Chisel CMS: Simple for Editors, Flexible for Developers, Free from Lock-In

When we built Chisel CMS, we wanted to solve a problem that many teams face when choosing a headless CMS. Authors and editors need a platform that’s intuitive and effortless to use, while developers need full flexibility and control. But most solutions on the market fall short: They either overcomplicate the user experience, tie developers to restrictive platforms, or push teams into expensive cloud-native ecosystems with no room to grow at their own pace.

Chisel CMS strikes the perfect balance between simplicity, flexibility, and freedom. We designed it to give content creators an easy, distraction-free interface for managing content while empowering developers with tools to build exactly the way they want.

At the core of Chisel CMS is a modern, flexible stack—Node.js, Express, MongoDB, and Parse Server middleware. By leveraging Parse Server, developers get the ease and structure of a PaaS, while still maintaining complete control over their application. This approach ensures that developers aren’t locked into a black box of proprietary tools, giving them the freedom to customize, extend, and deploy as needed.

Deployment options are just as flexible as the platform itself. Teams can start simple with a single instance, scale with Docker, or orchestrate via Kubernetes for enterprise-level production scaling. Whether you’re leveraging cloud providers or provisioning your own VMs, Chisel CMS adapts to your unique infrastructure and grows with your needs over time—helping you balance enterprise readiness without overburdening your team too early.

We’ve designed Chisel CMS to fit your workflow, not the other way around. Whether you’re an editor focused on content or a developer building for scale, Chisel CMS delivers a headless CMS experience that’s powerful, flexible, and entirely in your control.