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Best Self-Hosted CMS & blogging Tools

5 self-hostable cms & blogging tools you can run on your own server — compared on specs, deployment difficulty, and the SaaS each one replaces.

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CMS & blogging

Drupal

A PHP content management framework for structured, multilingual websites, extended with contributed modules and themes.
PHPSymfony
easyRead guide →
CMS & blogging

Ghost

A Node.js publishing platform for blogs and paid newsletters, with built-in member signups, email delivery and Stripe subscriptions.
Node.jsMySQL
easyRead guide →
CMS & blogging

Halo

A Java-based website and blog builder with a plugin and theme system, run from a Docker image with PostgreSQL or MySQL.
JavaSpring BootVue
easyRead guide →
CMS & blogging

Joomla

A PHP content management system for websites, with built-in multilingual support, access control and an extension directory.
PHPMySQL
easyRead guide →
CMS & blogging

WordPress

The PHP and MySQL content management system for websites and blogs, extended with themes and plugins.
PHPMySQL
easyRead guide →

Head-to-heads in this category

CMS & bloggingSep 2026
Ghost
vs
WordPress

A publication with members and paid newsletters built in vs. the plugin-extended CMS.

Read the verdict →
Where to host itaffiliate disclosure
Kamaterafree trial
From $4/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 20 GB · US + EU + Asia
Start free on Kamatera → (opens in new tab)
DigitalOceanalso works on
From $6/mo · 1 vCPU / 1 GB / 25 GB · US + EU + Asia
Deploy on DigitalOcean → (opens in new tab)

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