A Decap CMS alternative for Astro sites

Markstage vs Decap CMS (formerly Netlify CMS): edit on your Astro site's real design, not a form beside a preview. Facts checked 3 Nov 2026.

Facts about Decap CMS checked on 2026-11-03, from its own website. Markstage is not affiliated with it.

Markstage
Visual editor

A visual editor for Astro: writers edit on the site’s real design; content stays Markdown and JSON in git.

Edits on the real page
Yes The site's own components and CSS; text and rich text typed on the page, other fields in a side panel. Components mark their fields with a helper ⁴

Content in git
Yes ³

Self-host
Yes One docker run with the server image, Docker Compose, or systemd and nginx ⁹ ⁸

Price to start
Free to self-host ³

Licence
Elastic License 2.0 Source-available, free to self-host ²⁰
Decap CMS
Git-based editor

A single admin page that talks to your git host; no server of its own.

Edits on the real page
Partly Form with a real-time preview pane; custom preview templates and styles ³⁰ ³⁴

Content in git
Yes GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and more ³²

Self-host
Yes ³⁵

Price to start
Free; Turbo Pro €19/mo ³⁵

Licence
MIT ³¹

From the full comparison; each number links to its source.

Decap CMS, formerly Netlify CMS, is one of the best-known git-based editors. It is a single admin page that talks to your git host. Writers fill in a form, with a live preview beside it. Markstage lets them edit on the page itself.

Who each one is for

Decap CMS suits developers who want a free editor with no server at all, on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket and other git hosts, with a large community.

Markstage suits teams whose writers should edit on the site's real design, and who want staging, roles, single sign-on, a forms inbox and SEO checks in the same tool. It needs a server. Markstage is pre-release.

Side by side

	Markstage	Decap CMS
Editing	On the real page	A form with a real-time preview pane; custom preview templates
Content	Markdown and JSON in git	Files in your git repository
What you run	A Node server next to your static site	No server: an admin page; off Netlify you add your own OAuth routes
Sign-in without a git account	Email and password, two-step sign-in, single sign-on	Your own auth, or the hosted Decap Turbo
Review before going live	Staging and production with rules	Editorial workflow: a branch and pull request per entry
Roles	Five built in, plus custom roles	Decap Turbo: owner, member, full access; custom roles €19/mo add-on
SEO checks, forms inbox	Yes	Not listed
Price	Free to self-host	Free; Decap Turbo Pro €19/mo
Licence	Elastic License 2.0 (source-available)	MIT

Where Decap CMS is stronger

No server to run. Decap is a page that calls your git host's API. Markstage needs Node and git on a server.
Many git hosts. GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Azure, Gitea/Forgejo and Git Gateway.
Community. About 19.4k GitHub stars and many years of use.
Other frameworks. Decap works with any static site generator.

Moving from Decap CMS to Markstage

Your Markdown files stay in the same folders. For each collection in Decap's config.yml, add a collection with the same folder to markstage.config.mjs, then add the @markstage/astro integration. Your media folder can stay where it is (set media.dir). Remove /admin/ when your team has moved.

Frequently asked questions

Is Decap CMS the same as Netlify CMS?

Yes. Decap's own docs call it "formerly Netlify CMS".

Does Decap CMS have visual editing?

It has a real-time preview beside the form, and you can style the preview with your own templates. Editing happens in the form, not on the page.

Does Decap CMS work with Astro?

Yes. Astro's docs have a Decap guide. Off Netlify, the guide says you must create your own OAuth routes, which need on-demand rendering with an adapter.

Is there a Decap CMS alternative that edits on the page?

Markstage does, on your own server for free. CloudCannon and TinaCMS also edit on the page; CloudCannon is hosted only, and TinaCMS can be hosted or self-hosted.

What is Decap Turbo?

A paid hosted layer on top of Decap: hosted sign-in and roles, a proxy against git host rate limits, a content store and site variables. Free for 1 site and 1 seat; Pro is €19 a month.

Sources

Checked on 2026-11-03: Decap CMS · Decap introduction · Decap editorial workflows · Decap custom previews · Decap Turbo · Decap CMS on GitHub · Astro: Decap guide. Markstage facts: the full comparison.

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