BCMS Open-source becomes independent, cloud goes closed-source

In September 2024, we made a decision that changes things: BCMS Cloud went closed-source, and the open-source version became fully independent.

Originally, we thought centralizing authentication in BCMS Cloud was the right move. Even if you were self-hosting, you still had to log in through our system. It seemed like a good idea at the time — simpler invites, smoother onboarding. But when Reddit called us out, we had to admit they had a point. It wasn’t true self-hosting if you still relied on us.

Another pain point was keeping self-hosted instances up to date. Every update turned into a technical nightmare. Plus, the way we set up BCMS Cloud forced each instance we provided hosting for - to run on its own VPS, which slowed everything down and made infrastructure costs absurd.

At the end of the day, our goal has always been simple: create a fast, opinionated content management tool. But maintaining both an open-source and a Cloud version with just a small team? It became clear that trying to push both forward wasn’t sustainable.

So, we made the split. The open-source version is now fully self-contained and free from any dependency on us. Exactly what the community asked for.

Meanwhile, we’ve rebuilt BCMS Cloud as BCMS Pro — closed-source, streamlined, and built for teams that need a managed experience without the headaches.

We’re a small team: three engineers, one designer, a project manager, and a content writer. Most of our focus is now on BCMS Pro, but we’re excited to see how the open-source community takes things from here.

Happy coding!