Keystone
by KeystoneJS · Open source headless CMS that builds a GraphQL API from your schema
43.9 — BenchRank score out of 100
Screenshots of Keystone
Homepage
Overview
Keystone is an open source headless CMS and back-end framework for Node.js. You describe lists and fields in code and it generates a GraphQL API plus an Admin UI that honours your access control rules. It supports custom queries and mutations, event hooks, relational data, session management and automatic database migrations via Prisma.
- Best for
- Node.js developers who want a code-defined GraphQL backend and admin UI for structured content
- Pricing
- No prices are shown; the site says Keystone is open source and "free forever", with tailored enterprise support offered separately on request.
- Runs on
- CLI
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- Schema in code generates a GraphQL API and Admin UI
- Open source; deploy to managed hosts or your own infrastructure
- TypeScript, relational data and Prisma database migrations
- Access control, sessions, filtering and pagination out of the box
Trade-offs
- Backend only — the frontend is still yours to build
- No hosted service shown; you run and operate it yourself
- Free support is a community Slack; tailored support is an enterprise add-on
- Node.js and Prisma stack; no other runtimes or databases named
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
- MCP support
- 0 out of 100
- API quality
- 20 out of 100
- Documentation
- 80 out of 100
- Agent friendliness
- 61 out of 100
- Changelog
- 100 out of 100
- Marketing site structure
- 70 out of 100
- Operational trust
- 0 out of 100
Measured, but not part of the score
Useful to know, but not a mark for or against the product — so these do not affect the ranking.
- Openness
- 60 out of 100
- Maintenance
- 100 out of 100
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