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Publii review

Open source, self-hosted

Reviewed by Eugene SuslovUpdated August 2026No affiliate links

Publii is a desktop CMS. You write on your own machine, it generates a static site locally, and it uploads the result over FTP, S3, GitHub Pages or Netlify. There is no server-side software anywhere, which means nothing to hack and nothing to patch.

It is GPL-3.0 licensed and free, with optional paid themes.

Who Publii is for

Individuals and small businesses who want a blog or brochure site with no hosting complexity and no ongoing cost.

Not a headless CMS in the API sense, and not suitable for teams.

Strengths and limits

What it does well

  • No server-side attack surface at all, because there is no server-side software.
  • Genuinely free with no hosting requirement beyond static file storage.
  • Built-in deployment to several targets, so publishing is one button.
  • Good built-in SEO and performance defaults for a tool at this level.

Where it falls short

  • Single-machine and single-author. Collaboration is not part of the model.
  • No content API, so it cannot serve a decoupled front end.
  • Themes are the only real customisation route without editing the app.
  • Content lives on one computer unless you arrange sync yourself.

Publii pricing

Free under GPL-3.0. Some themes are sold commercially; the application itself has no paid tier.

Verdict

A good answer for a personal or small business site where the goal is a fast static site with no moving parts and no monthly cost.

It is included here for completeness rather than as a headless option: there is no API, so it cannot feed a decoupled front end.

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Publii FAQ

  • Is Publii a headless CMS?
    Not really. It is a desktop static site generator with a CMS interface and no content API. It is listed here because it appears on headless CMS directories, but it cannot serve a decoupled front end.

This is an independent review. We have no affiliate relationship with Publii, earn nothing if you sign up, and no vendor pays for placement in the directory. Prices were read from the vendor's own pages in August 2026 and change without notice.