Concrete CMS
The free, open source CMS for teams who need powerful content control
About Concrete CMS
Concrete CMS is a free, open source content management system designed for teams that need intuitive in-context editing, granular permissions, and enterprise-grade security. Originally released as concrete5 in 2008, it enables non-technical editors to manage website content directly on the page without any coding knowledge. It is trusted by government agencies, universities, and enterprises for its security track record and flexible multi-site management capabilities.
Pros & Cons
Pros
- Genuinely intuitive in-context editing lets non-technical content editors work confidently without developer involvement
- Exceptional security track record — HackerOne-tested, government-trusted, with HIPAA and SOC 2 compliant hosting options
- Granular permissions and multi-step content approval workflows suit enterprise and regulated-industry use cases
- Free and fully open source — no licensing fees for self-hosted deployments
- Multi-site management from a single installation reduces overhead for agencies and large organizations
- Active open source community with a vetted marketplace of add-ons and themes
Cons
- Add-on ecosystem is significantly smaller than WordPress or Drupal, limiting third-party integrations
- Developer documentation is inconsistent and does not cover all APIs fully, increasing onboarding time
- No native e-commerce functionality built in — requires third-party add-ons for online store features
- Managed hosting plans have low page-view caps on entry-level tiers, which may not suit growing sites
Key Features
In-Context Editing
Edit website content directly on the live page with a WYSIWYG drag-and-drop editor — no coding required and no separate backend interface needed.
Granular Permissions & Workflows
Fine-grained access controls allow you to assign user groups, configure multi-step content approval workflows, and restrict editing rights down to individual page blocks.
Multi-Site Management
Control multiple websites from a single installation and shared dashboard, with shared resources and centralized user management across all sites.
Multilingual Content
Full translation management with locale-based settings, enabling teams to publish content in multiple languages from a single backend with multilingual SEO support.
Built-in SEO Tools
Custom URLs, XML sitemaps, meta tags editor, Open Graph social sharing, and a bulk page updater for managing SEO metadata at scale.
Form Builder
Create contact forms, surveys, and data collection forms without any design or coding, with a built-in reporting dashboard to analyze responses.
Version Control & Audit Trails
Comprehensive change logs track all edits with the ability to review, compare, and revert to any previous version of a page.
Enterprise Security
HackerOne-tested security, CAPTCHA, SSL compatibility, audit trails, and SOC 2 / HIPAA compliant hosting options — trusted by the U.S. Army and government agencies.
Extensible Marketplace
Thousands of vetted themes and add-ons available through the official marketplace, installable with one click directly from the admin dashboard.
Blog & Calendar
Built-in blogging platform with RSS, multiple authors, categories, and comments, plus a full calendar and events system with weekly/monthly views.
Pricing
- Full CMS software at no cost
- Self-hosted on your own server
- Access to full feature set
- Community support via forums
- Marketplace add-ons (free and paid)
- 1 Site Editor
- Unlimited support questions
- Free SSL certificate
- Managed upgrades
- Nightly backups
- 10,000 monthly page views
- 2GB storage
- 5 Site Editors
- Unlimited support questions
- Free SSL certificate
- CDN included
- DDoS protection
- Managed upgrades
- Nightly backups
- 50,000 monthly page views
- 20GB storage
- Unlimited support
- Continuous backups
- Staging and production servers
- Custom development
- CI/CD pipelines
- High availability
- Large data storage support
Best For
Government & Public Sector Websites
Concrete CMS is a proven choice for government agencies that require strict security compliance, granular permissions, and auditable content workflows.
University & Higher Education Portals
Multi-site management and role-based permissions make it ideal for universities managing dozens of department websites from a central installation.
Corporate & Enterprise Intranet
Content approval workflows, version control, and fine-grained access controls make it well-suited for internal corporate communications portals.
Agency Client Websites
Web agencies can build, deploy, and manage multiple client sites from one installation, reducing infrastructure costs and centralizing administration.
Multilingual Business Websites
Organizations serving global audiences benefit from built-in translation management and locale-based SEO for full multilingual publishing.
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