Best Open Source Headless CMS in 2026

API-first CMS platforms that deliver content as data, letting developers build frontends with any technology.

The most popular pick this year is Strapi with 72,144 GitHub stars, but all 4 options below are worth considering depending on your needs.

4 open source headless cms — ranked by GitHub stars. Browse all

Strapi

🚀 Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS. It’s 100% JavaScript/TypeScript, fully customizable, and developer-first.

Alternative to:

WordPress

Directus

The flexible backend for all your projects 🐰 Turn your DB into a headless CMS, admin panels, or apps with a custom UI, instant APIs, auth & more.

Alternative to:

WordPress

TinaCMS

A fully open-source headless CMS with Git support, Markdown editing, and live visual preview for React-based sites.

Alternative to:

Contentful

WollyCMS

Self-hosted, open-source headless CMS built specifically for Astro.js with a block-based page builder.

Alternative to:

Contentful

How we rank these tools

Tools are ranked by GitHub stars as a proxy for community adoption and trust. Stars reflect how many developers found a project valuable enough to bookmark — a reasonable signal for quality in the open source world. We only list tools that are actively maintained and open source.

Looking for tools you can run yourself? Browse self-hosted headless cms →