Squidex review
Open source, self-hosted
Squidex is a .NET headless CMS built on event sourcing, meaning every change is an event and the full history of a document is inherent to the architecture rather than a feature bolted on. It is 100% MIT licensed with no enterprise edition, which is rarer than it should be.
The managed cloud is priced in euros and starts very low, and self-hosting via docker-compose or Kubernetes costs nothing in software.
Who Squidex is for
Teams on .NET who want an open-source CMS without an open-core catch, and anyone who wants complete content history as a structural guarantee.
Less suitable for marketing teams: the editing interface is developer-shaped.
Strengths and limits
What it does well
- Genuinely 100% MIT with no gated features, which distinguishes it from most open-source CMS options here.
- Event sourcing gives complete, reliable content history and audit by design.
- Cloud pricing is among the cheapest here at €19 a month for 100,000 API calls and 10 contributors.
- REST and GraphQL both available with no extra work.
Where it falls short
- MongoDB is required, which is a specific operational commitment for self-hosting.
- The editor experience is functional rather than polished, and it is not a tool for a marketing department.
- Small community relative to Strapi or Directus, so fewer worked examples.
- Cloud tiers cap API calls tightly at the low end: 20,000 a month on the free Starter tier.
Squidex pricing
Self-hosting is free under MIT with no limits; you run it on Docker or Kubernetes with MongoDB.
Squidex Cloud: Starter is free with 20,000 API calls, 2GB traffic, 500MB storage and 2 contributors. Basic is €19 a month with 100,000 calls, 20GB traffic, 5GB storage and 10 contributors. Professional is €49 with 500,000 calls, 50GB traffic, 25GB storage and 20 contributors. Business is €99 with 1,500,000 calls, 100GB traffic, 100GB storage and 50 contributors.
Verdict
Underrated, especially for .NET teams who want an open-source CMS with no licence asterisk. Event sourcing is a genuinely good architectural fit for content.
The editor experience is the limiting factor. If non-technical people will use it daily, look elsewhere.
Squidex FAQ
Is Squidex open source?
Yes, fully. It is MIT licensed with no enterprise edition and no gated features, which is a stronger claim than most open-source CMS options in this directory can make.
Other platforms worth a look
This is an independent review. We have no affiliate relationship with Squidex, 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.