REDAXO Review, Pricing & Features

What REDAXO is, who maintains it, its module-based architecture, multilingual support, and why it is completely free under the MIT license.

Researched and fact-checked by Bartu Cavusoglu · Updated July 19, 2026

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Category
CMS
Pricing
Free and open source, from Free
Verified
Not yet
Last updated
July 19, 2026
Founded
2004
Headquarters
Frankfurt am Main, Germany (home of lead maintainer Yakamara Media)
Web AppOpen SourceSelf-Hosted

Overview

REDAXO is a free, open-source PHP content management system developed since 1999 by the German agency Yakamara in Frankfurt am Main and released publicly as open source in 2004. It switched from the GNU GPL to the more permissive MIT license in 2016.

Development is community-driven, led by Yakamara's core team alongside Friends of REDAXO, a volunteer association of independent developers and agencies that contribute modules, translations, and core improvements.

Key Features

REDAXO centers on a modular content architecture where developers build custom modules and templates with full control over HTML, CSS, and PHP output, separating layout from content for non-technical editors. It supports fully multilingual websites and content trees, plus structured media and file management.

A granular, configurable user rights and role system lets administrators define exactly what each backend user can see and edit, and the backend interface itself is available in German, English, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, and Portuguese.

Pricing

REDAXO is entirely free and open source under the MIT license, with no pricing tiers, subscription plans, or paid editions of the core software.

The surrounding ecosystem is supported through community contributions and sponsorships, while independent web agencies that specialize in REDAXO separately offer paid implementation, customization, and hosting services.

Key Features

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Completely free and open source under the permissive MIT license
  • Highly modular, giving developers full control over markup and structure
  • Strong, mature community (Friends of REDAXO) with many free add-ons
  • Granular, configurable permission system for editorial teams
  • Multilingual out of the box, both for content and the backend interface
  • Long track record since 2004 with active ongoing maintenance

Cons

  • Primarily documented and discussed in German, which can be a barrier for non-German developers
  • Requires PHP development knowledge and is not a no-code website builder
  • Smaller global ecosystem and plugin marketplace compared to WordPress
  • No official enterprise support contract from a single vendor

Pricing

Frequently Asked Questions

Is REDAXO free?

Yes, REDAXO is completely free and open source under the MIT license, with no paid tiers.

Who maintains REDAXO?

REDAXO is maintained by the German agency Yakamara Media in Frankfurt am Main, together with a volunteer community called Friends of REDAXO.

What technology does REDAXO use?

REDAXO is built on PHP and uses MySQL or MariaDB as its database.

Is REDAXO good for beginners?

REDAXO is aimed at developers and agencies comfortable with PHP and templating, rather than no-code website builders.

What languages does REDAXO's backend support?

The REDAXO backend is available in German, English, Spanish, Italian, Swedish, and Portuguese.

When was REDAXO released as open source?

REDAXO was developed internally starting in 1999 and released publicly as open-source software in 2004.

What license does REDAXO use?

REDAXO switched from the GNU GPL to the more permissive MIT license in 2016.

Can REDAXO be used commercially?

Yes, the MIT license permits free commercial use, modification, and redistribution.

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