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GovCMS
What GovCMS is
GovCMS is a Drupal-based content management system and web hosting service for Australian government organisations at Commonwealth and State level. Agencies can use SaaS or PaaS. With SaaS, GovCMS manages security, Drupal updates, application and infrastructure maintenance, and hosting. With PaaS, the agency manages the Drupal application layer, including its security, while GovCMS maintains the platform infrastructure. GovCMS states 99.95% uptime and certification to host website information classified up to OFFICIAL: Sensitive. Its platform has completed an IRAP assessment aligned with the 2019 Australian Government Information Security Manual at that classification level, and its hosting services keep websites in Australian data centres.
SaaS includes Akamai web protection with a web application firewall, DDoS mitigation, a content delivery network, and bot management; PaaS customers can add these services at extra cost. The platform is set up to meet WCAG 2.1, while agencies remain responsible for ongoing accessibility of their websites. Its Digital Experience Platform program lists Rules as Code, content personalisation, analytics, digital asset management, and site optimisation services accessible through the Drupal Services Panel. Service Desk support is available Monday to Friday, 8:30am–5:30pm AEDT for general issues, with 24/7 critical-issue coverage and a maximum 60-minute initial response time. Annual SaaS plans range from SaaS Nano at $9,260 a year to SaaS Giga at $347,290 a year; fees exclude GST and setup fees apply.
Who it suits
GovCMS is for Australian Commonwealth and State government organisations that need a Drupal content management and hosting service. Agencies choosing SaaS can hand over application and infrastructure maintenance, while PaaS is suited to agencies prepared to manage the Drupal application layer and its security.
What it does well
- Offers both SaaS and PaaS operating models.
- States 99.95% uptime and Australian data-centre hosting.
- Certified to host information up to OFFICIAL: Sensitive.
- SaaS includes Akamai web protection services.
- Platform is set up to meet WCAG 2.1.
What to know first
- There is no free plan or free trial.
- SaaS plans have annual fees and setup fees.
- PaaS agencies retain responsibility for application-layer security.
- Service Desk excludes design, development, and discovery services.
Limits
SaaS plans set monthly page-view and hit allowances, plus database and file-storage limits. SaaS Nano is $9,260 a year with a $1,045.00 setup fee and allows up to 5,000 page views and 15,000 hits monthly, with a 5GB database and 10GB file storage; fees exclude GST.
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| SaaS Extra-Large | $127,340.00 yearly fee; $3,195.00 setup fee; charged annually; fees exclude GST · 800,001–1,500,000 page views/month · 4.5 million hits/month · 5GB database · 10GB file storage | $127,340 a year |
| Micro | annually; excludes GST; $3,195.00 setup fee · 5,001–15,000 page views/month · 45,000 hits/month | A$18,520 a year |
| SaaS Micro | $18,520.00 yearly fee; $3,195.00 setup fee; charged annually; fees exclude GST · 5,001–15,000 page views/month · 45,000 hits/month · 5GB database · 10GB file storage | $18,520 a year |
| SaaS Mega | $219,950.00 yearly fee; $3,195.00 setup fee; charged annually; fees exclude GST · 1,500,001–3,000,000 page views/month · 9.0 million hits/month · 10GB database · 20GB file storage | $219,950 a year |
| SaaS Giga | $347,290.00 yearly fee; $3,195.00 setup fee; charged annually; fees exclude GST · 3,000,001–5,000,000 page views/month · 15.0 million hits/month · 10GB database · 20GB file storage | $347,290 a year |
| Mini | annually; excludes GST; $3,195.00 setup fee · 15,001–50,000 page views/month · 150,000 hits/month | A$37,045 a year |
| SaaS Mini | $37,045.00 yearly fee; $3,195.00 setup fee; charged annually; fees exclude GST · 15,001–50,000 page views/month · 150,000 hits/month · 5GB database · 10GB file storage | $37,045 a year |
| Extra-Small | annually; excludes GST; $3,195.00 setup fee · 50,001–100,000 page views/month · 300,000 hits/month | A$46,305 a year |
The first 8 of 20 plans, as govcms.gov.au lists them, read 5 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word. Every plan
Getting started
- Visit https://www.govcms.gov.au/.
- Confirm that your organisation is an Australian government organisation at Commonwealth or State level.
- Choose SaaS or PaaS based on whether GovCMS or your agency will manage the Drupal application layer.
- For SaaS, select a plan based on its monthly page-view and hit allowance.
- For PaaS, consider opting into Akamai web protection for an additional cost.
