Silex
by Silex · Open-source visual builder for static sites with CMS integration
BenchRank score
Screenshots of Silex
Homepage
Overview
Silex is a free/libre visual builder for static websites, maintained by the Silex Labs non-profit and licensed AGPL. It exposes HTML and CSS concepts in a drag-and-drop editor, and pages can pull dynamic content from a CMS such as WordPress, Directus or Squidex. The hosted instance at v3.silex.me stores and publishes through GitLab Pages; the whole stack can also be self-hosted.
- Best for
- Web professionals and agencies building multiple static sites who want an open-source visual builder
- Pricing
- The builder itself is $0 on the cloud, desktop and self-hosted options; managed hosting is quote-only, with consulting from €100/hour, no-code project work from €1,500 per project and custom development on quote.
- Runs on
- WebmacOSWindowsLinuxSelf-hostedCLI
Strengths and trade-offs
Strengths
- Free under AGPL; hosted, desktop or self-hosted use
- Exposes plain HTML and CSS concepts, so no vendor lock-in
- Connects to WordPress, Directus and Squidex as a headless CMS
- Free hosting on GitLab Pages with SSL and custom domains
Trade-offs
- Free hosting inherits GitLab limits: 5 users, 10 GB, 400 CI minutes/month
- Its own site says it suits neither a zero learning curve nor a 10-minute site
- Strapi and Supabase integrations are listed as coming soon, not available
- Desktop app with offline AI is announced but not released
Pricing
Published plans and prices from Silex’s own pricing page.
How this score is made up
Each dimension is scored out of 100 and combined into the headline score using fixed weights.
MCP support
Whether an agent can drive the product through the Model Context Protocol, and how much setup that takes.
API quality
Public API surface: machine-readable spec, official SDKs, documented auth, errors, rate limits and versioning.
Documentation
Publicly reachable docs — coverage, freshness, code samples and machine readability.
Agent friendliness
How readable the site is to an automated client: llms.txt, structured data, server-rendered content, crawler access.
Pricing transparency
Whether real prices are published, self-serve signup exists, and usage costs are knowable without a sales call.
Changelog
A public, dated record of what shipped and when — the clearest signal that a product is still alive.
Marketing site structure
Whether the site answers a buyer's questions: clear positioning, the pages that matter, and accessibility.
Page speed
How fast the site loads for real visitors: Chrome UX Report 75th-percentile LCP, INP and CLS, with a Lighthouse mobile run standing in where a site has too little traffic for field data.
Operational trust
Status page and incident history, security disclosure, compliance and data-processing documentation.
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
Source availability, self-hosting, data export and open standards. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — paid SaaS is not worse for being paid SaaS.
Maintenance
Release cadence and repository activity. Scored and shown, but not part of the composite — it is only measurable for open repositories.
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Where this comes from
The Silex pages BenchRank reads when it scores the product — its documentation, release notes, status and security pages, and its repository where there is one.
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Is this your product?
Claim Silex to manage its profile. Claiming lets you suggest edits to the descriptive fields — it never changes scores or rankings.