name: Decap CMS FinOps
description: >
  Financial operations guidance for teams adopting Decap CMS. The open-source tier is
  free with zero licensing cost; hosting, media storage, and (optionally) Decap Turbo
  subscriptions are the primary cost drivers.
url: https://decapcms.org/turbo/
costDrivers:
  - name: CMS Software License
    description: MIT-licensed open-source software; no licensing fee.
    cost: 0
    currency: USD
    notes: The Decap CMS core is always free. No per-seat or per-site CMS license is charged.
  - name: Decap Turbo Subscription
    description: Optional managed cloud tier adding database-proxy, centralized auth, and collaboration features.
    tiers:
      - name: Starter
        monthlyMin: 29
        monthlyMax: 37
        currency: USD
        notes: Annual billing saves ~22%. Covers 1 project and up to 3 users.
      - name: Team
        monthlyMin: 89
        monthlyMax: 112
        currency: USD
        notes: Annual billing saves ~21%. Covers 3 projects and up to 9 users.
      - name: Business
        monthlyMin: 299
        monthlyMax: 374
        currency: USD
        notes: Annual billing saves ~20%. Covers 10 projects and up to 30 users.
  - name: Hosting (Static Site)
    description: Cost of hosting the static site and CMS admin UI.
    notes: >
      Netlify, Vercel, Cloudflare Pages, and GitHub Pages offer generous free tiers for
      static hosting. Self-hosted solutions incur server costs. Typically $0–$20/month
      for small to mid-size sites on managed platforms.
    cost: variable
  - name: Media Storage
    description: Cost of storing uploaded media assets depending on provider.
    options:
      - name: Local / Git-tracked media
        cost: 0
        notes: Assets committed to the Git repo; limited by repo size and Git LFS quotas.
      - name: Cloudinary
        notes: Cloudinary free tier includes 25 GB storage + 25 GB monthly bandwidth. Paid plans start at ~$89/month.
        reference: https://cloudinary.com/pricing
      - name: Netlify Large Media
        notes: Powered by Git LFS via Netlify; costs depend on Netlify plan storage quotas.
        reference: https://www.netlify.com/pricing/
      - name: Uploadcare
        notes: Uploadcare free tier includes 3 GB storage. Paid plans start at $26/month.
        reference: https://uploadcare.com/pricing/
  - name: Authentication (Netlify Identity)
    description: If using Netlify Identity for editor login, cost rolls into Netlify hosting plan.
    notes: >
      Netlify Identity supports up to 1,000 active users on the free tier. The Pro plan
      ($19/month) extends this. Git Gateway is free as part of Netlify's platform.
    reference: https://www.netlify.com/pricing/
optimizationTips:
  - Use annual billing for Decap Turbo to save approximately 20–22% versus monthly.
  - Self-host the CMS admin on a free static hosting platform (Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages) to eliminate hosting costs.
  - Store media in Git (for small sites) or use Cloudinary's free tier to avoid media storage fees.
  - Use the open-source tier for single-developer or small sites; upgrade to Turbo only when team collaboration or performance is needed.
  - Additional Turbo user seats ($9/user/month) and projects ($19/project/month) are available as add-ons rather than requiring a plan upgrade.