CouchCMS is a free, open-source PHP content management system that turns any HTML/CSS template into an editable website using simple template tags.
CouchCMS is a lightweight, open-source PHP content management system created by developer Kamran Kashif, with copyright notices dating to 2009 and active maintenance continuing since. It is designed for web designers who want to make an existing HTML/CSS template editable without learning a separate templating language.
Rather than imposing a CMS-defined theme structure, CouchCMS lets designers insert special tags directly into an already-built template, turning designated regions into editable content managed through Couch's admin panel.
Editable regions let designated parts of an HTML template be edited through the admin panel, while cloned pages let a single template generate repeated content structures like blog posts, galleries, or event listings, each with its own content.
Built-in comment and moderation tools, a templating system with loops and conditionals, and nestable virtual folders for SEO-friendly URLs round out the core feature set.
CouchCMS is free and open source under the Common Public Attribution License 1.0, which permits commercial use but requires attribution to remain visible in the source code.
A separate Commercial License is available for designers who want to remove the visible attribution link and rebrand the admin panel, which also includes a period of premium support; there is only one version of the software, so the commercial license is a white-labeling and support add-on rather than a feature unlock.
Yes. CouchCMS is free and open source under the Common Public Attribution License 1.0, which permits commercial use but requires attribution in the source code.
CouchCMS is released under the Common Public Attribution License 1.0 (CPAL). A separate paid Commercial License is available for removing attribution and rebranding the admin panel.
No. CouchCMS is designed for web designers who know HTML and CSS; content is made editable by inserting special tags into an existing template rather than writing PHP code.
CouchCMS lets designers start from an already-built HTML/CSS template and add editable regions directly, whereas WordPress requires building a theme around its own templating and plugin system. CouchCMS is generally lighter-weight and has a smaller ecosystem than WordPress.
Yes, through its cloned pages feature, which lets a single template generate repeated content structures such as blog posts, portfolio items, and image galleries.
Yes. CouchCMS uses a MySQL database alongside its template-based content model, combining flat-template flexibility with database-backed content storage.