Grav

Grav is a file-based web platform written in PHP. There is nothing to install in the traditional sense: you extract the archive and the site is running, and content lives in plain files rather than a database. It follows the flat-file CMS approach but with its own design philosophy.

Content is written in Markdown, templates use Twig, and configuration is in YAML. Under the hood it relies on established components, including Parsedown for Markdown, Symfony Cache, the Pimple dependency injection container, the Symfony Event Dispatcher for plugin events, Symfony Console for the command line and the Gregwar image library for dynamic image handling. A built-in package management system makes installing and upgrading plugins and themes straightforward, and it can update Grav itself.

Grav is MIT licensed and aimed at developers and small organizations that want a fast, simple CMS they can version in Git and host on cheap PHP hosting. Its topics cover website building and generation, and an admin plugin offers a web interface for those who prefer one.