Keystatic
Best for technical editors who want clean files
What Keystatic is
Keystatic, from Thinkmill, is a well-crafted Git-based CMS with a schema defined in code and Markdown, JSON, and YAML clean enough to keep editing by hand. Developer-adjacent teams on Next.js, Astro, and Remix like it a lot.
For non-technical editors it is a harder sell: GitHub mode requires each editor to have a GitHub account with write access to the repository, Keystatic Cloud is the way around that, and publishes land in the repo with no review step.
Why it is number 4
Clean files and a typed schema for Next.js and Astro. Editors need GitHub write access or Keystatic Cloud seats.
Pros
- Free, open source, actively developed
- Clean two-way editing of Markdown, JSON, and YAML
- Solid fit for Next.js, Astro, and Remix
Cons
Skip it if one of these is a deal-breaker.
- Editors need GitHub write access or Keystatic Cloud seats
- Schema maintained per site
- No approval step before publish
Pricing
Free and open source (MIT); Keystatic Cloud free for 3 users, Pro from $10/mo plus $5 per extra user.
- Model
- Self-hosted admin UI
- Setup
- keystatic.config per site
- Review flow
- No
- Price
- Free; Cloud from $10/mo
Prices are what keystatic.com printed on . Check before you buy.
Alternatives to Keystatic
- Decap CMS
Best battle-tested free panel
#2 in the ranking. Free
- Sveltia CMS
Best modern take on the free panel
#5 in the ranking. Free (MIT)
- Pages CMS
Best free option with hosting and sign-in handled
#6 in the ranking. Free (MIT)
- Free
- Open source
- Next.js
- Astro
