Open source Content Management tools

Strapi

Leading open-source headless CMS — content APIs with admin panel.

MIT-licensed alternative to Contentful and Directus. Custom content types, REST/GraphQL APIs, role-based access, and plugin ecosystem.

Ghost

Professional publishing — newsletters, memberships, and monetization.

MIT-licensed alternative to WordPress and Substack. Handlebars themes, SEO built-in, Stripe integration for paid memberships, and Admin API for headless.

Payload

Next.js native headless CMS — code-first, type-safe, self-hosted.

MIT-licensed alternative to Sanity and Contentful. TypeScript schema, Admin UI, live preview, REST/GraphQL APIs, and MongoDB/PostgreSQL support.