Silex

Overview

Silex is an open-source visual builder for static websites, with CMS connections and several ways to publish. It is best suited to web professionals, agencies, students and teams comfortable choosing how their sites are hosted. Its breadth of free publishing options is appealing, but the early-alpha desktop app and the limits of free GitLab hosting call for care.

Key features

Silex combines a visual editor with CMS and data integrations, including WordPress, Directus and Squidex; it can also use any GraphQL API as a data source. That flexibility makes it a stronger fit for sites drawing on existing content systems than a builder limited to its own content tools. Strapi and Supabase are marked as coming soon, while YunoHost is also not yet a deployment option.

Publishing routes include GitLab Pages, FTP/SFTP, ZIP download and CapRover. GitLab Pages hosting supports custom domains and automatic CI/CD builds, making it a convenient free route for a small project. The GitLab free tier, however, caps private groups at five users, CI/CD at 400 minutes per month per namespace, and total storage at 10 GB. Those caps may constrain a team or a larger set of sites.

Silex is licensed under AGPL. The maker says sites built with it have no tracking or third-party cookies and that user data is not for sale. An experimental on-device AI assistant is included in the desktop app, and a local MCP server supports AI integration. These are additional tools rather than a reason to overlook the app’s early-alpha status.

Pricing

Silex’s plans are free, with no free trial. Cloud costs nothing and includes standard builder features, GitLab Pages hosting, a custom domain, CMS integrations, collaboration and versioning. The separate Cloud with a free gitlab.com account plan is free, billed $0 forever, and is described as suitable for small teams. Its GitLab hosting brings the five-user, 400-minute and 10 GB caps.

Desktop app costs nothing. It works offline, requires no account, includes all Silex features and publishes to a local folder, leaving hosting to the user. Self-Hosted costs nothing and includes all features, custom storage backends, an own domain and self-managed infrastructure. The maker says self-hosted GitLab CE has no user or storage limits and can be run with Docker, CapRover or npx. In exchange for escaping GitLab’s free-tier caps, the operator must manage the infrastructure.

Platforms

Silex is available on the web and through self-hosting. Silex Desktop runs on Windows, macOS and Linux; as an early-alpha app, it suits people willing to accept a less mature local workflow. FTP/SFTP and ZIP publishing also let users take their sites to hosting they choose.

Who it's for

Silex makes most sense for professionals building multiple sites, agencies scaling client work, students learning design, and teams that value static-site performance. CMS and GraphQL options suit projects with existing content sources; offline editing and account-free use may appeal to an individual working locally. It is less compelling for a team seeking managed infrastructure without GitLab’s quotas or for anyone who wants a mature desktop app.

Pros and cons

• Pros: Free plans cover cloud, desktop and self-hosted use, with custom domains and multiple publishing routes.
• Pros: CMS integrations and support for any GraphQL API accommodate sites using external content.
• Pros: The maker says Silex-built sites have no tracking or third-party cookies, and user data is not for sale.
• Cons: GitLab’s free tier has group, build-minute and storage caps that can limit small teams as they grow.
• Cons: Self-hosting avoids those stated GitLab CE limits but makes infrastructure the user’s responsibility.
• Cons: The desktop app is early alpha, and some planned integrations and deployment options are still coming soon.

Alternatives

Choose Framer if you want a freemium builder with a free plan and a trial; its Free plan includes 500 AI credits, a Framer domain, 1 GB bandwidth, design pages and 10 CMS collections. Mailchimp is a better fit when the priority is email: its free plan caps usage at 250 contacts, 500 emails per month, 250 per day, one audience and one seat.

Consider Brizy AI for an AI-focused builder: its Personal plan is $19 a month and includes one website and premium AWS hosting. Carrd suits a simpler small-site need, with up to three sites on its free Basic plan. Elementor is another option for self-hosted or web use.

MailerLite suits landing pages tied to email campaigns: its free plan allows 250 subscribers, 2,500 monthly emails, two seats, three automations, one landing page and one website. Tilda is an alternative for block-based site building, with one website on its free plan and custom domains on its $15 a month Personal plan. Webflow AI offers a free Starter plan with a Webflow.io domain, limited CMS, two static pages, 1 GB bandwidth, 50 form submissions, Webflow AI and an MCP server.

For category browsing, see Landing Page Builders, Personal Website Builders, No-Code Website Builders and Website builders.

Verdict

Choose Silex if you want an open-source static-site builder with free hosting choices, CMS flexibility and the option to manage your own infrastructure. Its main trade-off is operational: GitLab’s free caps may be restrictive, while self-hosting transfers infrastructure management to you. Look elsewhere if you need a more mature desktop app or hosting without those constraints.