Static site generators allow you to construct a static, HTML-based website that doesn’t need databases or external data sources, eliminating server-side processing. Why do webmasters use static websites these days? Speed. The absence of middleman/database makes the static site much more speedy and easy to load. A static site is ten times faster than a dynamic site.

Updates to a static website are typically difficult, which is why some individuals avoid using these solutions. This is where a static website content management system (CMS) can help. They provide a simple approach for non-technical users to modify and publish material in a familiar user experience, similar to what they’re used to using WordPress. If you’re going to use a static site generator for your next project, make sure you choose a good static website CMS to go with it.

16 Free Static Content Management Systems and Hosting Providers

Content Management Systems (CMS)

  1. Contentful – Enterprise-grade content editing for anything (more than just static sites)
  2. DatoCMS – An open source, and commercially supported, CMS for Static Site Generators. (Source Code)
  3. Forestry – A CMS for Jekyll and Hugo sites. Host anywhere (GitHub Pages, Amazon S3, FTP, etc) and access your static CMS from ‘site.com/admin/’.
  4. GraphCMS – Headless CMS for Digital Creators. GraphQL Content APIs for Digital Products. (Source Code)
  5. Grav – Modern, Crazy Fast, Ridiculously Easy and Amazingly Powerful Flat-File CMS.
  6. Hokus – Open source CMS for Hugo static websites.
  7. Jekyll Admin – A Jekyll plugin that provides users with a traditional CMS-style graphical interface to author content and administer Jekyll sites. (Source Code)
  8. Netlify – An open source, and commercially supported, CMS for Static Site Generators. (Source Code)
  9. Prose – An open source CMS for GitHub pages. (Source Code)
  10. Sanity.io – Sanity is an API for structured content with a React.js editing environment
  11. Siteleaf – Online editor content manager that allows you to publish anywhere, including Github Pages, and it has Jekyll support.
  12. Surreal CMS – Hosted CMS for static sites over FTP or Amazon S3.

Free hosting

  1. GitHub – One site per GitHub account and organization, and unlimited project sites.
  2. GitLab – Free static websites with GitLab Pages
  3. Neocities – Create your own free website. Unlimited creativity, zero ads.
  4. Netlify – Free to get started. The basics for personal projects, hobby sites, or experiments.