Is FOSS losing to SaaS? Data from the CMS battleground
summary
Analysis of 9,000 UK-registered sites shows open-source monolithic CMS usage declining while site builders gain lower-end market and headless grows in top 20% and large sites. WordPress remains largest but its growth slows; licensed CMS adoption concentrates at higher-income organizations. Drivers are maintenance overhead and developer experience: agencies prefer low-hassle site builders for small budgets and headless or licensed solutions for branding-heavy, content-rich projects. AI is accelerating customization for site builders and speeding headless development; data sovereignty and high-security needs keep open source viable in niches.
AI-written summary · about
chapters (14)
- 0:00Introduction to talk
- 1:04What is a CMS and market overview
- 2:28Data collection from UK government sites
- 4:34CMS market share analysis
- 6:42Open source vs licensed CMS trends
- 7:46Site builders gaining traction
- 8:51Headless CMS explained
- 10:15Headless CMS growth and adoption
- 11:59Key conclusions from data
- 13:48Impact of AI on CMS trends
- 15:32Is FOSS losing to SaaS?
- 16:38Open source’s enduring role
- 17:20Why organizations choose CMS platforms
- 19:31Q&A session
related talks
32mState of the CMS
07mWhy Shopify and WordPress Suck
46mCMS Speed Dating: Find the Right CMS for Your Web Project
39mOpen Source Is Winning but We Can Still Lose
42mOpen Source at a Crossroads
50mHow Open Source is Eating Software: Numbers and Trends
28mThe ultimate CMS vs Framework showdown
15mThe 2022 State of Open Source Software in Organizations