Sveltia CMS
Best modern take on the free panel
What Sveltia CMS is
Sveltia CMS is the actively developed successor to Netlify/Decap CMS: the same configuration model, rewritten from scratch with a fast UI, first-class i18n, real asset management, and mobile support. Free and MIT-licensed, framework-neutral, and it adds nothing to your site's runtime. It also has an editorial workflow: on the GitHub or GitLab backend each draft becomes a branch and a pull request, and publishing merges it.
You keep the model's obligations. The config file stays yours to maintain, and sign-in is a GitHub, GitLab, or Gitea OAuth flow you set up, since Sveltia supports neither Git Gateway nor the Netlify Identity widget by design. It is also still a 0.x beta from a single maintainer, with 1.0 scheduled for late 2026.
Why it is number 5
Decap's config with a faster UI, real asset management and PR drafts. Still a 0.x beta from one maintainer.
Pros
- Free (MIT), fast-moving, migration guides from Decap and Static CMS
- Substantially better editor UX than the original
- PR-based editorial workflow on GitHub and GitLab
Cons
Skip it if one of these is a deal-breaker.
- Config maintained per site
- OAuth sign-in is yours to wire, and editors need Git accounts
- Still 0.x beta from one maintainer; 1.0 due late 2026
Pricing
Free and open source (MIT).
- Model
- Self-hosted panel
- Setup
- Decap-style config + OAuth
- Review flow
- PR drafts on GitHub/GitLab
- Price
- Free (MIT)
Prices are what sveltiacms.app printed on . Check before you buy.
Alternatives to Sveltia CMS
- Free
- Open source
- Framework-neutral
- Beta
