The open-source .NET CMS and application framework.
Orchard Core is a complete CMS for your editors and an application framework for your developers. Content, users and roles, media, search, and workflows are built in. Free, open source and community led.
# Create a new Orchard Core site and run it
$ dotnet new install OrchardCore.ProjectTemplates
$ dotnet new occms -n MySite
$ cd MySite && dotnet run
Why choose Orchard Core?
Orchard Core is both a complete CMS and an application framework. It is open source and community-led, with more than fifteen years behind it. Here are a few of the reasons teams choose it.
- 8,000+
- GitHub stars
- 2M+
- NuGet downloads
- 300+
- Contributors
- 15+
- Years of lineage
Last commit 3 hours ago
Fix Lucene index rebuild after tenant setup
Latest release 3.0, June 2026
Fast by default
Built for speed from the start. Sites are quick out of the box, with no extra caching modules to bolt on.
Secure by design
Built on ASP.NET Core and the Microsoft stack, with two-factor authentication and fine-grained roles and permissions built in.
Free, with no catch
Free and BSD-3-Clause licensed, with no hidden costs. No licence fees, no per-seat or per-site pricing, and no upsell for features that should be free.
Low long-term risk
Backed by the .NET Foundation, with a 15-year lineage. No single company owns it, and it has never been relicensed.
Easy to hire for
Built on mainstream .NET, so you hire from a large pool of developers, not a niche skill set.
Friendly for content teams
Editors model content, manage media, and publish in many languages, all without code.
Take a closer look.
Meet the community that builds Orchard Core, or browse the sites already running on it.
The features you need, built in.
Over 90 modules ship with the project and are maintained alongside the core. Here are a few of the highlights. Enable them as you need them.
Content Types
Model your content without code. Build and change content types, parts, and fields from the admin, with no migrations to write.
Built in, and extensible.
Orchard Core ships with over 90 modules, and you can build your own. See how it compares with Umbraco and ABP.
How it compares.
If you have already chosen .NET, these are the two tools you are most likely to weigh up. Umbraco is a CMS, ABP is an application framework, and Orchard Core is both.
| Feature | Orchard Core | Umbraco | ABP |
|---|---|---|---|
| What it is | A .NET CMS and application framework | A .NET CMS | A .NET application framework. CMS via a module: basic free, Pro paid |
| Best suited to | Content sites and applications, on one platform | Content-driven websites | Large business applications |
| Cost | Open-source, with no paid tier and no extra module licences or fees | Open-source core, with a paid cloud and add-ons | Open-source core, with paid commercial tiers |
| Governance | Open-source, community-led | Open-source, company-owned | Open-source, company-owned |
Try it for yourself.
Both are strong tools. Umbraco has a larger editor ecosystem and a polished commercial cloud, and ABP goes deeper on architecture for big business applications. Orchard Core's place is doing both content and applications on one open, community-run platform.
A project with people behind it.
Hundreds of developers build Orchard Core together, and the community is friendly and quick to help. Here is where to ask questions, learn, and get involved.
Discord
A great place to ask the community and get help from the people who build and use Orchard Core.
Join the DiscordGitHub Discussions
Get involved and help shape the future of Orchard Core. Ask longer questions, propose ideas, and join the discussion.
Browse discussionsYouTube
Conference talks and tutorials from the people who use and build Orchard Core.
Visit the channelWeekly community meetup
Every Tuesday, 12:00pm PT
An open online meetup every week. Drop in to demo your work, ask a question, or just listen.
Watch past meetingsBuilt by the community
Written and maintained by hundreds of developers around the world.
+295
Orchard Harvest: Orchard Core's annual conference.
Two days in person, with talks and the chance to meet the maintainers and other people building on Orchard Core. This year it is in Vancouver, and early-bird tickets are open now.
September
10–11
2026 · Vancouver, Canada
Built with Orchard Core
Marketing sites, content platforms, intranets, and large multi-tenant applications all run on Orchard Core. Here are just a few of them.
Daimler Truck
View project
Smithsonian
View project
Starbucks
View project
Santa Monica
View project
Wings Over Water
View projectThe full showcase.
Show Orchard is the community-run gallery of sites and apps built with Orchard Core. Browse it for inspiration, or submit your own.
A few ways to get going.
Spin up a live site to try it, host one for free, or run it yourself: from the template, an existing ASP.NET Core app, or the Docker image.
# Install the template, create a site, and run it
$ dotnet new install OrchardCore.ProjectTemplates
$ dotnet new occms -n MySite
$ cd MySite && dotnet run# Add the Orchard Core CMS package
$ dotnet add package OrchardCore.Application.Cms.Targets
// Program.cs: add a full CMS to an ASP.NET Core app
var builder = WebApplication.CreateBuilder(args);
builder.Services.AddOrchardCms();
var app = builder.Build();
app.UseStaticFiles();
app.UseOrchardCore();
app.Run();# Run the published image, then open http://localhost:8080
$ docker run --name orchardcms \
-p 8080:80 \
orchardproject/orchardcore-cms-linux:latestTry it live
Spin up a real Orchard Core site to explore the admin. No install, and demo sites are wiped each week.
Try Orchard CoreHost it free with DotNest
Want a site that stays? DotNest, an Orchard Core partner, gives you a free hosted site with quick, easy setup.
Create a free siteLearn more, or get involved.
Read the documentation for guides, tutorials, and API reference, or find out how to get involved and contribute to the project.
Common questions about Orchard Core
Short, straight answers to what developers and teams ask most, from licensing and cost to what you can build and how to get started.
What is Orchard Core?
Orchard Core is a free, open-source CMS and application framework built on ASP.NET Core. Content management, users and roles, media, search, workflows, and multi-tenancy are included in the box.
Is Orchard Core free to use?
Yes. It is open source under the BSD-3-Clause licence, with no licence fees and no per-seat or per-site costs. You also get the full source code.
What can you build with Orchard Core?
Content-driven websites, headless back ends served over a GraphQL API, and large multi-tenant applications. The same platform scales from a small site to a large application, with no re-platforming.
What technology is Orchard Core built on?
It is built on ASP.NET Core and extended with C#. Teams build with C# and Razor, host it anywhere .NET runs, and hire from the large pool of .NET developers.
How do I get started with Orchard Core?
Install the project template and create a site with one command, or add the Orchard Core packages to an ASP.NET Core app you already have. The documentation covers both paths.
Who maintains Orchard Core, and is it here for the long term?
It is community-led and supported by the .NET Foundation, with a lineage of more than 15 years. No single company owns it, and it has never been relicensed.