What is Umbraco CMS used for?

Umbraco CMS is a free, open-source content management system built on .NET and ASP.NET Core, used to build and edit websites and digital experiences. It is a good fit for websites built by .NET development teams and agency client sites on ASP.NET Core.

Is Umbraco CMS open source?

Yes. Umbraco CMS is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at umbraco/Umbraco-CMS and is written mainly in C#.

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

Can I self-host Umbraco CMS?

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

What is Umbraco CMS an alternative to?

Umbraco CMS is an open-source alternative to Sitecore, Optimizely, Xperience by Kentico and Adobe Experience Manager. Other open-source alternatives to Sitecore include dotCMS, Wagtail and TYPO3.

Is Umbraco CMS actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Umbraco CMS was on 2 October 2026. The project has 5.3k stars on GitHub.

Umbraco CMS: open-source alternative to Sitecore, Optimizely

About Umbraco CMS

Umbraco is a free and open-source content management system for the .NET platform. Developers use it to build websites and digital experiences with .NET and ASP.NET Core, while editors manage content through a browser-based back office.

The homepage could not be retrieved when this entry was prepared, so details come from the repository description and metadata. The project is a .NET codebase tagged for .NET Core and ASP.NET Core. The vendor also operates a managed cloud service for hosting Umbraco sites, and an ecosystem of packages extends the core.

Umbraco is licensed under MIT, so you can self-host it on your own web servers or Windows and Linux hosting. It suits agencies and in-house .NET teams that want a flexible, extensible CMS in their existing technology stack.

Key features

Open-source .NET content management system
ASP.NET Core based architecture
Browser-based back office for editors
Extensible through packages
Self-hosted or managed cloud deployment

Good fit for

→Websites built by .NET development teams
→Agency client sites on ASP.NET Core

Built with: C#
Tags: cms; dotnet; aspnet-core; csharp; content-management; open-source; self-hosted

Umbraco CMS: questions and answers

What is Umbraco CMS used for?: Umbraco CMS is a free, open-source content management system built on .NET and ASP.NET Core, used to build and edit websites and digital experiences. It is a good fit for websites built by .NET development teams and agency client sites on ASP.NET Core.
Is Umbraco CMS open source?: Yes. Umbraco CMS is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at umbraco/Umbraco-CMS and is written mainly in C#.
Is Umbraco CMS free?: Yes. Umbraco CMS is open source, so the software itself is free to use. A managed cloud version is also available.
Can I self-host Umbraco CMS?: Yes. Umbraco CMS can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Umbraco CMS an alternative to?: Umbraco CMS is an open-source alternative to Sitecore, Optimizely, Xperience by Kentico and Adobe Experience Manager. Other open-source alternatives to Sitecore include dotCMS, Wagtail and TYPO3.
Is Umbraco CMS actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Umbraco CMS was on 2 October 2026. The project has 5.3k stars on GitHub.