# ButterCMS vs Decap CMS

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** ButterCMS

| Attribute | ButterCMS | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 63.3 (55% (medium)) | 45.5 (43% (low)) |
| activity.commits_last_30d | - | 9 |
| adoption.dependent_repos | - | 10 |
| adoption.github_stars | - | 19,318 |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"A managed platform for organizing and publishing content to websites, mobile applications, and other digital services through APIs, without requiring the user to manage servers or infrastructure. It is indexed under Headless CMS.","source":"https://buttercms.com/pricing/","question":"What is ButterCMS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"ButterCMS offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $71 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://buttercms.com/pricing/","question":"Is ButterCMS free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"ButterCMS supports the web, iOS and Android. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://buttercms.com/pricing/","question":"What platforms does ButterCMS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for ButterCMS, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://buttercms.com/pricing/","question":"Can ButterCMS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for ButterCMS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as ButterCMS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://buttercms.com/security/","question":"What security certifications does ButterCMS have?","confidence":0.7}]` | `[{"answer":"A free, self-hosted CMS designed for static site generators and modern frontend workflows. It provides a web-based editor with structured fields and live preview, keeps content versioned in Git repositories, and supports editorial review workflows without compromising developer control. It is indexed under Headless CMS.","source":"https://decapcms.org","question":"What is Decap CMS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Decap CMS is open source, so it can be self-hosted and used at no licence cost. It is released under the MIT licence. Paid editions are also offered: Decap Turbo, priced on request. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://decapcms.org","question":"Is Decap CMS free to use?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Decap CMS supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://decapcms.org","question":"What platforms does Decap CMS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Decap CMS can be deployed self-hosted, so it does not have to run on the vendor's infrastructure.","source":"https://decapcms.org","question":"Can Decap CMS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 12 integrations for Decap CMS, including GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket, Azure, Git Gateway (Netlify), Cloudinary and Uploadcare, plus 4 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://decapcms.org","question":"What does Decap CMS integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Yes. Decap CMS is published under the MIT licence, a permissive licence that generally allows commercial use and modification. Licence terms can change between releases, so verify against the repository for the version you intend to use.","source":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms","question":"Is Decap CMS open source?","confidence":0.95},{"answer":"Decap CMS is available worldwide. Its primary market is the EU. The vendor is headquartered in Slovenia.","source":"https://decapcms.org","question":"Where is Decap CMS available?","confidence":0.75}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"self_hosted":true}` |
| description.long | A managed platform for organizing and publishing content to websites, mobile applications, and other digital services through APIs, without requiring the user to manage servers or infrastructure. | A free, self-hosted CMS designed for static site generators and modern frontend workflows. It provides a web-based editor with structured fields and live preview, keeps content versioned in Git repositories, and supports editorial review workflows without compromising developer control. |
| features.capabilities | `{"iso_27001":true,"soc2_type_ii":true,"pricing_model":"freemium","deployment_model":"cloud_managed_saas","rest_api_delivery":true,"webhooks_event_triggers":true,"real_time_visual_preview_editor":true,"multi_language_localization_i18n":true,"nextjs_gatsby_native_framework_support":true,"visual_content_modeling_schema_builder":true,"granular_role_based_access_control_rbac":true,"shopify_bigcommerce_ecommerce_integration":true}` | - |
| integrations.count | 2 | 10 |
| integrations.list | `[{"name":"Shopify","native":true,"category":"ecommerce","direction":"bidirectional"},{"name":"BigCommerce","native":true,"category":"ecommerce","direction":"bidirectional"}]` | `[{"name":"GitHub"},{"name":"GitLab"},{"name":"Gitea"},{"name":"Bitbucket"},{"name":"Azure"},{"name":"Git Gateway (Netlify)"},{"name":"Cloudinary"},{"name":"Uploadcare"},{"name":"Hugo"},{"name":"Next.js"},{"name":"Gatsby"},{"name":"Jekyll"}]` |
| language.primary | - | JavaScript |
| license.spdx | - | MIT |
| market.availability | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` | `{"hqCountry":"SI","primaryMarkets":["EU"],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"ios":true,"web":true,"android":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"$0/month","features":["Visual editing","Live preview","SEO metadata","AI Assistant","API Explorer","Unlimited users","Unlimited components"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For freelancers and developers launching fast on small projects or MVPs","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"pages":"5","roles":"2","assets":"500","api_calls":"50K/month","bandwidth":"100 GB/month","templates":"2","blog_posts":"50","collections":"50"}},{"free":false,"name":"Basic","summary":"$71/month (or $63.90/month with annual billing)","features":["Image editing","Unlimited users","Unlimited components"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":71,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For early-stage teams quickly building full marketing sites","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"pages":"20","assets":"1000","api_calls":"100K/month","bandwidth":"250 GB/month","templates":"5","blog_posts":"100","collections":"100"}},{"free":false,"name":"Advanced","summary":"$224/month (or $201.60/month with annual billing)","features":["All Basic tier features"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":224,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For teams rapidly expanding and accelerating content delivery","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"pages":"50","roles":"3","assets":"2000","api_calls":"500K/month","bandwidth":"500 