FireCMS - Our Commitment to Open Source
FireCMS: Open Source at Heartβ
Soon we will release an updated CLI that will make it easier to start a new project, in the different flavors of FireCMS.
FireCMS was born as an open-source software project, and our plans are to keep it that way. We believe in the power of open source and the community surrounding it. We are committed to building a product that is not only useful but also transparent and accessible to everyone.
We want to take a moment to share our plans regarding licensing, open source, and next steps.
The FireCMS Multiverseβ
From the first version up to today, we have been working on different versions of providing services based on FireCMS. You may be familiar with the Pro or Cloud versions. Also, most of our code is public, but not all of it is open source, as some packages use a different license.
Yes, we experience fragmentation, similar to Android. Let's take a look at these versions and clarify them. Basically, FireCMS 3.0 comes in several flavors.
FireCMS Communityβ
The core of FireCMS has an MIT license. Use it as you wish, with the freedom to modify and distribute. This is how we started, and we will keep it that way.
A TypeScript library built on top of React to manage data in Firestore forms the foundation of all other versions.
That's not all you need to start, but you get the idea. We are working to update the CLI to make it easier to start a new project.
You host it, you work on it, and you own it. Build whatever you need on top of it. You will get the baseline for the CMS, the same fancy UI, and the same data management capabilities as always. Collections, entities, subcollectionsβit's all there.
Some of the other packages that are part of the Community version, also with an MIT license, are:
@firecms/firebase
@firecms/ui
@firecms/mongodb
Wait... MongoDB?
Yes, we designed the code to work with different backends. We released a MongoDB version compatible with Atlas, and you can build your own adaptation.
FireCMS Cloudβ
FireCMS Cloud is a fully managed SaaS. You don't need to worry about hosting, scaling, or maintaining the CMS. You can start a new project in seconds and get a CMS up and running in no time.
How do you get started? Go to app.firecms.co and create a new project.
Even though it is a cloud-managed version, we allow you to extend the CMS with your own views, form fields, and other components. You can build and compile your own views, form fields, and other components, and upload them to your project. These will run in our infrastructure. You still own the data and the Google Cloud Project, but we take care of the rest.
If you want to delve into the code and adapt anything, you can try: npx create-firecms-app
and start from there.
FireCMS Proβ
The new kid on the block. After building FireCMS Cloud, we decided to create a version that is self-hosted but includes some of the features of the Cloud version. You can obtain the same advanced features as the Cloud version but host it yourself.
This approach is similar to what other projects like Material UI or Redis have done.
Our goal is to provide more features and be able to work on them and sustain the project. This means we have some extended features, including:
- User management and permissions
- Data import/export
- UI-based Collection Editor
- AI-based generative features
- And more
Start quickly: npx create-firecms-app --pro
.
The features of this version use the BSL (Business Source License). This means that you can use it for free, but if you are using it for a commercial purpose, you need to pay a license fee.
Open Sourceβ
We are committed to open source. We believe in the power of open source and the community surrounding it. We are dedicated to building a product that is not only useful but also transparent and accessible to everyone.
And we still need the community to make it a better product, whether it's notifying issues, **contributing code **, or just using it and giving feedback. We welcome any help, from Sponsors to Pull Requests.
Final Wordsβ
Our promise is to make FireCMS the platform on which you can build anything, from a Firebase CMS to a real-time Dashboard. We intend to keep its core as open source with an MIT License.
We are thrilled to build in public, and we would make the same decision all over again. Seeing what you build with FireCMS is what keeps us going.
In the past years, we have loved how startups have built core parts of their products with FireCMS, from blogs to internal dashboards.
We are excited to see what you build next.