CMS Research: Craft CMS

Name of CMS

Craft CMS

History

Craft CMS was developed by Pixel & Tonic and launched in 2013. It was designed to give developers and designers full control over website structure and content modeling, prioritizing a flexible architecture and user-friendly control panel.

Requirements

Craft requires PHP 8+, a web server, and a MySQL or PostgreSQL database. Composer is used to manage dependencies, making it ideal for developers familiar with modern PHP workflows.

Hosted / Self-hosted

Craft CMS is generally self-hosted, but Pixel & Tonic also offers first-party hosting options for professional users through Craft Cloud.

Cost

Craft offers a free developer license and paid commercial licenses starting around $99 per project, depending on features and support level.

User Base

Craft CMS is used by design agencies, developers, and businesses looking for custom, design-driven websites that require powerful content structures and flexible front-end capabilities.