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EmDash

EmDash is a full-stack TypeScript CMS based on Astro; the spiritual successor to WordPress

  • Web & Publishing
EmDash is a full-stack TypeScript CMS based on Astro; the spiritual successor to WordPress

Platform availability

Available on 1 of 9 platforms

  • Unraid (not listed)
  • TrueNAS (not listed)
  • Umbrel (not listed)
  • ZimaOS (not listed)
  • Proxmox
  • Helm (not listed)
  • Mac (not listed)
  • Windows (not listed)
  • Linux (not listed)

Health score?A 0-100 score computed nightly from four factors: maintained (40%: recent commits and steady activity), popular (25%: GitHub stars, log scale), easy to install (20%: platforms, install notes, setup guides, Docker image) and light to run (15%: minimum RAM, ARM support). When the source code has been checked, a fifth factor, security check (20%: automated scan for committed secrets, unsafe desktop-app settings, known-vulnerable dependencies and project hygiene; any serious finding caps it at 20), is added. Factors without data are left out and the rest are rescaled.

70/100 Good

Maintained
100last commit 0 days ago
Popular
8313,952 GitHub stars
Easy to install
251 install platform, install notes
Light to run
304 GB minimum RAM

Availability: platform listings confirmed today

GitHub stars
13,952
Open issues
331
Last commit
2026-10-25
Latest release
@emdash-cms/[email protected]
License
MIT
Activity
steady

Checked today - source: GitHub (emdash-cms/emdash)

Resources & Compatibility

Minimum requirements: 4 GB RAM, 500 MB disk.

Checked today - source: Docker Hub image tags and published docs

First-install notes

  • Set up from a template Copy a template into a new folder, install its packages, run the bootstrap command, then start the dev server. This creates the local database with demo content, so you can see the site and admin panel right away. source
  • Finish first-run admin setup After the dev server starts, open http://localhost:4321/_emdash/admin/ and complete the setup wizard. Without this step, you won't have the admin account or site settings needed to edit content. source
  • Keep your database seed safe On first start, EmDash runs database migrations and can load a seed file from .emdash/seed.json. If you export or back up that file, keep it safe so you can restore your database structure and content. source

Fetched today - each note links to its source

Alternatives (11)

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  • Webflow - Create custom websites with HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, enabling design and animation features.
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  • Write.as - Write.as lets you write and publish text instantly.

Checked today - source: AlternativeTo

Common questions

Do self-hosted EmDash plugins run in the same sandbox as the Cloudflare deployment?

No. Self-hosted EmDash runs plugins in the same Node.js process as the CMS core, removing all sandboxing.

Does self-hosted EmDash terminate TLS on its own?

No. Without a reverse proxy, EmDash has no built-in TLS termination, so admin traffic is left unencrypted.

What Cloudflare resource caution applies when self-hosting the reference platform?

The self-hosting guide is a prerelease deployment guide. Use an isolated Cloudflare account or explicitly prefixed resources until the platform has completed production hardening.

What codebase maturity risk does the self-hosted security note cite?

It says EmDash has a two-month-old codebase and zero production plugins, increasing vulnerability risk.

Answers sourced from github.com, overcentral.com

Community

Collected today - public community threads