Self-hosted alternatives to WordPress.com
Want hosted blogs and websites without handing your data to WordPress.com? These 21 self-hosted apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $3.5/month.
About WordPress.com: Automattic's hosted blogging and website service.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ghost | Active | 55.7k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| WordPress | Active | 21.5k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| WriteFreely | Active | 5.3k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 512 MB | $3.5/mo |
| Bludit | Active | 1.5k | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Vvveb CMS | Active | 1.2k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Haven | Active | 813 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Chyrp Lite | Active | 498 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Expressa | Active | 452 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Contao | Active | 450 | LGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Mataroa | Active | 375 | MIT | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| bloglite | Active | 337 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| HTMLy | Maintained | 1.4k | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Serendipity | Active | 229 | BSD-3-Clause | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| FlatPress | Active | 218 | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Antville | Active | 90 | Apache-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Localess | Active | 75 | MIT | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| PluXml | Maintained | 233 | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Noosfero | Maintained | 65 | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| CMS Made Simple | Unknown | – | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Dotclear | Unknown | – | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| Plone | Unknown | – | ZPL-2.0 | ✓ | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Ghost
Just a blogging platform.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Latest release v6.75.0 (2026-11-04). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. WordPress
World's most-used blogging and CMS engine.
Active Last commit 2026-11-05. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. WriteFreely
Writing software for starting a minimalist, federated blog — or an entire community.
Active Last commit 2026-09-28. Latest release v0.17.2 (2026-08-10). Needs roughly 512 MB RAM. How to run it →
4. Bludit
Build a site or blog in seconds. Bludit uses flat-files (text files in JSON format) to store posts and pages.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 3.22.0 (2026-05-11). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Vvveb CMS
Powerful and easy to use CMS to build websites, blogs or e-commerce stores.
Active Last commit 2026-10-29. 8 releases in the past year. Latest release 1.0.9.0 (2026-10-29). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Haven
Private blogging system with markdown editing and built in RSS reader.
Active Last commit 2026-10-03. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Chyrp Lite
Extra-awesome, extra-lightweight blog engine.
Active Last commit 2026-10-31. Latest release v2026.03 (2026-11-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Expressa
Content Management System for powering database driven websites using JSON schemas. Provides permission management and automatic REST APIs.
Active Last commit 2026-09-22. Latest release 2.1.3 (2026-09-05). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. Contao
Powerful CMS that allows you to create professional websites and scalable web applications.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. 10+ releases in the past year. Latest release 6.0.4 (2026-10-09). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. Mataroa
Naked blogging platform for minimalists.
Active Last commit 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.5 (2026-01-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. bloglite
Micro-blog tool offering built-in syntax highlighting, mobile publishing and more (alternative to Twitter, Bluesky).
Active Last commit 2026-10-31. Latest release v3.1.0 (2026-10-24). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. HTMLy
Databaseless PHP blogging platform. A flat-file CMS that allows you to create a fast, secure, and powerful website or blog in seconds.
Maintained Last commit 2026-01-25. 1 release in the past year. Latest release v3.1.1 (2025-11-03). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Serendipity
Highly extensible and customizable PHP blog engine using Smarty templating (s9y).
Active Last commit 2026-09-12. Latest release 2.6.1 (2026-07-22). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. FlatPress
Lightweight, easy-to-set-up flat-file blogging engine.
Active Last commit 2026-11-03. 4 releases in the past year. Latest release 1.5.1 (2026-03-24). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. Antville
Feature-rich blog hosting software which can host tens of thousands of blogs.
Active Last commit 2026-11-04. Latest release 1.6.0 (2025-03-01). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Localess
Powerful translation management and content management system. Manage and translate your website or app content into multiple languages, using AI to translate faster.
Active Last commit 2026-10-26. Latest release v4.1.0 (2026-10-05). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
17. PluXml
XML-based blog/CMS platform.
Maintained Last commit 2026-08-03. Latest release v5.10.0.rc4 (2026-09-12). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. Noosfero
Platform for social and solidarity economy networks with blog, e-Portfolios, CMS, RSS, thematic discussion, events agenda and collective intelligence for solidarity economy in the same system.
Maintained Last commit 2026-06-21. Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
19. CMS Made Simple
Faster and easier management of website contents, scalable for small businesses to large corporations.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. Dotclear
Take control over your blog.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
21. Plone
CMS system that is used to create, edit, and manage digital content, like websites, intranets, and custom solutions.
Unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of WordPress.com?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Active (a commit in the last 90 days) and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
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