11 Lightning-Fast Flat File CMS

Setting up CMS can be a nightmare if you don't really know server-side languages and server configuration. Worse, you also need to know how to set up the database as well. You need the database host, credential and a database. To cut it short, it's not an easy task and it would be a nightmare to most novice designers and developers.

With the emerging of powerful Flat file CMSes, people starts using them as the platforms for personal and commercial websites. Since there's no longer database involved, flat file CMS is usually lightweight and lightning fast! And the best thing is - setting up a CMS has became remarkably easy.

Inspired by a great post written by Jeremiad Shoaf - Goodbye WordPress, 2014 will be the year of flat file CMSes, he outlined a few advantages of not using a database (shamelessly copied from the post):

• Speed – without needing to connect to a database to retrieve content, flat-file sites load pages blazingly fast
• Security – databases are often the first thing hackers target and without a database that potential security hole will be completely removed
• Simplicity – no need to configure or maintain a database – “installation” is just a matter of uploading files
• Less-expensive server usage – databases use up a lot of server resources, even on VPS or dedicated servers – there will never be a need to purchase expensive hosting add-ons to ensure your database doesn’t crash
• Version control – everything is just files and folders so it’s easy to version control absolutely everything
• Portability – a site can quickly be moved to another server without needing to export and configure a database

However, in my opinion, flat file CMS is an effective solution for small websites, for big commercial and organisation website, it won't be the right solution. If it's a small project, here we have 11 flat file CMS solutions for you. Most of them are equipped with Markdown powered editor and some have multiple users capability too.

Anyway, if you think flat file CMS isn't your thing, you can check out this post for CMSes that use database - Lightweight and flexible PHP CMS.

Pico

Pico uses Markdown formating as editor and for developer, it uses Twig template for building powerful and flexible templates.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Plugins

Kirby

Markdown Syntax editor with Dropbox support.

• License: Free to try. $30 per website.
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Kirby Extension Repo

Monstra

Multi user support. You can have multiple administrators and editors to manage the site.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Plugins

Get Simple

GetSimple is an XML based, stand-a-alone, fully independant and lite Content Management System.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Extensions

Feindura

Feindura has a full WYSIWYG editor and a file management tool. Backend itself has a multi-language support tool.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Yes

RazorCMS

RazorCMS has content, file, backup, user, settings and blade managers in the backend.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Yes, Blade Packs

Statamic

Statamic is a flat-file content management system that makes mixing static and dynamic elements simple. Statamic is not a static-site generator. It’s live, quick, and dynamic.

• License: Premium. $29 for personal & non-commercial sites. $99 for client, company & organisation sites.
• Support Plugins/Extensions: Add-ons

Dropplets

A fresh platform dedicated to making blogging simple again. With no database, you can install Dropplets in seconds on any server, compose offline using markdown, then simply upload to publish.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: None

LotusCMS

Easy, customizable, flat-file, content management system (CMS). It uses only text files and will run on any server where basic PHP5 fread()/fwrite() exist. Includes module system, easy templating (any layout can be integrated), WYSIWYG editor + more!

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: None

FlatPress

FlatPress is a blogging engine that saves your posts as simple text files.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: None

JekyII

Jekyll is a simple, blog-aware, static site generator. It takes a template directory containing raw text files in various formats, runs it through Markdown (or Textile) and Liquid converters, and spits out a complete, ready-to-publish static website suitable for serving with your favorite web server.

• License: Open source
• Support Plugins/Extensions: None

• TAGS:
• Cms
• Database
• Php
• Tools