Kiln vs Mattrbld
Kiln
kilncms.com
Mattrbld
mattrbld.comSide by side
| Figure | Kiln | Mattrbld |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | $4.99/mo | Free |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | Yes | — |
| Web | Yes | Yes |
| iOS | — | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| API | Yes | — |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 9 | 2 |
| Spec score · Git-Based CMS | 8.9 (#4) | 7.8 (#15) |
| Content storage | Site files and their complete version history remain in the customer’s GitHub repository rather than a Kiln database. | Content lives in Git repositories and is not stored on Mattrbld’s external servers. |
| Intended users | Kiln describes itself for people who build static sites and want clients or other non-technical editors to update site content themselves. | The maker describes it as suited to developers or agencies helping small to medium-sized clients manage website content, and says it is not a drag-and-drop website builder. |
Plans
Kiln
- Self-hostedFree
- Kiln Cloud$4.99 a month
- Fully managed$14.99 a month
- Open sourceFree
- Self-hostedFree
- Kiln Cloud$4.99 a month
- Fully managed$14.99 a month
- Concierge setup$399, paid once
- Concierge setup & tagging$399, paid once
In their own words
Kiln
Kiln is an open-source, click-to-edit CMS for static sites. Invited editors change content directly on a site, with edits saved as Git commits in a repository owned by the site owner. Supported content includes text, images, documents, blocks, galleries, events, and calendar items. The publishing workflow includes drafts, scheduled publishing, named versions, history, and restoration. Owners sign in with GitHub, while invited editors and members can use Google sign-in and be scoped to particular pages or sections. Reviewer seats can comment only; suggest mode lets owners approve or decline proposed changes field by field. Kiln works with GitHub repositories and hosts that redeploy on push, including Cloudflare Pages, Netlify, Vercel, and GitHub Pages. A REST API and kiln-mcp support scoped, sanitized edits by scripts and agents; optional AI assistance uses an API key supplied by the user. Site content remains plain HTML in the customer's repository, even after leaving Kiln. Self-hosted costs nothing; Kiln Cloud is $4.99 a month, and Fully managed is $14.99 a month.
Mattrbld
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.