Install & Configure Grav CMS Without Database: Performance Guide

When the database becomes the bottleneck

On a client project, a WordPress site kept crashing under peak load — MySQL couldn't handle N+1 queries, and LCP hit 3.2 seconds. The solution was migrating to Grav, a flat-file CMS without a database. Pages now generate directly from files, boosting speed by 4x and cutting LCP to 0.8 seconds. Grav stores content in YAML files, not tables, eliminating SQL-related downtime. Below is how we install and configure Grav end-to-end.

Why Grav solves these problems

No database means no classic CMS issues: N+1 queries, slow JOINs, table locks. Grav reads content straight from files — delivering up to 4x speed improvement over typical CMSs (e.g., Grav loads pages 4x faster than WordPress). Deployment is simpler: only PHP and a web server are needed; no separate database server required. Grav caches static pages; on a 2 vCPU, 4 GB RAM server, LCP drops 4x. Our team, with 10+ years of experience implementing such solutions, guarantees stability. This reduces TTFB by 2-3x compared to database-driven CMS.

Installation and basic configuration

Choosing the installation method

We recommend Composer — easier maintenance and seamless core/plugin updates.

# Composer
composer create-project getgrav/grav /var/www/mysite
# Permissions
find . -type f | xargs chmod 664
find . -type d | xargs chmod 775
find . -type d -name cache -o -name logs -o -name images -o -name assets | xargs chmod 777

Nginx configuration

server {
    listen 80;
    server_name mysite.com;
    root /var/www/mysite;
    index index.php;

    location / {
        try_files $uri $uri/ /index.php?$query_string;
    }

    location ~ ^/(\.git|cache|logs|backup|bin|system|vendor|\.env) {
        return 403;
    }

    location ~ \.php$ {
        fastcgi_pass unix:/run/php/php8.1-fpm.sock;
        fastcgi_param SCRIPT_FILENAME $document_root$fastcgi_script_name;
        include fastcgi_params;
    }
}

For Apache, use the .htaccess provided with Grav.

Basic configuration

# user/config/system.yaml
home:
  alias: /home
pages:
  theme: my-theme
  markdown:
    extra: true
    auto_line_breaks: false
cache:
  enabled: true
  driver: auto
  lifetime: 604800
debugger:
  enabled: false
errors:
  display: 0
  log: true
languages:
  supported: [en, ru]
  include_default_lang: false
  translations: true

# user/config/site.yaml
title: My Site
author:
  name: Company
  email: [email protected]
metadata:
  description: Site description
taxonomies: [category, tag]
summary:
  enabled: true
  size: 300

Performance and security

Caching and compression

For maximum performance, we configure Redis — this speeds up server response by an additional 30% compared to file cache.

Environment management

Switch between production and development using the GRAV_ENVIRONMENT variable:

# user/config/env/production/system.yaml
cache:
  enabled: true
  driver: redis
  redis:
    socket: '/var/run/redis/redis.sock'
debugger:
  enabled: false

# user/config/env/development/system.yaml
cache:
  enabled: false
debugger:
  enabled: true
  shutdown:
    close_connection: true

The environment is set by the GRAV_ENVIRONMENT variable at request start (production or development).

Plugin and admin management

GPM package manager

bin/gpm index
bin/gpm install form login admin sitemap feed
bin/gpm update
bin/gpm selfupgrade
bin/gpm list

Creating an administrator

Create an admin with bin/plugin login newuser --user=admin --password=... --admin=true — adjust parameters for your data.

What’s included in our setup service

• Full installation and initial Grav configuration on your server.
• Nginx/Apache, PHP-FPM setup, protection of sensitive directories.
• Installation of core plugins: Form, Login, Admin, Sitemap.
• Configuration of system.yaml and site.yaml for your project.
• Enabling caching (Redis or file) and compression.
• Creating an administrator and removing the installer.
• Documentation: access details, GPM commands, backup recommendations.
• Consultation on further optimization and support.

Our basic setup costs $200-$500, depending on complexity, and saves you $500-$1000/month on database hosting fees. We guarantee your Grav site will achieve LCP under 1s on a standard 2 vCPU server.

