Kinto is a free, open-source JSON storage and sync service built by Mozilla. See features, self-hosting details, and top alternatives.
Kinto is a free, open-source JSON document storage service built and used internally by Mozilla, released under the Apache License 2.0. It is a self-hostable server, written mostly in Python, with companion offline-first client libraries such as kinto.js.
Data in Kinto is organized into buckets, collections, and records, with fine-grained permissions at each level, and the service is accessed through a well-documented HTTP API usable from any programming language or client.
Mozilla has used Kinto inside Firefox to synchronize settings like content blocklists, experimentation configuration, and the built-in search engine list via its Remote Settings system, while the open-source project remains independently usable by any developer.
Kinto supports offline-first synchronization, letting clients write and modify data locally while offline and sync back to the server once connectivity returns, with built-in conflict handling.
JSON Schema validation lets collections enforce a consistent data shape, and a pluggable-backend architecture lets operators choose where data is physically stored.
Kinto can serve as a lightweight backend for static front-end applications, such as a GitHub Pages-hosted project that still needs dynamic, synchronized JSON storage.
Kinto is entirely free and open source under the Apache 2.0 license, with no commercial vendor, subscription tiers, or paid support plans.
Any cost comes purely from self-hosting infrastructure, since there is no official managed hosting service; support comes through the open-source community and documentation.
Kinto is a self-hosted JSON document storage service used to store, share, and synchronize structured data for web, mobile, and IoT applications.
Yes, Kinto is completely free and open source under the Apache License 2.0.
Kinto was built by Mozilla, the maker of Firefox, and is used internally to synchronize browser settings and configuration data.
Yes, client libraries like kinto.js support offline-first data access with synchronization once connectivity returns.
Yes, Kinto is designed to be easy to self-host on your own infrastructure using the published Python server.
Alternatives include CouchDB, Hoodie, RemoteStorage, Firebase Realtime Database and Firestore, and Parse Server.