GB/month","templates":"10","blog_posts":"500","collections":"500"}},{"free":false,"name":"Professional","summary":"$359/month (or $323.05/month with annual billing)","features":["Write API (up to 5K calls/month)","Multi environment"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":359,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"description":"For mature teams managing complex content across multiple sites, brands, or markets","contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"pages":"100","api_calls":"1M/month","bandwidth":"1 TB/month"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing","features":["Custom API calls","Custom roles","Write API","Custom webhooks","Workflows","Custom multi environment","Enterprise support","Customer Success Manager","SLA"],"description":"For complex builds, global content operations, and high-volume delivery, fully customized","contactSales":true}],"addOns":[{"name":"Write API"},{"name":"Webhooks"},{"name":"Video uploads"}],"summary":"From $71/month for Basic plan. Free tier available.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://buttercms.com/pricing/","retrievedAt":"2026-09-08T13:41:43.074Z","freeTrialDays":14,"startingPrice":{"amount":71,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` | `{"type":"open_source","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Decap CMS","summary":"Free and open-source, self-hosted","features":["Web editor with real-time preview","Editorial workflow (draft, review, publish)","Git-native history","Support for GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket, Azure","Media library with external integrations","Localization and i18n","Slug generation and custom paths","YAML configuration","Instant preview templates","Local development with decap-server"]},{"free":false,"name":"Decap Turbo","summary":"Premium extension for team workflows and support","features":["Faster CMS performance","Centralized access control","Role-based access and team collaboration","Real-time editing visibility","Secrets storage","Priority support"],"contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free and open-source core. Decap Turbo available for teams (pricing on request).","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://decapcms.org","retrievedAt":"2026-08-19T21:11:07.110Z"}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | freemium | open_source |
| pricing.price_level | high | free |
| pricing.starting_price | `{"amount":71,"currency":"USD"}` | - |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| release.cadence_days | - | 8 |
| release.history | - | `[{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.15.1","date":"2026-07-24T06:38:07Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.15.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.15.0","date":"2026-07-23T07:42:22Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.15.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.14.1","date":"2026-06-15T09:07:09Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.14.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.14.0","date":"2026-06-08T08:50:18Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.14.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.13.0","date":"2026-06-01T08:54:02Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.13.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.12.2","date":"2026-04-17T06:51:47Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.12.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.12.1","date":"2026-04-16T13:51:09Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.12.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.12.0","date":"2026-04-16T09:22:58Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.12.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.11.0","date":"2026-03-24T13:03:03Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.11.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.10.1","date":"2026-02-23T08:55:21Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.10.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.10.0","date":"2026-01-08T08:43:04Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.10.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.9.0","date":"2025-11-04T12:44:49Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.9.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.8.4","date":"2025-09-30T08:12:52Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.8.4"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.8.3","date":"2025-07-31T08:23:56Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.8.3"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.8.2","date":"2025-07-22T12:08:49Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.8.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.8.1","date":"2025-07-22T09:21:23Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.8.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.8.0","date":"2025-07-15T07:00:19Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.8.0"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.7.2","date":"2025-07-10T11:14:57Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.7.2"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.7.1","date":"2025-06-26T14:27:17Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.7.1"},{"url":"https://github.com/decaporg/decap-cms/releases/tag/decap-cms%403.7.0","date":"2025-06-26T10:06:48Z","type":"stable","version":"decap-cms@3.7.0"}]` |
| security.certifications | `[{"name":"ISO 27001","status":"active"},{"name":"SOC 2 Type II","level":"Type II","status":"active"}]` | - |
| security.iso27001 | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |
| security.trust_center | https://buttercms.com/security/ | - |
| security.vulnerabilities | - | `{"count":0,"source":"https://advisories.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/advisories?ecosystem=npm&package_name=decap-cms-widget-text&per_page=100","last_12m":0,"max_severity":null}` |

## Capabilities (Headless CMS)

| Capability | ButterCMS | Decap CMS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Capabilities** |  |  |
| Deployment model | Cloud managed saas | - |
| Graphql API native delivery | - | - |
| Rest API delivery | ✓ | - |
| Visual content modeling schema builder | ✓ | - |
| Real time visual preview editor | ✓ | - |
| Multi language localization i18n | ✓ | - |
| Webhooks event triggers | ✓ | - |
| Granular role based access control RBAC | ✓ | - |
| Nextjs gatsby native framework support | ✓ | - |
| Shopify bigcommerce ecommerce integration | ✓ | - |
| SOC2 type ii | ✓ | - |
| ISO 27001 | ✓ | - |
| Pricing model | Freemium | - |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-09-11T23:37:44.530Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*