Craft CMS

What Craft CMS does

Craft CMS, developed and operated by Pixel & Tonic, Inc. (a privately held Oregon corporation founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bend, Oregon), is a content-first content management system targeting web development agencies, in-house developers, and content teams. The platform is built on the Yii PHP framework with Twig templating and Vue.js components, supports MySQL/MariaDB and PostgreSQL databases, and exposes a self-generating GraphQL API for headless and decoupled implementations. It is distributed via the Composer package manager and follows a freemium tiered licensing model (Solo free for personal use, plus paid Team and Pro editions for commercial production deployments), with additional paid modules including Craft Commerce for ecommerce and Craft Cloud for managed hosting. The control panel is translated into 25 languages and supports unlimited sites, languages, and locales for multi-site and multinational deployments.

The business model combines multiple revenue streams: paid CMS licenses (Pro and Team editions), Craft Cloud managed hosting subscriptions, Craft Commerce plugin subscriptions, paid support plans and SLAs, and commissions on third-party plugin sales through the Craft Plugin Store marketplace. The go-to-market motion is community-led and product-led, anchored by an 8,000+ member Discord community, a Partner Program with 241 agencies worldwide, and self-serve distribution via Composer. The Plugin Store and plugin framework form the core of an extensibility ecosystem, with Stripe and PayPal powering commerce transactions and AWS and Cloudflare providing Craft Cloud infrastructure.

The platform serves a broad customer base including consumer brands (A24 Films, Percent Arabica, Caulipower, Bob's Red Mill, Polartec), nonprofits and cultural institutions (Bezos Earth Fund, Central Park Conservancy, Mingei International Museum, The Concertgebouw), government (Smokey the Bear), publishing and education (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Harvard Bluebook), and professional services (Genpact). Pixel & Tonic has not raised disclosed institutional funding and remains founder-operated with 11-50 employees; revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Craft CMS

Legal name

Pixel & Tonic, Inc.

Website

https://craftcms.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Craft CMS, built by Pixel & Tonic, is a content-first CMS for developers, agencies, and content teams. It offers Twig templating, GraphQL APIs, multi-site localization, and paid modules including Craft Commerce and Craft Cloud hosting.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Content Management Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (5132)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Blogging & CMS Content Platforms (BPAMAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Low-Code/No-Code Application Platforms (HDAEAKAA), Localization Technology & Workflow Services (TMS, CMS, Automation) (MPAAANAI)

Keywords

• Content management software
• Headless CMS platform
• PHP CMS framework
• Ecommerce content platform
• Managed CMS hosting

Headquarters

HQ city

Bend

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. CMS License Sales: Craft CMS is available in Solo (free for personal use), Team, and Pro editions with paid licenses for commercial production use
2. Plugin Store Commission: Third-party developers sell plugins through the Craft Plugin Store; Pixel & Tonic takes a commission on sales with payouts within 1-45 business days
3. Craft Cloud Hosting: Managed hosting platform by the Craft team offering scalable hosting for Craft CMS sites
4. Support Plans: Paid developer support and SLAs available for organizations requiring dedicated technical assistance
5. Commerce Plugin: Craft Commerce (Pro and Lite editions) provides ecommerce capabilities as a paid plugin

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Craft CMS is a content-first content management system that lets developers and content teams model content without rigid templates, served through Twig templating or a self-generating GraphQL API for headless implementations. The platform is available as Craft Solo (free for personal use) and Craft Pro (paid commercial license), and ships with a Plugin Store ecosystem, a Craft Commerce ecommerce module, Craft Console cloud management, and Craft Cloud managed hosting. Target users are web development agencies and in-house teams building custom websites and ecommerce storefronts for organizations.

