Open-source alternatives to Keystone

Qor is a Go admin framework and backend toolkit used for building administrative interfaces, headless content management systems, and REST API generators. It provides a structured environment for implementing business application backends, specializing in the management of structured content and media assets. The project distinguishes itself through comprehensive multi-language content management, featuring locale-based data versioning and a dedicated system for internationalization and translation administration. It further differentiates its offering with a built-in state machine implementa

Apostrophe is a full-stack JavaScript content management framework built on Node.js. It functions as both a traditional CMS, integrating a backend data store with frontend template rendering, and a headless CMS that exposes content via JSON APIs for decoupled frameworks and mobile applications. The system features an in-context content editor that allows users to modify text and media directly on live pages. It also includes a multi-site management dashboard for coordinating and controlling several distinct websites from a single installation. The framework provides schema-driven content mod

Grav is a flat-file content management system that eliminates the need for a traditional database by storing site content and configuration in human-readable Markdown and YAML files. Built as a modular PHP web framework, it uses a hierarchical page routing system where the physical directory structure directly determines the site's URL paths. The platform is distinguished by its event-driven plugin architecture and a command-line interface that prioritizes system administration, deployment, and maintenance tasks. It utilizes a blueprint-driven system to generate administrative forms from stru

Parse Server is a backend-as-a-service solution and Node.js framework that provides a ready-to-use REST and GraphQL API for mobile and web applications. It functions as a core backend infrastructure for managing database schemas, user authentication, and API routing. The system distinguishes itself with a real-time data engine that pushes database updates to clients via WebSockets and a GraphQL server that automatically generates schemas based on application data models. It also features an adapter-based storage layer that abstracts interactions with various cloud and local backends. The pla

Twill is a Laravel CMS toolkit and admin panel generator designed for building custom administrative consoles and content management systems. It serves as a headless CMS framework and a toolkit for defining content models and managing structured data through a dedicated administrative interface. The project features a visual block editor that allows publishers to arrange and configure reusable content sections via a drag-and-drop interface. It includes a dedicated digital asset manager for storing, cropping, and optimizing images and files across local or cloud storage, as well as a multiling

Ghost is an open-source publishing platform and headless content management system designed for professional publishers. It provides a decoupled architecture that separates the content management backend from the front-end delivery layer, allowing users to manage editorial workflows and site data through structured web services. The platform distinguishes itself by integrating a built-in membership and subscription engine, which enables creators to manage gated content, paid tiers, and secure member profiles directly within the system. It also features a dedicated infrastructure for professio

Nhost is an open-source backend as a service that provides a managed PostgreSQL database, authentication, and file storage accessible through a unified GraphQL API. It functions as a backend infrastructure orchestrator, enabling the deployment and management of full-stack environments using containerization and command-line automation. The platform distinguishes itself by automating the transformation of relational database tables into a secure GraphQL API and providing an integrated identity provider that supports passwords, magic links, and OAuth. It also includes a serverless function runt

Twenty is a headless customer relationship management framework that enables developers to build, version, and deploy custom business applications using code. By utilizing a declarative approach to data modeling, the platform allows for the definition of custom objects, fields, and complex relationships directly within the source code. This schema-driven architecture automatically generates corresponding REST and GraphQL APIs, ensuring that data structures and interface components remain synchronized across development and production environments. The platform distinguishes itself through a m

Badaso is a headless content management system and administrative framework built on Laravel. It functions by inspecting existing database schemas to automatically generate REST and GraphQL API endpoints, effectively eliminating the need for manual backend boilerplate code. The framework distinguishes itself by providing a dynamic, Vue-based administrative dashboard that maps directly to database structures. This interface allows users to manage database records, configure navigation, and organize media assets through a visual environment, decoupling backend data management from the frontend

React-admin is a framework for building data-driven administrative interfaces that connect to REST or GraphQL backends. It provides a comprehensive suite of tools for managing the full lifecycle of administrative applications, including resource-oriented routing, declarative form scaffolding, and context-driven state management. By utilizing a modular adapter-based architecture, the framework abstracts backend communication, allowing developers to build consistent CRUD interfaces that handle data fetching, authentication, and synchronization automatically. The project distinguishes itself thr

Pimcore is an open-source data experience platform that serves as a unified framework for managing product information, digital assets, and customer data. It functions as an enterprise content management system and a master data management platform, providing a centralized source of truth for complex business information. The system is designed to support omnichannel delivery, enabling organizations to publish content and manage digital experiences across diverse platforms through both traditional and headless architectures. The platform distinguishes itself through a metadata-driven object m

bknd is a self-hosted backend-as-a-service platform and serverless backend framework that provides an integrated environment for managing databases, authentication, and file storage. It functions as a headless CMS and a portable API engine designed to run across various JavaScript runtimes, including Node.js, Bun, Cloudflare Workers, and AWS Lambda. The project distinguishes itself through a combination of schema-driven API generation and a built-in database management UI. It enables the definition of data structures either programmatically via a type-safe API or visually through an administr

TheHive is a security incident response platform and multi-tenant case management system. It functions as a Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response (SOAR) tool and a threat intelligence platform designed to coordinate security investigations by managing alerts, cases, and observables. The platform is distinguished by its multi-tenant architecture, which isolates data across different organizations while supporting selective cross-tenant sharing. It features a SOAR automation engine capable of executing sandboxed JavaScript logic to automate workflows and trigger response actions thro

