Kiln is an open-source, click-to-edit CMS for static sites. Site owners invite editors to change text, images, documents, blocks, galleries, events, and calendar content directly on the page; published edits become Git commits in the owner's repository. The workflow includes drafts, scheduled publishing, named versions, history, and restoration. Owners sign in with GitHub, while invited editors can use Google sign-in and be limited to particular pages or sections. Reviewers can comment without editing, and suggest mode lets owners approve or decline changes field by field. Kiln connects to GitHub repositories and hosts that redeploy on push, including Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Vercel, and GitHub Pages. A REST API and kiln-mcp support scoped, sanitized editing by scripts and agents; optional AI assistance uses an API key supplied by the user. Site content remains plain HTML in the customer's repository, even after leaving Kiln. Self-hosted is 0.00 USD per free; Kiln Cloud is 4.99 USD per month and Fully managed is 14.99 USD per month. Both paid plans include a 7-day free trial.
Who it is for
Kiln is for people building static sites who want clients or other non-technical editors to update content themselves. It suits site owners who want changes kept in their own GitHub repository.
What is good
- Editors update content directly on the page.
- Changes are stored as Git commits.
- Editors can be limited to pages or sections.
- Reviewers can comment without editing.
- Content remains in the owner's repository after leaving.
What to know first
- Uploaded documents are limited to 15 MB per file.
- Self-hosted users run the worker and GitHub App.
- Self-hosted users provide the site host.
- Eleventy, Hugo, and Jekyll adapters are planned, not documented as available.
Verdict
Kiln pairs on-page editing with Git-based publishing and review controls for static sites. Self-hosting is free, while Kiln Cloud costs 4.99 USD per month and Fully managed costs 14.99 USD per month.
Kiln plans and pricing
All plansCompared on content management systems
- Free plan
- Yes
- Paid from
- $4.99/mo