Product overview

Craft CMS is a platform-plus-modules architecture consisting of the core Craft CMS content management system, complemented by Craft Cloud (hosting), Craft Commerce (ecommerce add-on), the Plugin Store marketplace, and Craft Console (cloud management). The platform is available in Solo (free personal use) and Pro (paid professional) editions. Craft CMS differentiates itself through its content-first approach, Twig templating system, self-generating GraphQL API, and blank-slate content modeling capabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Craft CMS A flexible content-first content management system for developers and content teams, featuring blank-slate content modeling, Twig templating, and a self-generating GraphQL API for headless implementations. Distributed via Composer package manager and available in Solo (free for personal use) and Pro (paid commercial) editions. Used by agencies, in-house enterprise teams, and developers to build custom websites and digital experiences.
• Craft Cloud A scalable managed hosting platform operated by the team behind Craft CMS, providing reliable hosting for Craft CMS sites with a free trial and monthly subscription pricing. Targets organizations that want a vendor-managed hosting environment for their Craft-powered properties.
• Craft Commerce A flexible and customizable ecommerce plugin for Craft CMS that lets merchants build exactly the online store they need, with Pro and Lite editions available as paid add-ons. Integrates with payment processors such as Stripe and PayPal. Designed for ecommerce businesses requiring tailored storefronts, product catalogs, and online transactions.
• Craft Console A cloud-based console service for managing Craft CMS installations, used in conjunction with Craft Cloud. Targets mid-market customers operating multiple Craft deployments who need centralized cloud-based management.
• Plugin Store A built-in marketplace for Craft CMS plugins and extensions contributed by third-party developers, with Pixel & Tonic taking a commission on paid plugin sales and payouts to developers. Lets Craft users extend core CMS functionality with community-contributed and commercial plugins.
• Craft Support Plans Paid developer support plans and SLAs for organizations running Craft CMS in production who require dedicated technical assistance beyond community support. Sold as an add-on subscription alongside Craft CMS and Craft Cloud deployments.

Quantifiable outcome

• 150k+ websites created with Craft CMS
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers15 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature8 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• StripecoreTechnology or IntegrationPayment processing partner for Craft Commerce ecommerce. Stripe handles payment card processing for Craft-powered online stores. Listed in subprocessors for handling personal data during payment processing.
• Vue.jscoreTechnology or IntegrationOpen-source JavaScript framework used in Craft CMS development. Listed as one of the key open-source tools powering Craft.
• Yii FrameworkcoreTechnology or IntegrationPHP framework underlying Craft CMS architecture. Listed as one of the key open-source tools powering Craft that the team contributes to.
• TwigcoreTechnology or IntegrationTemplating engine used for Craft CMS templates. Listed as one of the key open-source tools powering Craft.
• AWS (Amazon Web Services)coreTechnology or IntegrationHosting and storage systems provider. Listed as subprocessors for Craft Cloud hosting infrastructure.
• CloudflarecoreTechnology or IntegrationContent distribution, security, abuse prevention and DNS services. Listed as subprocessor for CDN and security services.
• DDEVcoreTechnology or IntegrationDocker-based PHP development environment recommended by Craft CMS for local development. Official starter project supports DDEV configuration.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Contentful: Contentful is a leading headless CMS platform offering API-first content delivery for developers and a friendly authoring UI. It is a direct peer to Craft CMS in the developer-focused, decoupled CMS category, competing for the same mid-market and enterprise customers seeking GraphQL-based content infrastructure.
• Strapi: Strapi is an open-source headless CMS built on Node.js with a plugin architecture and self-hosting model. Like Craft CMS, it targets developers building custom front-ends and emphasizes extensibility and community, making it the most direct open-source peer in the headless CMS space.
• Sanity: Sanity is a structured content platform with a real-time collaborative studio and strong developer tooling. It competes head-on with Craft for developer-led, content-first projects and is frequently evaluated alongside Craft in headless CMS buying decisions.
• Kentico: Kentico (Xperience by Kentico) is a CMS/DXP platform offering content management with strong localization and enterprise features. It is a direct peer to Craft for mid-market and enterprise marketing sites where multi-language content and customization matter.

Broad incumbents

• WordPress: WordPress powers a majority of the web and is the dominant incumbent in the CMS market. While broader and template-driven compared to Craft's blank-slate content modeling, it competes for the same small business and agency website workloads and has the largest ecosystem of plugins, themes, and developers.
• Drupal: Drupal is an open-source CMS widely used by government and large enterprise organizations. It competes with Craft for highly customized, multi-site, and localization-heavy deployments where its maturity and security track record are selling points.
• Sitecore: Sitecore is an enterprise digital experience platform with deep CMS, personalization, and analytics capabilities. It competes with Craft at the high end of the enterprise segment for multinational marketing sites with complex content and localization needs.
• Adobe Experience Manager: Adobe Experience Manager is a large enterprise CMS within the Adobe Experience Cloud. It competes with Craft for the largest multinational content deployments where integration with broader marketing and analytics stacks is decisive.

Emerging players

• Ghost: Ghost is an open-source publishing platform focused on newsletters, memberships, and modern content sites. It overlaps with Craft for content-led sites with built-in monetization but is narrower in scope, making it a partial overlap rather than a full peer.
• Webflow: Webflow combines a visual website builder with a CMS for content-driven sites. It competes with Craft for marketing sites and brand websites but takes a no-code approach, contrasting with Craft's developer-first positioning.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/craftcms

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Craft CMS