- Contentful
- Publii
- Strapi
- TinaCMS
- WordPress
- DatoCMS
- Ghost
- Sanity
- Cockpit
- ButterCMS
- Other headless CMS options
- How do I host my static website?
- That’s it!
As someone who has built numerous websites over the years, I’ve come to appreciate the power and simplicity of static site generators. They offer many advantages over traditional content management systems (CMS), including faster load times, greater security, and lower hosting costs.
But this doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice the convenience of a CMS when building a static website. In fact, many great headless CMS options are specifically designed for use with static sites.
For the record, a headless CMS is a data repository for website content. It is not a full publishing system. It allows you to enter, edit, and format your website’s pages. Then it makes its data available through an API (application programming interface) to a static site generator (SSG) for rendering your pages. The SSG outputs a fully-formatted static website. Your site is now ready to host on the web.
In this article, I’ll share my top 10 picks for the best CMS for static sites. Some may surprise you!
Let’s take a quick look.
Contentful
Like most of these entries, Contentful is a headless CMS used with static site generators. A powerful API allows you to integrate your content with a wide range of platforms. Its user interface is intuitive and easy to use. Contentful offers a variety of content modeling options so that you can create custom fields and content types.
Publii
Designed as a desktop app, the Publii CMS is easy to use and appropriate for those familiar with WordPress or Joomla. It provides a graphic user interface (GUI) similar to WordPress. Outputting your pages to a static site generator is easy.
RELATED ARTICLE: What is Publii?
Strapi
Strapi is a free and open-source headless CMS. It offers a flexible and modular architecture. You can customize your content models and APIs. Strapi also offers robust authentication, role-based access control, and integrations with various third-party services.
TinaCMS
TinaCMS is the new generation of the now-defunct Forestry CMS. If you have a Forestry site, you can import it directly into TinaCMS. TinaCMS has a user-friendly interface that can be integrated directly into your site. You manage your content through a real-time preview. TinaCMS supports both Markdown and WYSIWYG editors.
WordPress
Surprised at this one? WordPress is built to function as a headless CMS that, with the help of a plugin, can output a totally static website. Many people are not aware of how easy it is to do this. I recommend the Simply Static plugin for static site generation. Assemble your pages in WordPress, click a button, and output a static website—just like that.
RELATED ARTICLE: Static Site Generators for WordPress
DatoCMS
DatoCMS offers a range of content modeling options, including custom fields, relations, and translations. You create content queries using GraphQL. DatoCMS offers a wide range of integrations with third-party services and has powerful collaboration features.
Ghost
Ghost is a very popular CMS, especially for blogs and web publishing. It provides a simple and intuitive web-based interface. Ghost offers an API that allows you to integrate your content with a variety of platforms and supports both Markdown and HTML editors.
Sanity
Headless CMS Sanity gives you a flexible and customizable schema editor, allowing you to create custom content types and fields. Sanity also has collaboration tools and integrations with third-party services.
Cockpit
Lightweight and flexible, the Cockpit CMS offers a simple and intuitive interface. You manage your content through a web-based editor. Cockpit also offers authentication and access control features and supports various content types and fields.
ButterCMS
Offering a range of content modeling options, including custom fields, ButterCMS allows you to manage your content through a user-friendly interface. ButterCMS also integrates with third-party services, including Google Sheets, Salesforce, and HubSpot.
Other headless CMS options
These are my top 10 picks for the best CMS for static sites. Of course, there are many other great options out there, and the right CMS for you will depend on your specific needs and preferences.
It’s worth noting that while static site generators offer many advantages over traditional monolithic CMS platforms, they do require a bit more technical expertise to set up and maintain (such as running regular software testing). However, even people with limited technical experience can benefit if you choose wisely.
Make sure you choose a CMS that gives you the flexibility to host your static site wherever you prefer. One recommended hosting option is Tiiny.host.
How do I host my static website?
You can visit Tiiny.host for fast, secure, and easy hosting of your static website.
Once you visit the homepage at Tiiny.host, you are three simple steps from your project being live on the web.
- Enter the link-name for your site.
- Choose HTML, then drag and drop or upload your zipped website file.
- Click the big blue “Upload” button.
That’s it!
Next steps
Tiiny.host offers everything you need for sharing a professional or personal website on the internet.
You can also host single files of almost any type, including PDFs, restaurant menus, Miro boards, text adventure games—just about anything you can digitally create.
Tiiny.host’s customer service is awesome! Contact them directly at Tiiny.host/help and see. They’ll answer your questions about their services, help you out with any problems, and explain any issues raised by this article.
