What is django CMS?
django CMS is a free, BSD licensed content management system built as a Django application. The current release on the project site is 5.1.3, announced in September 2026. It is stewarded by the django CMS Association, a non-profit run by volunteers, and the site lists “Headless-Ready” as a feature of version 5.
It lives inside a normal Django project. Your models, authentication, admin and tests sit next to the CMS, in the same Python codebase. That is the main reason teams choose it.
django CMS or Wagtail?
Both are Python CMS platforms on Django, and both are open source. They differ in how editors build pages.
| Area | django CMS | Wagtail |
|---|---|---|
| Page building | Editors place plugins into placeholders, with editing on the live page | Editors fill StreamField blocks in an admin form with preview |
| Content model | Page tree plus plugin models | Page models with typed fields and blocks |
| API | Plain Django views or Django REST framework, which you add | Built-in REST API module, plus a common headless pattern |
| Multilingual | Strong, built in from early versions | Available through the wagtail-localize package |
| Best for | Sites where editors want to arrange layouts visually | Content-heavy sites where design stays fixed |
If your editors need layout freedom, django CMS is the closer match. If your design system is fixed and you plan to go headless, we usually point to Wagtail, and we staff it too: hire Wagtail developers.
Keep django CMS and add a headless frontend
Keep it when your Django application is the real product and the CMS is a part of it. You can leave the editing experience alone and replace the rendering layer. Add Django REST framework endpoints for pages and plugin data, then build a Next.js or Astro frontend that reads them.
Plan for one cost. Plugin-based pages mix content and layout, so the JSON has to be shaped by us, not exported as is. We define a stable page schema first, so the frontend team is not coupled to plugin internals. The same pattern works with our Python development team on the backend side.
When to move off django CMS, and to what
Move when editors spend more time fighting the layout tools than writing, when your team no longer writes Python, or when you need a SaaS with no hosting. Common targets:
- Wagtail, if you want to stay in Python with a more structured authoring model.
- A hosted or self-hosted headless platform from the multilingual headless CMS list, if translations drive the choice.
- Payload or Strapi, if the team is moving to Node.js.
We handle the move as a migration: content mapping from plugin trees, translated page pairs, media and redirects. See our migration services.
What we build on django CMS
- Page structures, plugin libraries and placeholders that keep design intact.
- Upgrades across django CMS and Django versions, with a plugin compatibility audit.
- Integrations with Django apps, identity providers, CRM and booking systems.
- REST endpoints and a Next.js or Astro frontend for headless delivery.
- Multilingual structure: language trees, URL plans, fallbacks.
For engineers inside your team, hire django CMS developers. For the wider setup, see our headless CMS page.
