Squidex is a free, open-source headless CMS with GraphQL and REST APIs. See pricing, features, pros and cons, and FAQs for developers and teams.
Squidex is an open-source headless content management system that stores structured content and exposes it through REST and GraphQL APIs, letting developers pull content into any website, mobile app, or product experience. It was created by German developer Sebastian Stehle and built on the .NET stack with MongoDB as its backing store.
Unlike traditional CMS platforms that couple content storage with a specific frontend, Squidex separates the two: content editors work in a browser-based backend to create schemas and manage entries, while developers consume that content programmatically. The project is available as free, self-hosted, open-source software on GitHub, or as a managed SaaS through Squidex Cloud.
Squidex centers on customizable content schemas, automatic API generation, and editorial workflow tools. Each schema editors define instantly becomes queryable through both GraphQL and REST endpoints, with built-in support for content versioning, localization, role-based permissions, and an integrated asset manager for media files. Webhooks let Squidex notify other systems, such as static site generators or CI pipelines, whenever content changes, making it suitable for JAMstack and headless frontend architectures.
Squidex offers two paths to adoption: self-hosting the open-source core for free using Docker or Kubernetes, or subscribing to Squidex Cloud, the managed SaaS version. Squidex Cloud includes a free tier with a limited monthly API call allowance, and paid tiers that scale API traffic, asset storage, and contributor limits; pricing for paid Cloud tiers is generally provided on request through Squidex's sales team.
Yes, the self-hosted, open-source edition of Squidex is free under its open-source license. Squidex Cloud also offers a free tier with usage limits, plus paid tiers for higher API traffic and storage.
Squidex is built on .NET (ASP.NET Core) with MongoDB as its default data store, and it can be self-hosted using Docker or Kubernetes.
Yes, Squidex automatically generates a GraphQL API alongside a REST API for every content schema.
Squidex was created by German software engineer Sebastian Stehle and has since grown into an open-source project with community contributors.
Yes, Squidex can be deployed on your own infrastructure using Docker images, in addition to the managed Squidex Cloud offering.
Squidex is used as a headless CMS to manage structured content, such as blog posts, product data, or documentation, that is delivered via API to websites, mobile apps, and other frontends.
Yes, Squidex has built-in localization features for managing content in multiple languages within a single schema.
Squidex offers similar structured-content and API-first capabilities to Contentful but is open source and can be self-hosted for free, whereas Contentful is a closed-source SaaS product.