CouchCMS — Self-Hosted, Open-Source

Features

• Editable Regions: Simply by surrounding areas in your HTML code by some special tags you can make them editable by your clients.
• Cloned Pages: Create cloned pages out of any plain HTML/CSS template. Easily create blogs, portfolios, galleries, events etc. using these.
• Comments: Allow visitors to leave their comments on any of the pages. You can moderate the comments before publishing them.
• Listing of Cloned Pages: Easily show a listing of cloned pages based on several parameters like date, most commented or any of the editable regions defined by you.
• SEO Friendly Links: Place your cloned pages within nestable virtual folders. The names of these folders appear in the URL creating super SEO friendly links.
• Auto-validating Forms: Create self-validating forms with the greatest of ease. Integrate Google maps with forms using a simple tag.
• Events Calendar: Rapidly create calendar events and list them any way you like. Integrate Google maps with the events.
• Search: Define which pages will be included in the search. Format the result of searches any way you like.
• RSS Feeds: Easily create customized RSS feeds from any/all section(s) of your website so readers can subscribe to your content.
• Custom 404 / Site Offline Pages: Show your own custom page when a 404 error (page not found) occurs or when you have set your site to be offline.

Installation

See official install docs: http://docs.couchcms.com/tutorials/portfolio-site.html

Why self-host CouchCMS

Self-hosting gives you three things SaaS can’t: data ownership (the files live on disks you control), cost predictability (a one-time setup vs. recurring per-seat fees that grow with your household or team), and longevity (open-source means the app keeps working even if the maintainers move on, since you can pin a working version). The trade-off is that you take on the operational work of running a server, applying updates, and handling backups.

What hardware do you need

Most self-hosted apps run comfortably on modest hardware — a Raspberry Pi 4, a mini PC, a NAS with Docker support, or a small VPS is usually enough for personal or family use. CPU and RAM requirements scale with how many simultaneous users or how much data you push through CouchCMS. Storage requirements depend on the kind of data you keep; check the README for guidance on data retention.

Where to go from here

• Browse the full self-hosted app directory
• Compare self-hosted alternatives side-by-side
• DevOps roadmap — learn the skills to run your own server