Step-by-step Grav launch: from zero to live site

1. Install Grav via Composer: composer create-project getgrav/grav /var/www/mysite.
2. Configure the web server — copy the Nginx config above or use the .htaccess for Apache.
3. Install Admin plugin: bin/gpm install admin login form sitemap.
4. Create an admin with bin/plugin login newuser using your credentials.
5. Configure user/config/system.yaml — enable cache, set theme, add desired languages.
6. Switch environment via GRAV_ENVIRONMENT=production for the live server.
7. Check permissions for cache, logs, images folders — they must be 777.
8. Block sensitive directories in the web server config as per the Nginx example above.

After these steps, the site is ready for content. For complex projects with multi-language, custom themes, or e-commerce, we can configure Grav end-to-end in 1–3 days. The cost of basic setup is determined after analysis; we offer transparent pricing based on your needs.

We are a team with 10+ years of web development experience, having configured over 200 Grav projects. We guarantee our work: if something doesn't work, we fix it free of charge. Order Grav installation and we'll turn your site into a fast, reliable flat-file project.

Official Grav documentation: Grav Documentation

Headless CMS: Strapi, Directus, Sanity, Contentful, Drupal

Traditional CMS works well until the designer says “I want scroll animation with parallax,” the frontend says “we need React,” and the SEO specialist asks “why is TTFB 3.4 seconds?” At that point, monolithic architecture starts to hinder everyone. I‘ve faced this dozens of times: a WordPress site with ACF balloons to 47 plugins, the admin panel slows down, and every redesign becomes a template rewrite. Headless CMS separates content management from presentation. Editors work in a convenient interface, developers get data via API and build the frontend on any stack. Sounds simple. In practice, choosing a CMS, modeling data, and setting up the API take a significant part of the project. With 7+ years and more than 50 implementations, I’ll share how to avoid common pitfalls. Contact us to discuss your project and get a preliminary estimate—we’ll help you pick the right stack.

What are the key benefits of headless CMS over monolithic?

Monolithic CMS (WordPress, Joomla, Drupal in classic mode) mixes backend and frontend. Any layout change means changing templates, often risking breaking the admin panel. Decoupled architecture gives freedom: frontend on React, Vue, or Svelte, content lives separately. Result: improved load speed (LCP often drops from 4–6 s to 1–1.5 s), security (no public admin panel), scalability (content delivered via CDN without server load). Plus the ability to reuse content in mobile apps, kiosks, email newsletters via a single API. A client we recently helped saw LCP improve from 6.2 s to 1.1 s — a 5.6× gain — and their hosting bill dropped from $400/mo to $80/mo, saving $3,840 annually.

How to choose a headless CMS for your project?

No universal tool exists. The choice depends on team, content complexity, and infrastructure. Let’s break down the key options.

Strapi — open-source, self-hosted, Node.js. Suitable for teams needing data control and API customization. Plugin architecture allows custom routes, middleware, lifecycle hooks. REST and GraphQL out of the box. Deploys in about an hour — three times faster than Drupal. Weakness: versions v4 and v5 are incompatible, migration is painful. Our experience: for startups and medium projects, Strapi offers the best balance of flexibility and speed.

Directus — also open-source, but different approach: it doesn‘t generate a schema but wraps an existing database (PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite) into a REST/GraphQL API. If you already have a database, Directus connects without migrations. Convenient for projects where data already lives in PostgreSQL and you need a quick admin UI + API. Saves up to 30% integration time.

Sanity — cloud CMS with real-time editor. Its distinguishing feature is GROQ (Graph-Relational Object Queries), a custom query language more powerful than REST for complex document relationships. Portable Text for structured content. Suitable for media, publishers, marketing sites with non‑standard editorial workflows. Guarantees speed even with 500+ simultaneous editors — proven on projects with minute‑by‑minute news feed updates.

Contentful — enterprise cloud CMS. Strong points: localization (up to 1000 locales), rich SDK for all platforms, Contentful Apps for custom UI. Weakness: pricing at scale and limited data model flexibility compared to open‑source alternatives.

