Instatic

Instatic is a self-hosted content management system that enables users to design websites on a real canvas and publish them as plain static HTML files to their own server. It addresses the common issue of websites depending on multiple external services by consolidating everything into one program running on a single server. The tool is MIT-licensed and open source, with over 4,000 stars on GitHub.

It operates as one Bun server that handles the visual editor, content API, media management, authentication, forms, plugins, and the publishing process. Users choose between SQLite or Postgres for data storage through a single environment variable. Publishing works by rendering every page to HTML files on disk and then performing an atomic swap of the live folder, ensuring visitors see only finished files with no ongoing render steps or database queries. The resulting files constitute the complete site, which can be read directly in view-source, copied to any host, or retained even after ceasing use of the system. Backups consist simply of copying the database and the uploads folder.

The workflow covers design, build, manage, analyze, and extend phases for the full life of a site. As an open-source project, it requires no subscriptions and nothing to cancel. Deployment takes two minutes, and the entire setup remains portable across hosts.