Craft CMS

Craft CMS is an open-source content management system for creating custom websites and digital experiences, allowing administrators to manage content through a web-based control panel. The software is deployed as a PHP application on a server and is designed to handle a wide variety of web projects, from simple blogs to complex corporate sites.

It supports both traditional website rendering and headless configurations, enabling developers to deliver content to various platforms via an API. Because it is self-hosted, users maintain full control over their data and server environment. The system is installed using Composer and requires a compatible PHP environment to operate effectively on a web server.

Key features

• Content modeling that allows users to define their own data structures
• Templating system based on Twig for flexible front-end development
• Auto-generated GraphQL API for headless application builds
• Integrated ecommerce platform for bespoke shopping experiences
• Built-in Plugin Store containing free and commercial extensions
• Extension framework for advanced system customization
• Support for MySQL and PostgreSQL databases
• Intuitive control panel for content creation and administrative tasks

Craft CMS is built on the Yii2 framework and is compatible with PHP 7 and PHP 8. It is designed for developers and content managers who need a clean-slate approach to data, meaning the system does not impose a predefined structure on the content. This flexibility allows users to build specific content types that match their exact business requirements rather than adapting their data to fit a rigid template. The architecture is highly extensible, allowing for the addition of custom functionality through the official plugin store or by developing proprietary extensions.

For those building headless applications, the auto-generated GraphQL API removes the need to manually write endpoints for every content type. This makes it suitable for teams using modern JavaScript frameworks for the front end while relying on Craft for the backend management. The system also provides comprehensive documentation and a knowledge base to assist with installation and configuration.

This software serves as a middle ground between rigid traditional CMS platforms and fully decoupled headless systems.