webiny-js: Build an AWS Serverless CMS in TypeScript

Overview

Webiny is an AI-programmable, self-hosted CMS framework built with TypeScript on AWS serverless services, including Lambda, DynamoDB, S3, and CloudFront. It gives developer teams a content platform they can extend with code and deploy into their own AWS account, rather than relying on a hosted CMS or managing servers themselves.

It combines a headless CMS and GraphQL API with a visual Website Builder, asset management, publishing workflows, and native multi-tenancy. Its extension framework covers API logic, admin UI, infrastructure, and CLI commands. That makes it most relevant to organizations building complex content systems or embedding a white-label CMS, rather than teams looking for a simple blog or a no-code SaaS product.

Key Features

• Define content models in the admin UI or in code, with GraphQL access, permissions, localization, and versioning.
• Build and render pages with the visual Website Builder and its Next.js SDK.
• Manage digital assets with folders, tagging, search, and CDN delivery.
• Configure multi-step publishing approvals, reviewer assignments, scheduled publishing, and audit trails.
• Isolate tenants, users, assets, and permissions within one deployment, including hierarchical tenant structures.
• Extend the platform with TypeScript lifecycle hooks, GraphQL resolvers, React admin components, and Pulumi infrastructure changes.
• Use its MCP server and AI skills to give coding agents platform-specific context for generating extensions and configurations.
• Deploy AWS infrastructure through the Webiny CLI and Pulumi, with local watch commands for admin and API development.

Use Cases

• An enterprise content team needs a self-hosted CMS with custom models, permissions, and approval workflows on AWS.
• A SaaS company wants to embed and white-label a CMS for multiple customers, with tenant isolation managed by the platform.
• A team wants to build custom business logic around content events using TypeScript hooks and GraphQL extensions.
• A developer team needs a visual page-building experience but wants to render pages through its own Next.js frontend.

Getting Started

Create a project and deploy it to AWS:

npx create-webiny-project my-project
cd my-project
yarn webiny deploy

The first deployment provisions AWS resources and requires an AWS account with programmatic access. See the README and documentation for prerequisites and setup details.

License in Plain Words

No standard license was detected. Without a license, the default copyright rules apply: you may read the code, but not reuse it. Check the repository or ask the authors.

Considerations

• Webiny runs on AWS only. Deployment provisions resources in your account, so teams should assess AWS architecture, costs, and operational requirements before adopting it.
• The repository requirements specify Node.js 24 or later. The README's quick-start prerequisites mention Node.js 22+, so check the current project documentation and package requirements when setting up.
• It is a developer platform, not a turnkey no-code CMS. Customization is centered on TypeScript and React, and infrastructure changes use Pulumi.
• The project is active, with recent commits and releases and contributions from many developers. Its reported top contributor share is substantial, though the project health data does not flag it as concentrated.
• The README describes a Community Edition under MIT and separate commercial Business and Enterprise editions. Confirm which edition and licensing terms cover the capabilities your deployment needs.