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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

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24 alternatives to Check Out CMS

https://github.com/turboblack/HamsterCMS No database required! You only need one file to work! Works on PHP 8 without preinstalled frameworks Just copy the files to the server (or hosting). No settings needed. Perfect for a simple home page. The hamster works very quickly. The hamster code is simple and clear! Open source and free! Multi-template Easy to adapt templates.

Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Check Out CMS launched in 2024; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1IM

    https://github.com/turboblack/HamsterCMS http://web1.0hosting.net/ - free hosting based on this CMS

    2024 · its alternatives →

  2. 2

    Hello HN! I've found my SQL knowledge to be lacking, so I made a project that uses SQLite as a backend. As it is intended for self-hosting I aim to make it easy to set up and maintain. Getting it up & running takes no more than a few commands (bar setting up a proxy such as nginx, which is out of scope). I've set up a "demo" site at https://forum.agreper.com/ if you want to try out the UI.

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  3. 3
    ServBay▲399

    Hello HN, I’m one of the creators of ServBay. I built this because I got tired of the cognitive load required just to start coding. On my Mac, it was a fragile mix of Homebrew services and asdf conflicts. On Windows, managing PATH variables and fighting with Docker Desktop's resource usage was equally frustrating. I missed the simplicity of the MAMP/XAMPP era, but I needed to support modern stacks (Go, Rust, Node, etc.). What it is: ServBay is a native local development environment for both macOS and Windows. It is not a wrapper around Docker or VMs. It bundles everything you need into…

    2024 · servbay.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4

    PHP Microframework. Contribute to radiosilence/Ham development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2012 · github.com · its alternatives →

  5. 5

    Modern, fast, and easy to use SQL GUI. Loads of supported databases & full feature parity across all OSes.

    2020 · beekeeperstudio.io · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    Open source web highlighter for notion. FREE FOREVER

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7CF

    https://github.com/turboblack/HamsterCMS added some conveniences for editing content, as well as new templates

    2024 · its alternatives →

  8. 8AM

    First, I'm by no mean a programmer. Second, I am reading HN for years, just registered to make this public and see if it can be useful for someone. I have nothing to gain monetary. A while ago, I decided that no blogging system was simple enough and I looked for a small wiki to use as a CMS/blog. Found WikWiki on C2.com and I mixed it with some basic Markdown syntax, a minimal template and added password protection. The result is a single php file, no database and no dependencies. Code is a mess, not modulable, probably wrong in so many ways, but it can probably used by some as personal…

    2022 · mindwi.se · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    The content delivery platform that truly hops.

    Feb 2026 · bunny.net · its alternatives →

  10. 10
    InstantDB▲320

    Complete backend with auth and storage in one prompt

    Apr 2026 · instantdb.com · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    This is ymawky, a static file web server for MacOS written entirely in ARM64 assembly. It supports GET, PUT, DELETE, HEAD, and OPTIONS requests, and supports Range: bytes=X-Y headers (which allows scrubbing for video streaming). It decodes percent-encoded URLs, strictly enforces docroot, serves custom error pages for any HTTP error response, supports directory listing, and has (some) mitigations against slowloris-like attacks. I’ve also written a more detailed writeup here: https://imtomt.github.io/ymawky/

    May 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  12. 12
    Hippobase▲171

    Self-host open source databases in one click

    2021 · hippobase.io · its alternatives →

  13. 13

    Hello HN! My name is Paras and I am building this project called Slashbase. It's an open-source collaborative IDE for databases in browser. Connect to your database, browse data, run a bunch of queries or share queries within your team, right from your browser. Works with two types of databases: PostgreSQL and MongoDB. It's written in Golang and Nextjs React Framework and runs as a single binary. Features: - Cloud based: Setup on your server. Works in browser. - Easy to use: with minimal interface it is simple to use. - Collaborative: Works with your teams. Easy sharing queries within team.…

    2022 · github.com · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    Headless CMS for small projects

    2021 · justfields.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    Hey HN, We've been experimenting with a real-time, version-controlled NoDB for Deno & React called GoatDB. The idea is to remove backend complexity while keeping apps fast, offline-resilient, and easy to self-host. Runs on the client – No backend required, incremental queries keep things efficient. Self-hosted & lightweight – Deploy a single executable, no server stack needed. Offline-first & resilient – Clients work independently & can restore state after server outages. Edge-native & fast – Real-time sync happens locally with minimal overhead. Why We Built It: We needed something that’s…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16

    A back end as a service based on MongoDB. Contribute to hamsterhq/hamster development by creating an account on GitHub.

    2013 · github.com · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    I built a minimal opensource CMS, I use it myself for my blog and for other SaaS. l love blogging, and sometimes I post random thoughts on my blog. The only thing is, I always did it with .md files, which is fine too However, I was excited about the idea of using a CMS that was very minimal and avoiding the option of connecting something like WordPress or other big platforms. Open source (if you want to fork it or contribute) and free to use (unless I see you have a million views haha). Star the repo if you like it!

    Jan 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18SA

    SleekDB is a simple flat file NoSQL like database implemented in PHP without any third-party dependencies that store data in plain JSON files.

    2021 · sleekdb.github.io · its alternatives →

  19. 19HE
  20. 20MA

    Dear HN community, we are happy to announce the release of MediaCMS on Github! It is a modern CMS built in Django/PostgreSQL/React and a REST API, released under AGPL license. MediaCMS handles the life cycle of media files and is deal for those who want to build online communities around media file sharing, for informational, educational or entertainment purposes. As stated on our page on Github, we have three goals for MediaCMS: a) deliver all functionality one would expect from a modern system, b) allow for easy installation and maintenance, c) allow easy customization and…

    2020 · its alternatives →

  21. 21SF
  22. 22

    Hello HN community ! Finally I have a "Show HN" post. I'm bootstrapping my first Mac app, it's a standalone Xdebug PHP debugger. It aims to help any PHP developers out there who don't want to use IDE to debug code. My app it's slimmer, faster to load and easy to work and setup :) Hope you guys like it Site: http://codebugapp.com/

    2012 · codebugapp.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23

    Realize the speed, agility and performance of a scalable, composable web architecture with Netlify. Explore the composable web platform now!

    2019 · netlify.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24
    H.php▲8

    H.php : The Minimalist PHP Framework!

    2018 · github.com · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →