Total CMS vs Decap CMS
Decap is free, MIT licensed and lives in your repository: an editing screen for a static site, with no server to run. If your site is already built by a static generator and your editors are happy with Git, it may be all you need. What is left to compare is where the site runs and who gets to edit it.
- Choose Decap CMS if your site is static, your team works in Git, and you want it free.
- Choose Total CMS if your editors are not developers, or the site needs forms and logins a static build cannot give it.
The short answer: these two solve the same problem from opposite ends. Decap adds an editing screen to a static site. It is a JavaScript app in your site's /admin folder that reads and writes files in your Git repository, and every save is a commit that your host turns into a new build. Total CMS is a PHP application on your server. It stores content as files with no database, renders pages when they are requested, and a save is live without a build.
What Decap has that we do not is a price of zero, an MIT license, and no server at all. It works with Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy, Next.js or any generator that reads files from a repository, so you keep the tools you already use. Your content sits in Git beside your code, its editorial workflow runs on pull requests, and its preview pane shows an entry rendered as you type.
What separates them is everything around the editing screen. Decap edits content; the rest is up to you. Editors sign in through your Git host, through Netlify Identity and Git Gateway (which Netlify has deprecated for new sites), or through Decap Turbo, a hosted service with a free single-seat plan and paid plans from €19 a month. There are no forms, no logins for site visitors and no API of its own, and every change waits on a build. Total CMS ships the admin, logins, access groups, forms, image processing, a REST API and an MCP server in one application, and your editors never need a Git account.
If your site is static, your team lives in Git, and budget decides it, choose Decap. It is a good tool and it costs nothing. Choose Total CMS when the people editing are not developers, or the site needs to do things a static build cannot: take a form submission, sign someone in, or show a change the moment it is saved.
Which to choose
Where each one wins.
When to choose Decap CMS instead
Decap is a good tool, and for a lot of static sites it is the right answer. Choose Decap if:
- Your site is already static. It adds an editing screen to whatever generator you use, without changing how the site is built or hosted.
- Budget is the binding constraint. It is free and MIT licensed, and it needs no server of its own.
- Your team already works in Git. Content sits in the repository beside the code, every save is a commit, and the editorial workflow is pull requests your developers already know how to review.
- You want a preview while you type. Decap's preview pane renders an entry as it is edited, from templates you write in React.
When Total CMS fits better
Total CMS is the better fit when:
- Your editors are not developers. They sign in to the admin with a login you give them. No Git host account, no identity service to keep alive, and access groups decide what each person can touch.
- The site needs to do something a static build cannot. Take a form submission and save it, sign a member in, or show a change the moment it is saved, with no build in between.
- You want images handled for you. Upload the original once; ImageWorks resizes, crops and converts it on request, without committing every size to a repository.
- You want one supported product. The admin, logins, forms, REST API and MCP server are one application, from one vendor, on one release cycle, with support from its developer.
- You already have a front end. Keep your hand-coded site or the web builder you design in, and add structured content to it. Total CMS works inside the pages you already have, or headless through its REST API.
Feature by feature
Total CMS vs Decap CMS, row by row.
| Feature | Total CMS | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| More | ||
| License | Commercial, one-time, per domain | MIT open source |
| Decap's MIT license permits commercial use, modification and redistribution with no fee. Total CMS is proprietary, source-available software requiring a paid license for production. | ||
| Price | $195 Standard / $395 Pro (one-time) | Free |
| The CMS is free. Decap Turbo, an optional hosted service for sign-in, roles and faster loading, has a free plan for one site and one seat; Pro is €19 a month for one site and five seats, with extra sites and seats billed monthly. | ||
| Updates included | 2 years | Free, always |
| A Total CMS license includes two years of updates, then converts to a perpetual license for the version you have; renewing is optional. | ||
| What you are running | A standalone PHP application | A JavaScript app in your site's /admin folder |
| Decap is a single-page React app that runs in the editor's browser and talks to your Git host's API. Nothing of Decap's runs on your server. | ||
| Hosting | Any PHP 8.2+ host | Any static host, plus a Git host |
| Decap's site can be served from any static host or CDN. The content lives with a Git provider: GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket or Azure. | ||
| Content storage | JSON or Markdown files on disk | Markdown, YAML, TOML or JSON files in your Git repository |
| Both store content as plain files. Decap's files live in the repository alongside your code; Total CMS's live on the server, in a folder you can also keep under version control. | ||
| Database | None, ever | None |
| Decap Turbo adds a hosted database proxy so large collections load faster, but the files in Git remain the source. | ||
| Content in version control | Yes — content is files | Yes — every save is a Git commit |
| Decap's history is your repository's history, with no extra step. With Total CMS, the content folder can be committed like any other files, but saving in the admin does not commit for you. | ||
| How a change goes live | Live when saved — no build step | A commit, then your host rebuilds the site |
| With Decap, a save triggers your static site generator and a deploy, so a change appears when the build finishes. Total CMS renders pages on request, so there is no build to wait for. | ||
| Editor sign-in | Built-in logins; no other account needed | A Git host account, Netlify Identity, or Decap Turbo |
| Without Turbo, editors need commit access through your Git host, or sign in through Netlify Identity and Git Gateway. Netlify kept Identity in 2026 but still lists Git Gateway as deprecated: existing sites keep working, and new setups are not recommended. Turbo signs editors in without a Git account; its free plan covers a single seat. | ||
| Users and permissions | Access groups out of the box | Your Git host's permissions; per-collection roles in Decap Turbo |
| In open-source Decap, anyone who can sign in can edit every collection. Turbo's custom roles, a paid add-on, set each collection to edit, view only or hidden. | ||
| Editorial workflow | Draft toggle on any schema | Draft, review and publish, as pull requests |
| Decap's editorial workflow saves each draft to its own branch and pull request, and publishing merges it. It works with GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket. It is a real strength for teams that already review changes in pull requests. | ||
| Live preview | Your real page, once saved | A preview pane beside the editor |
| Decap renders the entry as you type, from preview templates you write in React and CSS, and can link to your host's deploy previews. | ||
| Media and images | Uploads on the server, resized and converted on request (ImageWorks) | Committed to the repository, or Cloudinary or Uploadcare |
| Decap saves uploads to a folder in the repository, so large media grows the repo; it connects to external media libraries for anything bigger. Turbo adds S3-compatible storage, in beta. | ||
| Forms and member logins | Built in: submissions saved to a collection | Not included |
| Decap edits content and nothing else; a static site uses your host's form handling or a third-party service. Total CMS saves form submissions as objects, and email actions need Standard. | ||
| Content modeling | JSON schemas | Collections and widgets in config.yml |
| Decap models folder collections for repeatable entries and file collections for single pages, with relation fields and nested lists. | ||
| Templating | Twig 3, with 130+ custom filters and functions | Your static site generator's |
| Decap has no templating of its own. Hugo, Jekyll, Eleventy, Next.js or Gatsby builds the pages, so you keep whichever you already know. | ||
| Front-end integration | Any front end: Twig inside existing PHP pages, any web builder, or headless via REST API | Any static site generator that reads files from the repository |
| This is Decap's best feature: it is genuinely generator-agnostic. Total CMS can live inside a site you have already built, but the pages must be served by PHP or read the REST API. | ||
| Admin interface | Included, server-rendered (HTMX) | Included, a React single-page app |
| Decap's editor is the whole product, and it is a well-made one: structured fields, rich text with a Markdown mode, and search across entries. | ||
| REST API | Same-origin, every edition; external API keys (Pro) | None of its own; your Git host's API |
| Because Decap's content is files in a repository, anything that can read the repository can read the content. | ||
| MCP server for AI agents | Built in — public read (Standard), full access (Pro) | On the roadmap |
| Decap lists a command-line tool and an MCP server as roadmap items. An agent can already edit Decap content the way it edits any repository: by changing files and committing. | ||
| Multi-language content | Localized field types (Pro) | Built in, with three file structures |
| Decap can keep each locale in its own folder, in its own file, or all locales in one file. | ||
| Extension ecosystem | Growing, with a simple extension API | Custom widgets, editor components and media libraries |
| Decap is extended in JavaScript, and its long history as Netlify CMS means community widgets and starter templates are easy to find. | ||
| Who maintains it | Total CMS | The Decap maintainers, sponsored by PM |
| Netlify handed Netlify CMS to its agency partner PM in 2023, and it became Decap. Development is concentrated: of the 100 most recent commits, 93 are by one maintainer. Releases are regular. | ||
| Shipping since | 2015 | 2015, as Netlify CMS |
| The project began at Netlify in 2015 and was renamed Decap CMS in February 2023. | ||
Questions
Common questions.
Decap is free. Why would I pay for Total CMS?
You are paying for what sits around the editing screen. Decap edits files in a repository; sign-in, forms, image processing and an API are yours to arrange, and every change waits on a build. Total CMS ships the admin, logins, access groups, forms, image processing, a REST API and an MCP server as one application, and a save is live at once. Building costs nothing with either: Total CMS is free, with every Pro feature, on local development domains such as .test and .localhost, so you pay only when a site goes live. If your site is static and your editors are comfortable with Git, Decap is free and good. Use it.
Do my editors need GitHub accounts to use Decap?
With the GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket or Azure backends, yes: each editor signs in to your Git host and needs commit access. The usual way around that was Netlify Identity with Git Gateway, which Netlify now lists as deprecated: existing sites keep working, and new setups are not recommended. Decap Turbo, a hosted service, signs editors in without a Git account; its free plan covers one seat, and more seats need the paid plan. In Total CMS, editors only ever sign in to the admin.
Can Total CMS run a static site?
Not the way Decap does. Total CMS is a PHP application, so the server that hosts the site needs PHP 8.2 or later. In exchange, there is no build step: a change is live when it is saved, and the site can take form submissions and sign people in. If your site must be served as static files from a CDN, Decap, or another Git-based CMS, is the better fit.
Is Total CMS open source like Decap?
No. Decap is MIT licensed, free to use, modify and redistribute. Total CMS is proprietary, source-available commercial software that requires a paid license for production use. If an open-source license is a requirement rather than a preference, that settles it in Decap's favor.
Is Decap still maintained?
Yes. Netlify handed the project to its agency partner PM in 2023, and Decap has shipped regular releases since. Development is concentrated in a small team, and most recent commits come from one maintainer. That is a strength for coherence and a consideration for continuity. The open question is less Decap itself than Git Gateway, the Netlify service many Decap sites use to sign editors in.
Can I move a Decap site to Total CMS?
There is no automated Decap importer. Total CMS ships importers for CSV, JSON, RSS, WordPress and URLs. Decap content is Markdown, YAML or JSON files in predictable folders, so converting a collection to JSON and importing it is usually straightforward. Your templates do not come with it: pages built by Hugo or Jekyll need rewriting in Twig.
Sources
Where these facts come from.
Decap CMS facts checked . Software changes, so check Decap CMS’s own site for their current details.
Decap CMS details verified from primary sources, most recently reviewed on 24 October 2026:
- decapcms.org — positioning
- decapcms.org/features — features, Decap Turbo features, and the roadmap
- decapcms.org/turbo — Decap Turbo plans and pricing
- Decap docs — backends overview
- Decap docs — choosing a backend — Netlify Identity and Git Gateway
- Decap docs — editorial workflows
- Decap docs — configuration options — file formats and media folders
- Decap docs — i18n
- github.com/decaporg/decap-cms — MIT license, release history, contributor activity
- Netlify — Netlify CMS to become Decap CMS
- Netlify docs — Git Gateway — deprecation notice
- Netlify — Identity changes — Identity remains supported (updated 19 February 2026)
Decap CMS is a trademark of its respective owner. We have no affiliation with Decap CMS, and we have tried hard to represent it accurately — including where it is the better choice. If anything here is wrong or out of date, tell us and we will correct it.
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