[brandonkelly]

> CraftCMS seems more fitting to our needs because it's flexible and lean; we're impressed with what we've seen so far but are concerned that it's not open-source and that it's so new.

Hi, I’m the Founder & CEO of Pixel & Tonic, the team behind Craft CMS. I’m obviously biased, but if your only concerns with Craft are that it is proprietary and relatively new, I’d like to attempt to ease those concerns :)

Yes the actual Craft application logic is proprietary, but all of the code is “open source” in that it’s not obfuscated in any way, and the majority of the code is in fact FOSS, including Yii, Twig, Guzzle, jQuery, and several smaller scripts. We contribute to many of them, and if we can create a business model that supports it, someday we’d even like to make Craft itself FOSS.

Which brings me to a second point, which is that unlike most CMS projects (and open source projects in general), Craft is made by a dedicated team of developers. We’re funded entirely from Craft CMS (and Craft Commerce) sales, with no VC/angel funding. So we’re highly incentivized to keep making Craft better every day, and keep offering great support. Our business is stable, we’re profitable, and revenue is rising steadily. We’ll still be around in 10 years :)

And as to it being new, well, it’s not really that new anymore. 1.0 came out in early 2013, it’s had over 240 updates (see the changelog – https://craftcms.com/changelog), and it’s generally considered to be one of the most bug-free CMSes out there. And it is being used by thousands of companies and organizations, from small boutiques to global brands like The Associated Press, Netflix, Oakley, Mixmag, and Wired. You can read about a few of those projects here: https://craftcms.com/news/case-studies

That’s my spiel, but feel free to AMA if you have any questions :)

[marcusneto]

I've known Brandon for close to 10 years. I'll also state that Brandon and his team are some of the most competent programmers I know. He was easily one of the top developers of add-ons for ExpressionEngine before starting Craft. His dedication and customer service are top notch and he, in a very jobs-ian way, seems to know what developers need before they even ask for it.

Craft will be around for a long time. Open Source projects see higher adoption rates because hosting companies have 1-click installers for them. But if you look at high quality, high traffic sites the playing field is much more evenly spread.

Anyway, buy with confidence. Brandon doesn't know I am posting this. He did not ask for this endorsement. But I love what he is doing and would easily recommend it to anyone looking for a flexible system that is easy for clients to use

[ryanbattles]

I second everything Marcus just said. I have been using Brandon's tools (plugins and CMS) since 2008, and have consistently been impressed with the quality and attention to detail that he and his team give to each release.

Just look at "craftcms" in Google Trends and you'll see a nice trajectory of community interest and involvement moving forward: https://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=craftcms&cmpt=q&tz=E...

[simonswiss]

+1000 for this!

Brandon and the Pixel & Tonic team are wonderful developers and human beings. They have a true care for their product. The community around CraftCMS is very friendly, helpful and empowering.

You can't go wrong with CraftCMS. I found my happy CMS ecosystem :)

[33degrees]

Just wanted to say, I've been taking a look at your demo and I'm quite impressed with the flexibility and level of polish Craft offers. I'll definitely consider it next time I'm in need of a CMS for a client!