Plone
Plone is a free, open-source enterprise content management system built on Python and React, operated by the Plone Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit. It serves educational institutions, government agencies, and enterprises through a global community of contributors and certified solution providers.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2001
- HeadquartersFortville, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingSoftware
What Plone does
Plone is an open-source enterprise content management system built on Python and React, governed by the Plone Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit established in 2004 to hold the project's intellectual property and trademarks. The software itself dates to 2001 and is developed and maintained by a global community of more than 1,024 GitHub contributors; the foundation itself operates with 1-10 staff-equivalents in a virtual structure headquartered in the United States. The core product, Plone CMS, offers a modern React frontend (Plone 6), a Python backend, a REST API for headless deployment, on-premise or cloud hosting, and a 20-plus-year self-claimed security track record. The latest release is Plone 6.2 (November 2025).
Plone serves educational institutions, government and public-sector organizations, and enterprises that require a secure, customizable, on-premise-capable CMS without vendor lock-in; documented users include the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh (250+ sites and intranets since 2004), Belgian public-sector solution provider Affinitic, and iMio (building Plone-based software for local authorities in Belgium since 2010). Go-to-market is community-led: there is no commercial licensing of the core product, and adoption occurs through self-serve downloads from plone.org and GitHub, certified solution providers, official training, the annual Plone Conference, World Plone Day, Google Summer of Code mentoring, and active forums (Discourse) and Discord channels.
The business model is sponsorship- and donation-driven. The Plone Foundation is 100% funded by sponsorships from organizations and individuals (Platinum and Premium tiers) plus donations via GitHub Sponsors; no revenue is generated from the software itself, which remains free and open source in perpetuity. No funding rounds, paid customer accounts, subsidiaries, or M&A activity exist; the foundation holds the codebase and registered trademark and is governed by an elected board of directors. Leadership continuity rests on co-founder Vidar Andersen and president/board member Erico Andrei.
Plone firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Plone
- Legal name
- Plone Foundation
- Website
- https://plone.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2001
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Plone is a free, open-source enterprise content management system built on Python and React, operated by the Plone Foundation, a US 501(c)(3) non-profit. It serves educational institutions, government agencies, and enterprises through a global community of contributors and certified solution providers.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Where Plone is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Fortville
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Plone business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Software
- Cost components
- Technology or R&D, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations
Revenue model
- Sponsorships: Plone is 100% funded by sponsorships from organizations and individuals. The Foundation has Platinum and Premium sponsor tiers.
- Donations: The Plone Foundation accepts donations through GitHub Sponsors and other channels. The Foundation is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels10 records
Plone product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Plone is an open-source enterprise-level Content Management System (CMS) built on Python and React, offering a modern editing experience, robust Python backend, and powerful REST API. It functions as a headless CMS server, can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud, and is provided 100% free and open source under the Plone Foundation.
Product overview
Plone is a single unified open source enterprise-level CMS product built on Python and React. The core offering is Plone CMS, which provides a modern editing experience for content editors, a React frontend with a robust Python backend, and a powerful REST API enabling headless CMS functionality. Plone supports custom frontend development with chosen technologies and is maintained by the Plone Foundation with contributions from a global community.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Products and services
- Plone CMS Open source enterprise-level content management system built on Python and React. Plone is community-driven, secure, and free open source software backed by the Plone Foundation. It provides a modern editing experience, can function as a headless CMS server with REST API, and can be deployed fully on-premise or in the cloud. Used by enterprises, educational institutions, and government agencies for websites, intranets, and content management.
Quantifiable outcome
- 250+ websites hosted on single campus deployment (UW Oshkosh)
Companies that use Plone
Customer profileNamed customers3 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles4 records
Plone technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- Yes
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Plone partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
One partnership is on record.
- Google Summer of CodecorePlone participates in Google Summer of Code as a mentoring organization, engaging student developers in contributing to the Plone project.
Scale indicators5 records
Recent moves5 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Plone competitors and assessment
Company assessmentRegional players
- Ghost: Ghost is an open source publishing platform focused on newsletters and membership sites. While narrower than Plone in scope, it is a relevant open source CMS alternative for organizations building content-driven sites.
Direct peers
- Joomla: Joomla is another long-standing open source CMS that competes with Plone in the mid-market and SMB website space. Both target users wanting a free, customizable CMS with extensions and templates.
- Strapi: Strapi is a leading open source headless CMS with REST and GraphQL APIs, targeting developers building modern digital experiences. It directly overlaps with Plone's headless CMS positioning and serves similar developer and enterprise use cases.
- Drupal: Drupal is an open source enterprise CMS with a similar target market (government, education, large organizations) and similar value proposition of customization, security, and scalability. It competes head-to-head with Plone in many institutional RFPs.
Emerging players
- Storyblok: Storyblok is a headless CMS with visual editing capabilities targeting digital teams. It overlaps with Plone's enterprise headless use cases and serves a similar developer and editor audience.
- Sanity: Sanity is a modern structured content platform with a customizable studio. It is an emerging headless CMS competitor targeting the same developer and enterprise audience Plone serves with its REST API.
- Directus: Directus is an open source headless data platform that wraps existing databases and provides API and admin tools. It competes with Plone for developers wanting customizable content/data layers with full data ownership.
- Wagtail: Wagtail is an open source CMS built on Django (Python), making it a natural adjacent competitor to Plone in the Python CMS ecosystem. It targets similar developer audiences and emphasizes a modern editing experience.
Broad incumbents
- WordPress: WordPress is the dominant open source CMS used for websites, intranets, and content publishing. It overlaps directly with Plone in the general-purpose enterprise and education CMS market, though WordPress targets a far broader audience including SMBs and bloggers.
- Contentful: Contentful is a commercial headless CMS platform serving enterprises with content infrastructure needs. It competes with Plone's headless capabilities for organizations willing to pay for a managed SaaS CMS service.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Plone social profiles
Digital presencePlone financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Plone leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles2 records
Plone funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Plone M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Plone
What does Plone do?
Plone is an open-source enterprise-level Content Management System (CMS) built on Python and React, offering a modern editing experience, robust Python backend, and powerful REST API. It functions as a headless CMS server, can be deployed on-premise or in the cloud, and is provided 100% free and open source under the Plone Foundation.
Is Plone a public or private company?
Plone is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Plone founded?
Plone was founded in 2001. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Plone based?
Plone is headquartered in Fortville, United States, in the North America region.
How does Plone make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Sponsorships are the primary driver. The others are donations.
Who are Plone's main competitors?
Ghost is listed as a regional player. Direct peers are Joomla, Strapi and Drupal. Emerging players are Storyblok, Sanity, Directus and Wagtail. Broad incumbents are WordPress and Contentful.
Does Plone have an API?
Yes. Plone offers a REST API for headless CMS functionality. The REST API allows developers to build custom frontends with their chosen technology. The API is documented at https://6.docs.plone.org/ and plone.restapi is available as a JavaScript SDK via npm. Developer documentation is at 6.docs.plone.org.