Keystone vs OJS
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?
Keystone
Headless CMS framework with a powerful GraphQL API
VS
OJS
Software to manage scholarly journals
| Feature | Keystone | OJS |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Content Management Systems | Content Management Systems |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0-only |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 50 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,938 | ★ 1,025 |
| First released | 2013 | 2024 |
| Replaces | Contentful, Strapi | — |
Why pick each one
Choose OJS if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0-only license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is Keystone or OJS better?
Neither is universally better. Keystone has the larger community, while OJS is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Keystone and OJS free and open-source?
Yes. Keystone is licensed under MIT and OJS under GPL-3.0-only. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Keystone and OJS with Docker?
Keystone: yes. OJS: check the project docs for container support.