Cockpit Next vs Plasmic
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Cockpit Next | Plasmic |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 81 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source, docker | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 747 | ★ 7,034 |
| First released | 2021 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Contentful, Strapi | Webflow, Contentful |
What are Cockpit Next and Plasmic?
Cockpit Next
Cockpit Next is the rewritten generation of the Cockpit headless CMS, providing a content API, structured content management, and asset handling without dictating a presentation layer. It is designed to serve content to websites, apps, and other services.
- Headless content API
- Structured content models
- Asset manager
- Lightweight footprint
Plasmic
Plasmic is a visual page builder and headless content platform that lets teams design pages and components and pull them into code. Its open-source codebase can be self-hosted to manage visual content alongside structured data.
- Visual page builder
- Headless content API
- Code component integration
- Reusable design system
Cockpit Next vs Plasmic: key differences
Cockpit Next is written in PHP, while Plasmic is built with TypeScript. Cockpit Next is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 2,048 MB for Plasmic. Plasmic has the considerably larger community, at 7,034 GitHub stars versus 747.
Why pick each one
Choose Cockpit Next if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Choose Plasmic if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 7k GitHub stars
- Written in TypeScript
Watch out for
- Self-hosting is involved
- Resource heavy
Frequently asked questions
Is Cockpit Next or Plasmic better?
Neither is universally better. Plasmic has the larger community, while Cockpit Next is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Cockpit Next and Plasmic free and open-source?
Yes. Cockpit Next is licensed under MIT and Plasmic under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cockpit Next and Plasmic with Docker?
Cockpit Next: yes. Plasmic: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Cockpit Next or Plasmic?
Cockpit Next has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 2,048 MB for Plasmic. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.