Concrete CMS vs October CMS
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Concrete CMS | October CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 82 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 852 | ★ 11,147 |
| First released | 2008 | 2014 |
| Replaces | Wix, Squarespace | WordPress, Wix |
What are Concrete CMS and October CMS?
Concrete CMS
Concrete CMS is an open-source content management system known for its intuitive in-context editing, letting users edit pages directly on the front end. It targets non-technical website owners who want easy visual control.
- In-context front-end editing
- Drag-and-drop block layouts
- Built-in marketplace
- Workflow and versioning
October CMS
October CMS is a self-hosted content management system built on the Laravel framework, designed to make web development simple again. It uses flat-file templating with a clean backend for content editors.
- Built on Laravel
- Flat-file twig-style templating
- Plugin marketplace
- Clean developer experience
Concrete CMS vs October CMS: key differences
Both projects are written in PHP. Concrete CMS is the more established project (first released 2008), while October CMS arrived in 2014. October CMS has the considerably larger community, at 11,147 GitHub stars versus 852.
Why pick each one
Choose Concrete CMS if…
- Very approachable for non-technical editors
- No separate admin needed for content
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Fewer themes available
Choose October CMS if…
- Great for Laravel developers
- Simple, transparent architecture
Watch out for
- Some plugins are paid
- Less suited to non-developers
Frequently asked questions
Is Concrete CMS or October CMS better?
Neither is universally better. October CMS has the larger community, while Concrete CMS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Concrete CMS and October CMS free and open-source?
Yes. Concrete CMS is licensed under MIT and October CMS under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Concrete CMS and October CMS with Docker?
Concrete CMS: yes. October CMS: yes.