Kentico alternative: Raytha, an open source .NET CMS

Xperience by Kentico is a commercial .NET digital experience platform (DXP) with content, email marketing, contact management, personalization and headless channels in one product, sold by subscription as SaaS or for private cloud. Raytha is a free, MIT-licensed .NET CMS you host yourself. Choose Kentico when you need the marketing suite and vendor support; choose Raytha when you need a well-structured website, members, SSO and an API without a DXP license.

Last reviewed October 2026 against Raytha 2.0.1 and Xperience by Kentico (monthly Refresh releases).

Raytha vs Kentico at a glance

	Raytha	Xperience by Kentico
License	MIT, free	Commercial subscription; prices by quote
Runtime	.NET 10	.NET 10 (projects created on 31.0 or later)
Database	PostgreSQL	SQL Server 2019 or later
Hosting	Self-hosted: Docker or Railway	Kentico-managed SaaS, or private cloud / on-premises
Content model	Custom content types in the admin	Content types, reusable content hub, Page Builder
Page building	Site pages built from widgets	Page Builder with widgets and sections
Digital marketing	Not built in	Contacts, activities, segments, email campaigns, personalization, automation
Headless API	REST API v1, API keys	GraphQL headless channels
Members and SSO	Public users, user groups, SAML and JWT SSO	Members, external authentication via ASP.NET Core Identity
Release cadence	Versioned releases on GitHub	Monthly Refresh releases
Support	Community; consulting from Raytha	Vendor support and partner network

What Kentico does well

Xperience by Kentico is a mature, all-in-one DXP. Content, email and headless channels share one content hub and one contact profile, so marketers can segment audiences, personalize pages and emails, track activities and run automations without bolting on separate tools. It ships monthly Refresh updates, offers a fixed-cost SaaS option alongside private cloud licensing, and has an established partner network. For a marketing-led organization that will use those features, the integration is the point.

There is also timing to consider: Kentico Xperience 13 stops receiving updates, hotfixes and support after December 31, 2026, so many Kentico 13 sites are choosing between upgrading to Xperience by Kentico and moving elsewhere.

Where Raytha fits

Raytha is a CMS, not a DXP. It focuses on the parts most websites use every day:

Custom content types with 13 field types, list views, revisions, CSV import and export.
Liquid templates and themes edited in the browser, plus site pages built from widgets.
Public members and SSO: user groups, email and password, emailed one-time codes, SAML and JWT for administrators and members.
Roles and an audit log, with permissions per content type.
A REST API for content, media and users, outbound webhooks and Raytha Functions (server-side JavaScript).
One container on .NET 10 and PostgreSQL, deployed with Docker or a one-click Railway template.

There are no license fees and no per-seat or per-channel pricing.

When to choose Kentico

Your marketing team will use email campaigns, contact management, personalization and automation in the CMS.
You want a managed SaaS with vendor support and predictable upgrades.
You are on SQL Server and want a commercial product backed by partners.
You are already on Kentico 13 and the upgrade path to Xperience by Kentico fits your budget.

When to choose Raytha

You need a well-structured site, member area and API, and your marketing tools live elsewhere (an email platform, a CRM, analytics).
License cost matters, or you want to avoid vendor lock-in.
You want open source code your team can read and change.
You are comfortable hosting a container and PostgreSQL yourself.

Before you switch

Raytha has no built-in email marketing, contact tracking, personalization, marketing automation or form builder, no GraphQL API and no built-in multilingual content. It runs on PostgreSQL, not SQL Server, so moving from Kentico means migrating content with scripts (Kentico's APIs or SQL to Raytha's REST API, CLI or CSV import). There is no hosted Raytha service.

FAQ

Is there an open source alternative to Kentico?

Yes. Raytha is a free, MIT-licensed .NET CMS. Umbraco and Orchard Core are other open source .NET options. None of them includes Kentico's full digital marketing suite.

How much does Xperience by Kentico cost?

Kentico does not publish list prices. Xperience by Kentico is licensed by subscription, as SaaS or for private cloud, and priced by quote.

When does Kentico 13 support end?

Kentico Xperience 13 receives no updates, security hotfixes or technical support from January 1, 2027.

Does Raytha run on .NET 10 like Kentico?

Yes. Raytha 2.0 targets .NET 10. The main platform difference is the database: Raytha uses PostgreSQL, Kentico uses SQL Server.

Related comparisons

Try Raytha

Raytha is free and MIT-licensed. Deploy it in a few minutes with the Railway template or Docker, following the quickstart. The platform overview lists what is in the box, and the source and release notes are on GitHub.

Raytha vs Kentico: an open source .NET alternative to Xperience by Kentico