TinaCMS is a headless content management framework that bridges local Git-based file storage with a visual, in-context editing interface. By treating your repository as the single source of truth, it enables developers to manage content as structured data files while providing editors with a browser-based dashboard to modify website content directly within a live preview. The framework distinguishes itself by transforming local files into a unified GraphQL API, which powers both the administrative interface and the application's data retrieval layer. This architecture allows for compile-time

Mezzanine is a web-based content management system built on the Django framework. It provides a suite of tools for managing site content, pages, and hierarchical structures. The platform features a visual website editor with drag-and-drop interfaces for modifying page layouts and content without writing raw HTML. It includes a multilingual framework for translating website text into multiple languages for global audiences. The system covers a broad range of administrative and operational capabilities, including e-commerce product catalogs and transaction processing, identity management for u

Fuel CMS is a modular content management platform built on the CodeIgniter framework, designed for managing structured data and administrative workflows. It functions as a server-side application that provides a centralized dashboard for organizing site-wide variables, custom data models, and reusable content blocks. The system distinguishes itself through model-driven administrative generation, which automatically creates management interfaces by inspecting database schemas. It supports granular security through hierarchical permission access control and user activity auditing, allowing admi

This project is a modular, open-source customer relationship management platform built on the Laravel framework. It serves as a comprehensive business application framework designed for tracking sales pipelines, managing business entities, and automating marketing workflows. By providing a self-hosted solution, it enables organizations to maintain full control over their contact data, sales leads, and communication history. The platform distinguishes itself through a highly extensible architecture that allows developers to modify core behavior without altering the underlying source code. It u

Payload is a headless content management system and application framework that uses a code-first approach to define data schemas and administrative interfaces. By utilizing a centralized, type-safe configuration object, it automatically generates database schemas, API endpoints, and a fully customizable admin panel. The system is built on a database-agnostic architecture, allowing it to interface with various storage engines while providing a unified, type-safe API for server-side operations, REST, and GraphQL. What distinguishes Payload is its deep extensibility and developer-centric design.

DataHub is a metadata management platform designed to unify technical, operational, and business context across diverse data ecosystems. By utilizing a graph-based metadata model and an event-driven ingestion architecture, it creates a centralized source of truth that maps complex data relationships, lineage, and ownership. This foundational framework enables organizations to maintain a synchronized view of their data landscape, supporting both human-led discovery and automated data operations. The platform distinguishes itself through its focus on grounding artificial intelligence and autono

Business class content management for Node.js (plugins, server cluster management, data-driven pages)

Cockpit is a headless content management system and API-driven content manager. It functions as a decoupled CMS that separates backend data storage from the frontend presentation layer. The system manages website content by providing structured data to applications through REST or GraphQL interfaces. This approach utilizes an API-first data distribution model to ensure platform independence for the client application. Content is organized using schema-driven modeling and delivered through a headless delivery architecture. This decouples the administrative content editor from the end-user dis

Budibase is a low-code application platform and enterprise internal tool builder used to create custom business applications for organizational processes and reporting. It functions as a self-hosted backend as a service, providing the infrastructure to manage database integrations and expose public data interfaces for external application access. The platform includes an AI agent orchestrator for deploying autonomous agents that interact with business data and execute operational tasks. It differentiates itself through self-hosted infrastructure management, allowing the system to run on priva

API Platform is a headless content management system engine and framework used to build REST and GraphQL APIs. It utilizes schema-driven generation to automatically produce web endpoints based on predefined data model definitions. The platform focuses on semantic data modeling, using structured classes and ontologies to ensure information is organized for search engines and semantic web tools. It provides an automated OpenAPI specification generator and a declarative system for creating administration dashboards to manage data records without custom frontend code. The system includes capabil

Sqlpad is a web-based SQL client and multi-tenant workbench used for writing, executing, and saving queries across multiple relational and analytical databases. It functions as an ODBC database manager that enables users to manage database connections and explore schemas through a browser interface. The platform distinguishes itself as a collaborative environment where users can share SQL documents and coordinate data analysis. It integrates identity federation via OpenID Connect, SAML, LDAP, and OAuth, and provides a visualization system that renders query results into charts and tables. Th

Dependency-Track is a software composition analysis tool and vulnerability management system designed to track dependencies and supply chain risk. It functions as a platform for ingesting and analyzing CycloneDX software bills of materials to identify known vulnerabilities and license compliance issues within third-party software components. The system distinguishes itself by mirroring external vulnerability databases locally to enable fast offline analysis and using VEX documents to differentiate between technical vulnerabilities and actual contextual risks. It also integrates with identity

Microfeed is a serverless content management system hosted on Cloudflare infrastructure for managing blogs, podcasts, and multimedia feeds. It functions as a self-hosted multimedia publisher and a headless content API, allowing users to organize text, audio, and video content under a custom domain. The system includes an RSS and JSON feed generator to distribute machine-readable content to external aggregators and podcast players. It provides a programmatic interface for managing and serving content as a data source for external client applications. The platform covers administrative dashboa

This project is a Model Context Protocol server and AI agent database connector. It provides a standardized communication layer that allows language models to interact with relational data stores, read database schemas, and manage PostgreSQL database resources. The implementation acts as a serverless host for the Model Context Protocol, deploying on distributed edge functions to connect AI assistants to a project. This enables AI agents to perform database administration, execute SQL queries, and handle schema migrations through an AI-compatible interface. The system covers broader capabilit