Conloca vs Mattrbld

Conloca is a free, open-source content management system built specifically for Astro websites. Its browser editor, powered by Puck, lets editors assemble and update pages with drag-and-drop components. Content is stored as VXJSON files in the project’s Git repository, without a database or external service dependency. Every edit creates a Git commit with author attribution, allowing teams to review differences and revert changes. Separate content can be maintained for each configured locale, and MDX combines Markdown with components. Conloca includes live preview and a media library. When editors change one page simultaneously, ETag-based conflict detection displays a resolution dialog. The system writes to a temporary file before atomically renaming it to reduce partial writes after a crash. It runs on Bun and can deploy in Docker, on a VPS with systemd or behind a Cloudflare Tunnel. Cloudflare Access authentication with JWT validation is available out of the box. Conloca costs nothing.

Mattrbld is a Git-based headless CMS for creating and managing content without tying editors to a particular frontend framework. Content remains in Git repositories rather than on Mattrbld’s external servers. After importing a project, users can edit offline, but must reconnect to publish changes. Schemas define content fields and validation rules, which Mattrbld uses to create editing forms. It supports JSON and Markdown files with YAML frontmatter; plain YAML support is planned but not implemented. Developers can implement a preview route using Mattrbld’s protocol to show content updates in real time. Repository communication uses Git; its documentation names GitLab, GitHub, and Bitbucket as providers that require a CORS proxy. Mattrbld does not require its own account, but collaborators need Git-provider accounts to access private repositories or sync. It is free, with an official hosted instance and a self-hosted core. The hosted instance has no availability guarantee, and its provided CORS proxy is intended for small-scale private projects. Mattrbld can also be built from source and hosted as a single-page application.