Head to head

Stop guessing which one. Put them side by side.

Up to 4 tools, same rows for each: what it is, what it really costs, the trap, and how to wire it up. The URL carries your picks — send it to anyone.

VeliteKeystaticMDX

Field	Velitevelite.js.org	Keystatickeystatic.com	MDXmdxjs.com
What it is	Velite compiles Markdown, MDX, YAML and JSON files into a validated, typed data layer using Zod schemas, emitting JSON plus TypeScript definitions at build time. It is bundler-agnostic and works with Vite, webpack and Next.js. It is the maintained successor to the abandoned Contentlayer.	Keystatic from Thinkmill is an MIT-licensed CMS that makes Markdown, MDX, JSON and YAML in your repository editable through a React admin UI. There is no database. It runs against the local filesystem in development and against GitHub in production.	MDX is a format that lets you write JSX inside Markdown, so an article can embed live React components — charts, interactive figures, embeds — between paragraphs of prose. It compiles to a React component and is supported by Vite, Next.js and Astro.
Category	CMS & content infrastructure	CMS & content infrastructure	CMS & content infrastructure
Cost tier	free	free	free
Pricing	Free, MIT-licensed, no hosted service or seats.	Free and MIT-licensed with no seat limits. Keystatic Cloud is an optional free add-on for GitHub auth and image handling.	Free, MIT-licensed open format.
Why builders pick it	Gives a file-based publication real type safety — a missing frontmatter field fails the build instead of a page. No database, no API quota, no runtime cost.	Zero cost and zero vendor lock-in — the schema is a TypeScript file and content stays as plain files you can grep and diff. Ships integrations for Next.js, Astro and Remix.	The reason a technical publication can ship an interactive explainer inside an ordinary article. Every file-based tool here — Tina, Keystatic, Outstatic, Velite — speaks it natively.
Watch out for	No editing UI at all — writers need a Git workflow or a separate CMS layer on top. Contentlayer, the tool it replaced, is effectively unmaintained; do not start new projects on it.	Smaller community and slower release cadence than Tina or Payload. No official MCP server, no built-in scheduling, and no multi-stage editorial workflow or approval chain.	MDX is a compiler, not a CMS: no editor, no media library, no workflow, no roles. Non-technical writers will not author raw MDX, so pair it with an editing layer.
How to wire it up	npm i velite -D	npm create @keystatic@latest	npm i @mdx-js/rollup
Editor's pick	No	No	No

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# Tool comparison — Velite vs Keystatic vs MDX

Source: Kbaise, a directory of tools that work with Lovable projects.
Pick one and tell me why before writing any integration code.

## Velite (velite)
- URL: https://velite.js.org
- Category: CMS & content infrastructure
- Cost: free — Free, MIT-licensed, no hosted service or seats.
- What it is: Velite compiles Markdown, MDX, YAML and JSON files into a validated, typed data layer using Zod schemas, emitting JSON plus TypeScript definitions at build time. It is bundler-agnostic and works with Vite, webpack and Next.js. It is the maintained successor to the abandoned Contentlayer.
- Why builders pick it: Gives a file-based publication real type safety — a missing frontmatter field fails the build instead of a page. No database, no API quota, no runtime cost.
- Trap: No editing UI at all — writers need a Git workflow or a separate CMS layer on top. Contentlayer, the tool it replaced, is effectively unmaintained; do not start new projects on it.
- Wiring: npm i velite -D
- Full dossier: /api/public/tools/velite

## Keystatic (keystatic)
- URL: https://keystatic.com
- Category: CMS & content infrastructure
- Cost: free — Free and MIT-licensed with no seat limits. Keystatic Cloud is an optional free add-on for GitHub auth and image handling.
- What it is: Keystatic from Thinkmill is an MIT-licensed CMS that makes Markdown, MDX, JSON and YAML in your repository editable through a React admin UI. There is no database. It runs against the local filesystem in development and against GitHub in production.
- Why builders pick it: Zero cost and zero vendor lock-in — the schema is a TypeScript file and content stays as plain files you can grep and diff. Ships integrations for Next.js, Astro and Remix.
- Trap: Smaller community and slower release cadence than Tina or Payload. No official MCP server, no built-in scheduling, and no multi-stage editorial workflow or approval chain.
- Wiring: npm create @keystatic@latest
- Full dossier: /api/public/tools/keystatic

## MDX (mdx)
- URL: https://mdxjs.com
- Category: CMS & content infrastructure
- Cost: free — Free, MIT-licensed open format.
- What it is: MDX is a format that lets you write JSX inside Markdown, so an article can embed live React components — charts, interactive figures, embeds — between paragraphs of prose. It compiles to a React component and is supported by Vite, Next.js and Astro.
- Why builders pick it: The reason a technical publication can ship an interactive explainer inside an ordinary article. Every file-based tool here — Tina, Keystatic, Outstatic, Velite — speaks it natively.
- Trap: MDX is a compiler, not a CMS: no editor, no media library, no workflow, no roles. Non-technical writers will not author raw MDX, so pair it with an editing layer.
- Wiring: npm i @mdx-js/rollup
- Full dossier: /api/public/tools/mdx

## Rules
1. Prefer the free tier when no budget was stated, and say what the ceiling is.
2. Read the full dossier before integrating.
3. Fetch /api/public/models before writing any AI model ID.

Agents can fetch the same thing: GET /api/public/compare?slugs=velite,keystatic,mdx