KeystoneJS
Headless CMS and GraphQL API platform for Node.js
Overview
KeystoneJS is a headless CMS and application framework for Node.js that auto-generates a GraphQL API from a schema definition, with an admin UI included. It supports PostgreSQL and SQLite via Prisma, offers fine-grained access control, rich field types, and custom hooks. KeystoneJS v6 is a ground-up rewrite optimized for modern JAMstack and serverless deployments. Self-host with a single Node process backed by a PostgreSQL database.
Where it falls short of Contentful
- No built-in media CDN or image optimization pipeline; users must wire up external storage (S3, Cloudinary)
- Admin UI is functional but lacks the polished editorial experience of Contentful or Sanity
- No official one-click deploy or managed hosting option
- REST API support requires custom setup; only GraphQL is generated automatically
We list the gaps honestly so you can decide if the trade-off is worth owning your data.
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