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Piranha CMS
What Piranha CMS is
Piranha CMS is a free, MIT-licensed CMS library for .NET 8. It can be integrated into an existing application or used to build a website or headless CMS through an API. Its block editor lets editors add, remove, and reorder content blocks, with side-by-side live preview and a media library that scales and crops images. The content model includes sites, pages, posts, media, blocks, regions, and fields. Administrators get a Vue.js and Bootstrap interface supporting Razor Pages and MVC, and can extend or replace it with custom components. Editorial workflows, custom roles, and custom content types are supported. Entity Framework Core provides data access; SQLite, SQL Server, and SQL Azure are officially supported, while MySQL and PostgreSQL packages are community-maintained. Templates offer local or Azure Blob media storage. The project targets small and medium-sized customers and does not provide ready-made themes and plugins.
Who it suits
Piranha suits developers building .NET websites, integrated CMS features, or headless APIs. It is aimed at small and medium-sized customers comfortable with programming and self-hosted deployment.
What it does well
- Free MIT-licensed software
- Block editing with live preview
- Custom roles and editorial workflows
- MVC and Razor Pages templates
- Local or Azure Blob storage
What to know first
- No ready-made themes and plugins
- MySQL and PostgreSQL support is community-maintained
- Default manager credentials require changing
- Focused on developers and programming
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Piranha CMS | MIT-licensed CMS software; packages distributed via NuGet | Free |
As piranhacms.org lists them, read 12 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
Piranha CMS offers a flexible .NET foundation with structured content, extensible administration, and multiple deployment choices. It is less suited to users seeking a no-code site assembled from ready-made themes and plugins.
Facts from Piranha CMS's own pages
- Admin interface
- The admin interface uses Vue.js and Bootstrap, supports Razor Pages and MVC, and can be extended or replaced with custom components. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Architecture
- Piranha uses ASP.NET dependency injection and allows its services to be replaced or custom implementations to be built. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Audience
- The project says it focuses on tools for small to medium sized customers and does not aim to provide complex enterprise features. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Content
- Piranha focuses on structuring and editing content, and its docs describe sites, pages, posts, media, blocks, regions, and fields. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Content editing
- Its block editor lets editors add, delete, and reorder content blocks in pages and posts. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Custom content types
- Yes · piranhacms.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Custom user roles
- Yes · piranhacms.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Data access
- Piranha uses Entity Framework Core for its provided data access packages and officially tests and supports SQLite, SQL Server, and SQL Azure. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Database options
- The project templates list SQLite, SQL Server, MySQL, and PostgreSQL as database providers. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Deployment
- The project describes Piranha as cross-platform and says it supports a range of hosting and deployment scenarios; its repository lists Windows and Linux build platforms. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Editor
- Its block editor supports writing and arranging content, with side-by-side live preview and a built-in media library for image scaling and cropping. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Editorial workflows
- Yes · piranhacms.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Editor integrations
- The documentation lists TinyMCE and Summernote manager packages, and says TinyMCE is the default editor in project templates. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Getting started
- Piranha provides cross-platform .NET CLI project templates for empty, MVC, and Razor Pages projects; the templates create new projects rather than adding CMS functionality directly to an existing application. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Integration
- Piranha can be used as an integrated CMS or a headless API, and its documentation provides project templates for ASP.NET MVC, Razor Pages, and empty web applications. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Licensing
- Piranha CMS is released under the MIT license, which permits reuse in proprietary software subject to its license and copyright notice requirements. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Live preview and media
- The maker’s features page lists side-by-side live preview and a media library with image scaling and cropping. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Media library
- Yes · piranhacms.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Media storage
- Project templates offer local file storage by default and Azure Blob Storage as an option for uploaded assets. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Notable limitation
- Piranha says it does not provide a collection of ready-made themes and plugins for building a site without programming. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Other database providers
- The docs describe MySQL and PostgreSQL packages as community initiatives, with support handled by their package maintainers. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Platform and runtime
- Piranha is built on .NET 8, and its documentation describes .NET as cross-platform with SDK downloads for Windows, Linux, and macOS. · piranhacms.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Platform type
- self_hosted · piranhacms.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Purpose
- Piranha CMS is an editor-focused .NET CMS that can be used as an integrated CMS or a headless API. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
Where Piranha CMS stands on Freedom251
- Content Management Systems#69 of 165