Unlock the Power of Headless CMS: Top Open-Source Options for JavaScript Developers

What is a Headless CMS?

In today’s digital landscape, managing content efficiently is crucial. A Content Management System (CMS) is an application that enables the creation and modification of digital content. A headless CMS is a CMS without the frontend layer, giving developers the freedom to choose how content is served.

Rise of Headless CMS

The growing popularity of JAMSTACK has led to the adoption of headless CMS. This decoupling of the frontend from the CMS provides flexibility in building the view layer of the CMS. In this article, we’ll explore popular open-source headless CMS options for JavaScript developers.

Ghost: A Popular Headless CMS

Ghost, with 34.5K GitHub Stars, is an API-driven, headless CMS built with Node.js. It serves content using REST API endpoints, divided into three categories: Content API, Admin, and Webhooks. Ghost comes with a set of tools, including Ghost CLI, Migration, and JavaScript SDK.

npm install -g @tryghost/cli
ghost install

To get started, install the CLI via npm or yarn and then install Ghost in your desired directory.

Strapi: A Fully-Customizable Headless CMS

Strapi, maintained by over 100 contributors, is an open-source headless CMS based on Node.js. It offers multi-database support, webhooks, auto-generated documentation, and authentication and permissions. Data can be consumed via REST API or GraphQL.

Strapi provides a one-click deployment option to hosting platforms like:

• Heroku
• Digital Ocean
• Platform.sh

Netlify CMS: A Git-Based Headless CMS

Netlify CMS is a single-page React application that allows users to work with content on any site built with a static site generator. It offers full-version control on all content, fast web UI, platform-agnostic support, easy installation, modern authentication, flexible content types, and one-click deployment to Netlify.

Get started by:

• adding it to an existing site
• using a starter template

Keystone 5: A Headless CMS Built with Node.js

Keystone 5 is the latest version of the Keystone CMS, built with Node.js. It’s frontend agnostic and can be used with popular frontend frameworks, static site generators, and mobile applications. Keystone 5 offers a GraphQL API, extensible admin UI, database adapters, access control, and third-party authentication.

npm install -g keystone-cli
keystone init

To get started, ensure you have either MongoDB or PostgreSQL and run the installation code.

Choosing the Right Headless CMS

Each of the mentioned CMS options comes with unique features. Depending on your use case, determine what will be best for your application. With headless CMS, you’re in charge of how your content is stored and presented.

Remember: choose a headless CMS that fits your project’s requirements.