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  5. Grav vs Netlify CMS

Grav vs Netlify CMS

OverviewComparisonAlternatives

Overview

Grav
Grav
Stacks114
Followers158
Votes16
GitHub Stars15.2K
Forks1.4K
Netlify CMS
Netlify CMS
Stacks523
Followers565
Votes6

Grav vs Netlify CMS: What are the differences?

# Key Differences between Grav and Netlify CMS

Grav and Netlify CMS are both content management systems, but they have some key differences that set them apart. Below are the main differences between Grav and Netlify CMS.

1. **Architecture**: Grav is a file-based CMS that does not require a database, allowing for faster performance and easier setup. On the other hand, Netlify CMS is a headless CMS that is designed to work with static site generators, providing easy integration with Git workflow and deployment to Netlify hosting.

2. **Extensibility**: Grav offers a wide range of plugins and themes to extend its functionality, making it customizable for different needs. In contrast, Netlify CMS has limited plugins and is more focused on simplifying the content editing experience with a user-friendly interface.

3. **Hosting**: Grav can be hosted on any server that supports PHP, giving users more freedom in choosing their hosting provider. Netlify CMS, however, is tightly integrated with Netlify hosting, offering a seamless deployment process for sites built with static site generators.

4. **Workflow**: Grav is suitable for smaller websites and blogs where content updates are less frequent and can be managed directly from the file system. Netlify CMS is ideal for larger websites with multiple contributors, providing a collaborative editing environment with version control and content staging.

5. **Learning Curve**: Grav is relatively easy to learn for users familiar with web technologies like HTML and CSS, as it follows a traditional content management approach. Netlify CMS, on the other hand, may have a steeper learning curve for beginners due to its reliance on Git and static site generators.

6. **Community Support**: Grav has a strong and active community that contributes to its development, offering comprehensive documentation and support forums. Netlify CMS, being a newer tool, is rapidly growing in popularity but may have limited community resources compared to more established CMS platforms like Grav.

In Summary, Grav and Netlify CMS differ in their architecture, extensibility, hosting options, workflow capabilities, learning curve, and community support, catering to different user needs and preferences in content management. 

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Detailed Comparison

Grav
Grav
Netlify CMS
Netlify CMS

It is a free, open-source and self-hosted content management system (CMS) based on the PHP programming language and Symfony web application framework. It uses a flat file database for both backend and frontend. It is more widely used, and growing at a faster rate, than other leading flat-file CMS competitors.

It is built as a single-page React app. You can create custom-styled previews, UI widgets, and editor plugins or add backends to support different Git platform APIs.

Twig; YAML; Markdown; Flat-file; CLI
Fast, web-based UI; platform agnostic; easy install; oaut2 and jwt; flexible content types; fully extensible
Statistics
GitHub Stars
15.2K
GitHub Stars
-
GitHub Forks
1.4K
GitHub Forks
-
Stacks
114
Stacks
523
Followers
158
Followers
565
Votes
16
Votes
6
Pros & Cons
Pros
  • 4
    Easy to Update
  • 3
    No Databases
  • 2
    Extensive Plugins
  • 2
    Fast Performance
  • 2
    Strong Security
Cons
  • 2
    Not easily to intergrate as an eCommerce (yet)
Pros
  • 3
    Open source
  • 2
    Free
  • 1
    GraphQL API
Cons
  • 2
    No relations between items
Integrations
NGINX
NGINX
Symfony
Symfony
PHP
PHP
React
React
Gatsby
Gatsby

What are some alternatives to Grav, Netlify CMS?

WordPress

WordPress

The core software is built by hundreds of community volunteers, and when you’re ready for more there are thousands of plugins and themes available to transform your site into almost anything you can imagine. Over 60 million people have chosen WordPress to power the place on the web they call “home” — we’d love you to join the family.

Drupal

Drupal

Drupal is an open source content management platform powering millions of websites and applications. It’s built, used, and supported by an active and diverse community of people around the world.

Strapi

Strapi

Strapi is100% JavaScript, extensible, and fully customizable. It enables developers to build projects faster by providing a customizable API out of the box and giving them the freedom to use the their favorite tools.

Ghost

Ghost

Ghost is a platform dedicated to one thing: Publishing. It's beautifully designed, completely customisable and completely Open Source. Ghost allows you to write and publish your own blog, giving you the tools to make it easy and even fun to do.

Wagtail

Wagtail

Wagtail is a Django content management system built originally for the Royal College of Art and focused on flexibility and user experience.

OctoberCMS

OctoberCMS

It is a Laravel-based CMS engineered for simplicity. It has a simple and intuitive interface. It provides a consistent structure with an emphasis on reusability so you can focus on building something unique while we handle the boring bits.

Twill

Twill

Twill is an open source CMS toolkit for Laravel that helps developers rapidly create a custom admin console that is intuitive, powerful and flexible.

ProcessWire

ProcessWire

ProcessWire is an open source content management system (CMS) and web application framework aimed at the needs of designers, developers and their clients. ProcessWire gives you more control over your fields, templates and markup than other platforms, and provides a powerful template system that works the way you do

Typo3

Typo3

It is a free and open-source Web content management system written in PHP. It can run on several web servers, such as Apache or IIS, on top of many operating systems, among them Linux, Microsoft Windows, FreeBSD, macOS and OS/2.

Directus

Directus

Let's say you're planning on managing content for a website, native app, and widget. Instead of using a CMS that's baked into the website client, it makes more sense to decouple your content entirely and access it through an API or SDK. That's a headless CMS. That's Directus.

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