Kirby
Self-hosted flat-file CMS in PHP: content lives in text files, licensed per site with a one-time payment.
Content Management
Kirby is a self-hosted content management system written in PHP by Content Folder GmbH. Content is stored as text files and folders on disk instead of in a database, editors work in a browser Panel, and developers build templates, blueprints and plugins. It is deployed on ordinary PHP hosting: Apache works out of the box and the documentation provides nginx and Caddy configurations. A public site requires a one-time licence of EUR 99 per site (Kirby Basic, for individuals and organisations whose total annual revenue or funding is below EUR 1 million) or EUR 349 per site (Kirby Enterprise, no revenue limit); both include all features and three years of feature updates. Development installations, private installations and some non-profit and educational uses are licensed free of charge, and newer releases after the three-year update period require a paid upgrade.
Key features
Self-hosted editions
- Kirby Basic99 EUR · per instance · one-time
- LicenceSource availableDeploymentSelf-hosted
- Kirby Enterprise349 EUR · per instance · one-time
- LicenceSource availableDeploymentSelf-hosted
Limits, notes & source
Kirby Basic
- Limits
- All features included; one licence per installation on a single domain. Purchase is limited to individuals, companies and organisations whose total revenue or funding over the last 12 months was below EUR 1 million (for client projects the client's revenue applies). Development installations and private installations are licensed free of charge by the EULA.
- Notes
- The buy page states "€ 99 per site" and that prices are plus VAT where applicable. A licence covers one installation on one domain; an upgrade that adds three more years of feature updates is currently €59 (excl. VAT). The source code is public on GitHub but the repository's licence file states "While Kirby's source code is publicly available, Kirby is not free" and composer.json declares "proprietary", so this is source-available, not open source.
- Source
- getkirby.com/buy ↗
Kirby Enterprise
- Limits
- All features included; one licence per installation on a single domain. No revenue limit.
- Notes
- The buy page states "€ 349 per site" and describes it as the standard licence for companies and organisations of any size. An upgrade that adds three more years of feature updates is currently €249 (excl. VAT). The free development and private-installation licences apply to this licence variant too.
- Source
- getkirby.com/buy ↗
Pros & cons
Kirby replaces
Products this app is built to take over from, with the vendor's own evidence.
Moving your content across: Documented per product: what you do on the side you are leaving, what this app does with the result, and what does not survive the trip. Every step links to the page that documents it.
- ExportIn WordPress: Tools → Export → Download Export File produces a WXR XML with posts, pages, custom post types, comments, custom fields, categories, tags, taxonomies and users.Source
- ImportKirby has no CMS-wide importer: you either export straight into Kirby's format (a folder per page, a text file named after its template) or parse the export into pages, files and users via PHP, CLI or REST API.Source
- CaveatThe WordPress converters the vendor lists (Wordpress XML to Kirby, WxrKirby, Haptiq Kirby Exporter, an archived Kirby Wordpressimport) are "likely not a ready-made solution" — starting points for custom work.Source
- CaveatKirby keeps content in flat files instead of a database, and the guide opens by telling you to convert your templates and model your content as blueprints — the front end is rebuilt, not migrated.Source