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Thunder CMS
by Thunder CMS
What Thunder CMS is
Thunder CMS is a Drupal-based, open-source content management system for professional publishers. It runs on the web and can be self-hosted. The basic distribution is released under the GNU General Public License with no license or maintenance fee; its Thunder plan is listed as free, with unlimited use. Editors can assemble articles from text, images, videos, and social media cards, rearrange the parts by dragging and dropping, and preview the result. Editorial workflows, multilingual content, SEO tools, media libraries, and custom content types are included. Articles can be scheduled for publication or removal, while image expiry dates can trigger placeholder replacement. The media browser handles pictures, galleries, and videos with drag-and-drop uploads, automatic cropping, and focal-point selection. Thunder also offers liveblogging, responsive frontend and backend themes, and previews for smartphones and tablets. More than 2,500 Drupal community modules and custom themes can extend it. A cloud demo provides a free 30-day development-plan trial.
Who it suits
Thunder suits professional publishers and teams needing structured editorial workflows, multilingual publishing, media handling, scheduling, and extensibility. It is also suited to organizations comfortable with self-hosted or web-based CMS deployment.
What it does well
- Free GNU GPL distribution with no license fee
- Scheduling for publication, removal, and image expiry
- Media browser supports cropping and focal points
- Liveblog feature supports real-time event coverage
- Extensible through over 2,500 Drupal modules
What to know first
- Premium partner services may cost extra
- Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP unavailable in Thunder 6
- Self-hosted setup may require implementation support
Plans
| Plan | Billed and limits | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Thunder | Free of any licence or maintenance fee; unlimited use · No fee for Thunder modules; premium services from industry partners may cost extra | Free |
As thunder.org lists them, read 12 Oct 2026. The maker's own page has the final word.
Verdict
Thunder CMS combines publisher-focused editorial controls with Drupal extensibility and responsive previews. Its free core is substantial, but optional partner services can add costs and some listed integrations are unavailable in Thunder 6.
Facts from Thunder CMS's own pages
- Commercial services
- Thunder's basic distribution is free, while publishers contract directly with industry partners for any premium functionality they choose to buy. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Custom content types
- Yes · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Editorial workflows
- Yes · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Extensibility
- Thunder can be extended with more than 2,500 Drupal community modules and can be themed. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Founded
- 2016 · thunder.org, 19 Oct 2026
- Free plan
- Yes · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Headquarters
- Munich, Germany · thunder.org, 19 Oct 2026
- Integrations
- The feature page describes Facebook Instant Articles and Google AMP integrations, but says neither is available for Thunder 6 yet. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Intended users
- Thunder is designed for professional publishing, and publishers, industry partners, implementation partners, individuals, and the core team participate in its coalition. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Liability
- The FAQ says contributors generally cannot be held liable for bugs, crashes, or other software failures; individual service-level agreements may be negotiated for partner premium services. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- License and cost
- Thunder is released under the GNU General Public License and has no license or maintenance fee. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Liveblog
- Thunder includes a liveblog feature for covering events in real time. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Media
- The media browser supports pictures, galleries, and videos, with drag-and-drop uploads, automatic cropping, and focal-point selection. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Media library
- Yes · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Multilingual content
- Yes · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Platform type
- self_hosted · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Purpose
- Thunder is a Drupal-based, web-based open-source CMS designed for professional publishers. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Responsive interface
- The installation includes responsive frontend and backend themes and a device preview for smartphones and tablets. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Scheduling
- Editors can schedule articles for publication and removal, and set image expiry dates that replace expired images with a placeholder. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- SEO tools
- Yes · thunder.org, 23 Sept 2026
- Storytelling
- Editors can build articles from text, images, videos, and social media cards, reorder content by dragging and dropping, and preview the result. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
- Support
- The project points users to its documentation and community channels, including Slack, for help. · github.com, 12 Oct 2026
- Trial
- A cloud-based Thunder demo offers a free 30-day trial on a development plan and is operated on Microsoft Azure in Germany. · thunder.org, 12 Oct 2026
Where Thunder CMS stands on Freedom251
- Content Management Systems#61 of 165