Kirby
The file-based PHP CMS with a one-time license — no database, no subscription, no lock-in.
About
Kirby is a file-based CMS: content lives in plain text files with folders serving as pages, so there is no database to configure, scale, or secure, and sites deploy anywhere PHP runs. It pairs a clean editorial Panel with a flexible PHP API, multilingual support, and the option to go headless — a combination that has made it a favorite with design studios, agencies, and artists for over a decade.
The pricing model is deliberately old-school: a one-time license, no subscription. The Basic license is €99 for projects under €1M yearly revenue; the Enterprise license is €399 with no revenue limit (per getkirby.com/buy). Licenses never expire, and students, educational projects, charities, and non-profits get free licenses. Content files version cleanly in Git. Honest limits: it is PHP-centric, so JS-framework teams will feel the impedance mismatch, and the theme/plugin ecosystem is smaller than WordPress-scale marketplaces. No published performance benchmarks found.
What it can do
- File-based content storage — no database needed
- Folders-as-pages content structure
- Editorial Panel for non-technical editors
- Multilingual content support
- Headless API option for decoupled frontends
- One-time license, no subscription
- Free licenses for students, education, and non-profits
Setup
Download Kirby, drop it on any PHP-capable host, and log into the Panel — no database setup needed.
Prerequisites
A web host with PHP; no database required.
Use cases
Works with
Trust score — 7/10
Scored 7/10 (VERIFIED tier, metrics-v1). Evidence: file-based architecture, one-time €99/€399 licensing, and free student/non-profit licenses corroborated across four sources including getkirby.com/buy. Strengths: no database to operate, licenses never expire, refreshingly honest pricing. Docked for: (1) proprietary software with a smaller ecosystem than mainstream CMSs; (2) PHP-centric — less natural for JS-framework teams. License: proprietary (one-time per-site license).
How the trust score is built
Full methodology →- Adoption · stars/downloads, log-scaled vs peers
- 7.0/10
- Maintenance · recency, releases, issue load
- 9.0/10
- Openness · license + docs
- 2.0/10
- Manual review · sanity read + red-flag check
- 8.0/10
- · File-based PHP CMS, no database; folders as pages; multilingual; optional headless API.
- · Basic license EUR99 (under EUR1M revenue), Enterprise EUR399 (no revenue limit); free for students/education/non-profits.
- · PHP-centric (impedance mismatch for JS teams); smaller theme/plugin ecosystem; no published benchmarks.
Sources
Every fact above was checked against these sources. Where a claim comes from the provider and couldn't be independently verified, the text says so.