CouchCMS vs Keystone
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted content management systems options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
CouchCMS
CMS that adds editable regions to plain HTML sites
VS
Keystone
Headless CMS framework with a powerful GraphQL API
| Feature | CouchCMS | Keystone |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | PHP | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 375 | ★ 9,938 |
| First released | 2009 | 2013 |
| Replaces | WordPress | Contentful, Strapi |
Why pick each one
Choose CouchCMS if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Written in PHP
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is CouchCMS or Keystone better?
Neither is universally better. Keystone has the larger community, while CouchCMS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are CouchCMS and Keystone free and open-source?
Yes. CouchCMS is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Keystone under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run CouchCMS and Keystone with Docker?
CouchCMS: check the project docs for container support. Keystone: yes.