The basics
What is fastCMS?
A self-hosted blogging CMS that can plan, write, illustrate, publish and grow a blog for you with AI, from a single keyword. It's built in plain PHP with a static page cache, so the finished site stays extremely fast. Every AI step can also be done by hand.
Is it still fast now that it has AI?
Yes. The AI works in the admin and in background jobs. Visitors are served cached HTML straight from Apache, with no PHP or database work on most requests, and images are responsive WebP.
Can it really run a blog on full autopilot?
Yes. Choose Autopilot when you build a plan and articles are written, illustrated and published on your schedule. Add one cron job and it keeps going while your browser is closed. Later, Grow this site plans more articles and the Growth page suggests which to refresh.
I'd rather approve everything. Can I?
Choose Co-pilot: articles are written into Pending and nothing goes live until you publish it. Or write everything yourself with the AI editing tools, or with AI switched off.
Is one install one blog?
Yes. Each install runs one site. Buy a plan with more licences if you run several blogs.
AI and costs
Which AI providers are supported?
Anthropic Claude (recommended for the best writing), Google Gemini and DeepSeek. You only need one key. Add more and fastCMS picks a suitable model for each job.
How much does the AI cost?
You pay the provider directly. A 2,000-word article costs under $0.01 on budget models, about $0.07 with Claude Sonnet and about $0.14 with Claude Opus. Batch writing with Claude halves the writing cost. AI images on fal.ai cost roughly $0.003 to $0.04 each; stock photos are free.
Can the AI run up a big bill?
No. There's a monthly budget (new sites start at $10). When spending reaches it, AI stops until next month. Every call and its estimated cost is listed in AI Activity.
What if I don't like the plan the AI made?
You review every plan before anything is written. After a build you can Undo this plan, and restore points from the last 30 days put your articles, pages, images and site name back.
Will AI content rank on Google?
fastCMS plans topical maps with pillar guides and internal links, writes search titles and descriptions, and refreshes articles using the searches they actually appear for. Quality still matters: review, add your own experience and use the house style box to set tone and rules.
Hosting and install
What hosting do I need?
PHP 8.2 or newer on Apache, which almost every cPanel host provides. There's no database to set up: fastCMS uses a single SQLite file.
How do I install it?
Unzip, upload everything (including the hidden .htaccess files) to your web folder, open your site and fill in the installer. It checks your server and tells you exactly what to fix if something is missing. See the quick start.
Do I need a cron job?
It's recommended, not required. Without one, articles are written while an admin page is open. With one, writing, scheduled publishing and Search Console updates run day and night.
Can I move my blog from fastCMS 1?
The new fastCMS is a fresh install rather than an in-place upgrade. Contact us if you'd like help moving your version 1 articles across.
Licences and updates
How do updates work?
Add your licence key on the Updates page. New versions install with one click: the download is checksum-verified, your code and database are backed up first, and if anything fails the previous version is put back automatically.
What happens if my licence expires or is revoked?
Your site keeps working exactly as before. The licence only unlocks updates.
Can I edit the themes?
Yes. Copy a theme folder to a new name and edit the copy, so updates never overwrite your changes.
Your next blog can write itself.
Upload, install in two minutes, type a keyword. fastCMS does the rest, as fast as a static site.