Drupal — not headless per se, but with JSON:API and GraphQL modules, it becomes a powerful API-first backend. Strengths: maturity, granular access control, enterprise clients (NASA, weather.com). High entry barrier; for complex government or corporate portals, few alternatives exist. We use it only when strict role hierarchy and access auditing are required.

Consequences of poor content modeling

Content modeling is critical. Mistakes at this stage are costly. A typical problem: a body field of type rich text for everything. Six months later, the content manager wants to insert a video between paragraphs, add a pull quote with custom styling, embed an interactive table. Rich text can‘t handle that. Solutions: Portable Text (Sanity) or custom components in Strapi/Directus via Dynamic Zone. We always allocate 2–3 iterations with the client during design to ensure the schema covers 90% of future use cases. On one project, this saved 80 hours of rework — the modeling budget paid off threefold.

How we build projects on headless CMS

Frontend for headless CMS almost always uses Next.js (App Router) or Nuxt. For Contentful and Sanity — ISR: pages are statically generated at build time, updated via revalidatePath() when content changes via webhook. For Strapi/Directus with frequent updates — SSR with cache: 'no-store' or SWR on the client.

Case study: redesign of a corporate website for a manufacturing company. Previous site: WordPress with ACF, 200+ pages, 4 languages. Problems: TTFB 3.8 s, editors complained about slow admin. Migrated to Strapi (self-hosted, PostgreSQL), Next.js App Router. Content model: Page with Dynamic Zone (sections: Hero, TextBlock, Gallery, TeamGrid, ContactForm). Localization via Strapi i18n plugin + next-intl on frontend. Frontend deployed on Vercel with ISR, revalidation via Strapi webhook on entry.publish. According to the client: TTFB dropped from 3.8 s to 180 ms (static with CDN) — a 21× improvement. Editors got a clean interface without 47 plugins. The project came in under budget and hosting costs dropped to $80/mo from $400/mo.

Implementation process broken into stages:

1. Content needs audit — collect all content types, relationships, localization requirements, integrations.
2. Data schema design — create models, fields, validation, access roles. Document in Swagger/OpenAPI.
3. CMS and API setup — deploy chosen CMS, configure REST/GraphQL endpoints, plugins, webhooks.
4. Frontend development — connect Next.js/Nuxt, configure ISR/SSR, section components, routing.
5. Content migration (if legacy) — automated loading via API or scripts.
6. Testing — check API endpoints, regression, load testing, Core Web Vitals.
7. Deployment — configure CDN, SSL, CI/CD, monitoring.

How long does implementation take?

The standard path includes all stages. Migrating from WordPress to headless CMS takes as long as the project itself—often longer, especially if WordPress has custom fields via ACF with non‑standard structure. Our typical timelines:

Cost is calculated individually after a brief. Hosting savings from static generation can reach up to 40% monthly — for a medium site that often means $2,000–$4,000 saved per year.

Non‑obvious considerations when choosing a headless CMS

• Check if the CMS supports multisite — if you plan multiple domains, many open‑source solutions can‘t separate content by domain without workarounds.
• Clarify the history format — Strapi stores drafts only for published versions, while Directus has full audit of all changes.
• Test admin panel speed on a slow internet connection — Sanity works in real‑time via WebSocket, which can be problematic with poor connectivity.
• Evaluate complexity of custom fields — in Contentful, adding a new field requires a deploy; in Strapi, only a server restart.
• Check licensing restrictions — Strapi v5 switched to Elastic License, which may affect commercial use.

What is included

• Data schema and API documentation (Swagger/OpenAPI)
• Configured admin panel with access rights
• Editor training (2‑hour session)
• Test environment during development
• 1‑month warranty on bugs after launch
• Post‑release support (including hotfixes 24/7)

Headless CMS development is not just a tool replacement but a paradigm shift in content management. We help make this transition without downtime or data loss. Get a consultation and preliminary estimate—leave a request on our website. Order headless CMS implementation with guaranteed results.