Kirby

Is Kirby actively maintained?

Over the last 11 months the project absorbed 910 commits, of which 307 arrived in the most recent quarter — roughly 102 commits a month.

The most recent tagged release, 5.6.0, shipped within the last month — a current, installable version exists today.

Of the 48 projects we track in Content Management Systems (CMS), Kirby ranks #9 by health score — in the top quarter of its category.

What Kirby actually does

Kirby is a file-based content management system that stores website data in flat files rather than a traditional relational database. It provides an interface for editing content and is built using PHP, allowing developers to manage web pages without complex database setup.

Best fit: It is a strong fit for developers and small teams who prefer managing content through flat files and version control rather than traditional database-driven systems.

Worth knowing: It uses a proprietary license, meaning you will need to purchase a commercial license for production use despite hosting it yourself.

Deployment notes

Because it runs on PHP and stores data in files, you will typically need a standard web server like Nginx or Apache with PHP support and reliable persistent storage for the file system.

Links

• Official website
• Source code