 1 October 2026. The project has 3.6k stars on GitHub.

Craft CMS: open-source alternative to Contentstack

About Craft CMS

Craft is a flexible, easy-to-use content management system for building bespoke digital experiences, online and elsewhere. It offers an intuitive control panel for content creation and administration, and a clean-slate approach to content modeling that makes no assumptions about what you manage.

Developers build front ends with Twig templates, or go headless using the auto-generated GraphQL API. The platform also supports a full ecommerce solution for bespoke online stores, a Plugin Store inside the control panel offering hundreds of plugins, both free and paid, and an extension framework based on Yii2 for advanced customization. Repository topics list Twig, GraphQL, PHP 8 and several major Craft versions.

The code is source-available, and GitHub shows the license as 'Other' because Craft uses its own license, with free and paid editions offered by the vendor. Craft is self-hosted on your PHP server, and the vendor provides support and cloud hosting options. It suits agencies and in-house teams building tailored sites.

Key features

Intuitive control panel for editors
Flexible content modeling
Twig templating system
Auto-generated GraphQL API
Ecommerce add-on for bespoke stores
Plugin Store with free and paid plugins

Good fit for

→Bespoke marketing and editorial sites
→Headless content backends with GraphQL
→Agency client websites

Built with: PHP; GraphQL
Tags: cms; php; twig; graphql; ecommerce; headless-cms; yii2; plugins

Craft CMS: questions and answers

What is Craft CMS used for?: Craft CMS is a flexible PHP content management system with clean-slate content modeling, Twig templates, a GraphQL API and optional ecommerce. It is a good fit for bespoke marketing and editorial sites, headless content backends with GraphQL, and agency client websites.
Is Craft CMS open source?: Yes. Craft CMS is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at craftcms/cms and is written mainly in PHP.
Is Craft CMS free?: Yes. Craft CMS is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence. Paid plans are also available, starting at $279 as a one-time payment.
Can I self-host Craft CMS?: Yes. Craft CMS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Craft CMS an alternative to?: Craft CMS is an open-source alternative to Contentstack, Storyblok, Webflow and HubSpot CMS Hub. Other open-source alternatives to Contentstack include Cockpit CMS, Cromwell CMS and Strapi.
Is Craft CMS actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Craft CMS was on 2 October 2026, and the latest release is 5.11.4, published on 1 October 2026. The project has 3.6k stars on GitHub.