Pico
Flat-file CMS that stores pages as Markdown files in a content folder and needs no database.
Pico is a flat file CMS written in PHP. Pages are Markdown files in a content folder, rendered through Twig templates; there is no database and no administration back end. The download page gives two ways to install it: a Composer create-project from the picocms/pico-composer skeleton, or a pre-bundled release uploaded to the web space. The about page says it runs on almost any web space.
Worth knowing
The download page carries an end-of-life notice. It says development of Pico stopped a very long time ago and advises against using it for new websites. For existing sites it reports no known security issues, but warns that they will run into issues because Pico was not designed for modern PHP versions.
Identity
Rendering and deploy
- Runs as
- Per request5
- Install with
- composer create-project1
Releases
Adoption
Sources
- 2026-10-20: Status, Runtime, Minimum runtime, Install with
picocms.org/download/ - 2026-10-20: links, Maintainer, Categories, Templating, License
picocms.org/ - 2026-10-20: links, Written in, License, GitHub stars
github.com/picocms/Pico - 2026-10-20: links, Admin interface
picocms.org/docs/ - 2026-10-20: Content storage, Runs as
picocms.org/about/ - 2026-10-20: Current major version, Last release
github.com/picocms/Pico/releases/tag/v2.1.4 - 2026-10-20: Packagist downloads
packagist.org/packages/picocms/pico.json - 2026-10-20: Contributors
api.github.com/repos/picocms/Pico/contributors?anon=true&per_page=100 - 2026-10-25: Sites using it (HTTP Archive)
cdn.httparchive.org/v1/technologies - 2026-10-25: Dependent repositories, Dependent packages
packages.ecosyste.ms/api/v1/registries/packagist.org/packages/picocms%2Fpico - 2026-10-25: Packagist downloads a month
packagist.org/packages/picocms/pico/stats.json