dotCMS
dotCMS: A multi-site CMS with free access, flexible APIs, and governance controls. Ranked #8 of 34 in Headless CMS by our editors (8.6/10); pricing: Free plan; best for multi-site teams wanting a free CMS option.
At a glance
- Editor score8.6 / 10
- PricingFree plan
- Best forMulti-site teams wanting a free CMS option
- Free planYes
- API typesBoth
- Facts checked20 Sep 2026
Where it wins
- Free BSL plan includes unlimited users and unlimited content
- REST and GraphQL APIs support flexible content delivery
- Localization, permissions, previews, and multi-site management are included
Where it doesn't
- Commercial plans require a pricing request
- Free BSL use has revenue and licensing conditions
- The free plan provides basic workflows rather than advanced governance
Our verdict on dotCMS
dotCMS is a headless content management platform for enterprises managing websites, portals, intranets, and other digital experiences. It suits multi-site teams that need structured reusable content, visual editing, multilingual entries, previews, workflows, and granular access controls. Delivery and management are supported through REST APIs, while GraphQL provides an additional content delivery option. Deployment choices include cloud, on-premises, managed service, and self-hosted environments, with web, API, and self-hosted platform support.
Pricing is organized across Starter, Professional, Business, Enterprise, and Free (BSL) plans. The Free plan is available to companies with under $5M in revenue and includes unlimited users, unlimited content, basic workflows, and self-hosting. Starter adds unlimited users and roles plus development and production environments. Professional adds high-availability production, a built-in CDN, WAF, and IDP support. Business adds advanced workflows, permissions, governance, and high-performance delivery with CDN and edge support. Enterprise adds full environment flexibility, enterprise-grade security and access control, and custom infrastructure, scaling, and support options. Commercial plans use request pricing.
For teams with varied publishing needs, dotCMS combines content modeling with visual page editing, preview capabilities, language fallback, dynamic image processing, and workflow-triggered custom webhooks. Integrations include AWS Rekognition, Google Analytics, Google Translate, Grafana Loki, OpenAI, and Shopify. These capabilities support a broad multi-site publishing setup while leaving front-end development flexible through API delivery. Teams choosing the Free plan should review its eligibility and licensing conditions, and organizations needing advanced workflows, governance, high availability, or custom infrastructure should consider the applicable paid tier. dotCMS is a fit for teams prioritizing structured content and governance; it is less suited to buyers seeking published commercial plan prices or an open-source CMS.
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dotCMS pricing
All 5 dotCMS plans and prices →
dotCMS fact sheet
| Free plan | Yes |
|---|---|
| Paid from | Not verified |
| API types | Both |
| Content localization | Yes |
| Role permissions | Custom |
| Webhooks | Yes |
| Content preview | Yes |
| Asset transformations | Yes |
| Deployment | Cloud, Self-hosted |
| Platforms | Web |
| Compliance & security | SOC 2, ISO 27001, SSO/SAML, 2FA |
| Support | Email, Community, Docs |
| Built for | Mid-market, Enterprise (editorial estimate) |
| Integrations | 6 integrations: AWS Rekognition, Google Analytics, Google Translate, Grafana Loki, OpenAI, Shopify See all → |
| Pricing | Free plan (source) |
| Website | dotcms.com |
| Facts checked | 20 Sep 2026 |
dotCMS integrations
dotCMS lists 6 integrations on its own site.
- AWS Rekognition
- Google Analytics
- Google Translate
- Grafana Loki
- OpenAI
- Shopify
Alternatives to dotCMS
- StrapiA flexible CMS for teams that want open-source control and deployment choice.9.4
- SanityA flexible headless CMS for collaborative teams building custom content systems.9.2
- PrismicStrong value for teams that want polished authoring and flexible APIs.9.1
dotCMS vs the competition
- dotCMS vs Strapi
- dotCMS vs Sanity
- dotCMS vs Prismic
- dotCMS vs Squidex
- dotCMS vs CrafterCMS
- dotCMS vs Payload CMS
Compare dotCMS with any tool side by side →
Also Ranked In
dotCMS is ranked in 6 of our directories.
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The editor score above is our own research. What this page doesn't have yet is a reader's view — what you used dotCMS for, what worked and what didn't. No stars are seeded and no review is paid for; an editor reads every one before it appears.
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Featured on iTechGuides
dotCMS is listed in our Headless CMS directory. Add the badge to your site — it links back to this page.
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Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
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