Verdict
GovCMS is a fit for Australian government organisations seeking Drupal hosting with SaaS and PaaS responsibility options, Australian data-centre hosting, and defined security classification coverage. SaaS centralises more maintenance and includes Akamai protection. Agencies wanting a free trial or hands-off PaaS application management should look elsewhere or weigh the operating responsibilities carefully.
Questions
Who can use GovCMS?
GovCMS is available to Australian government organisations at Commonwealth and State level.
Is there a free plan or trial?
No. GovCMS has no free plan and no free trial.
What does GovCMS charge?
SaaS Nano costs $9,260 a year, and SaaS Giga costs $347,290 a year. The listed SaaS fees exclude GST and plans have setup fees.
What is the difference between SaaS and PaaS?
For SaaS, GovCMS handles security, Drupal updates, application and infrastructure maintenance, and hosting. For PaaS, the agency manages the Drupal application layer and its security, while GovCMS maintains the platform infrastructure.
Where is GovCMS hosted, and what security classification does it support?
GovCMS says its hosting services place websites in Australian data centres. It is certified to host website information classified up to OFFICIAL: Sensitive.
What support does the Service Desk provide?
General support is available Monday to Friday, 8:30am–5:30pm AEDT. Critical issues receive 24/7 coverage with a maximum 60-minute initial response time; design, development, and discovery services are excluded.
Facts from GovCMS's own pages
- Accessibility
- The official site states GovCMS meets WCAG 2.0 Level AA. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- API capabilities
- The Content as an API concept includes content discovery, subscriptions, syndication, quality assurance and cross-agency publishing governance. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- API initiative
- Content as an API is an alpha-stage project intended to provide a government content hub and syndication platform. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Audience
- GovCMS is available to Australian government organisations at Commonwealth and State level. · govcms.gov.au, 5 Oct 2026
- Availability
- GovCMS advertises a 99.95% uptime guarantee and 24/7 monitoring and support. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Backups
- SaaS includes self-serve backups retained for 90 days and archival backups retained for seven years. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- CDN and WAF
- SaaS includes CDN, web application firewall and DDoS protection; PaaS makes web protection optional. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Current status
- The live status page currently reports all listed GovCMS systems as operational. · status.govcms.support, 15 Oct 2026
- Developer extensibility
- The repository supports contributions through GitHub issues and pull requests and requires automated tests before manual review. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Developer prerequisites
- The public distribution repository lists Apache or Nginx, PHP 8.4 or newer, and MySQL or PostgreSQL as prerequisites. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Drupal hosting
- Drupal 11 hosting is included in both SaaS and PaaS plans. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Environments
- Each SaaS subscription includes five environments and additional environments cost $85.00 per environment per month. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2015 · govcms.gov.au, 28 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- The GovCMS team is sponsored by the Department of Finance in Canberra, Australia. · salsa-digital.gitbook.io, 15 Oct 2026
- Hosting location
- GovCMS says its hosting services house websites in Australian data centres. · govcms.gov.au, 5 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- GovCMS’s Digital Experience Platform program lists Rules as Code, content personalisation, analytics, digital asset management, and site optimisation services accessible through its Drupal Services Panel. · govcms.gov.au, 5 Oct 2026
- Integrations and infrastructure
- The status page lists Amazon EKS, AWS Sydney compute and S3, Akamai CDN, Lagoon API, Akamai API, OpenSearch and Freshdesk service desk components. · status.govcms.support, 15 Oct 2026
- IRAP
- The platform completed an IRAP assessment aligned with the 2019 Australian Government Information Security Manual at OFFICIAL: Sensitive level. · govcms.gov.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Licence
- GovCMS is released under the GNU General Public License version 2.0. · github.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: custom code
- A GovCMS SaaS case study states that bespoke modules and server-side services cannot be deployed in the SaaS environment. · drevops.com, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: design flexibility
- An independent comparison says SaaS design and UX are constrained by the supplied templates and themes. · elcom.com.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: integrations
- An independent comparison says advanced integrations, custom APIs, CRM links and complex data workflows can strain GovCMS, especially SaaS. · elcom.com.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: intranets
- An independent comparison says GovCMS is public-facing and does not provide staff intranet or internal portal capability. · elcom.com.au, 15 Oct 2026
- Limit: review evidence
- G2 says there are not enough GovCMS reviews to provide buying insight; its single review is marked as an incentivized G2 invite. · g2.com, 15 Oct 2026
Where GovCMS stands on Freedom251
- Government Website Builders#4 of 33