Astro front-end
Static where it can be, server-rendered where it must be. Pages ship almost no JavaScript, so mobile scores stay high without a caching plugin propping them up.
home/engine
headless platform
XSOnly Engine
WordPress is a fine start. At a few hundred thousand posts, several mirrors and your own video storage, it becomes the thing you fight instead of the thing you use. The engine is what we move those projects onto.
Astro + Postgres · own admin · self-hosted video · your server, your data
$ git push && ssh node-01 'xsot deploy'
building web (astro) ......... 22s
building cms (payload) ....... 18s
[ ok ] ssr routes: 14 · static: 41,208
[ ok ] video nodes: 3 · secure_link on
[ ok ] themes built: default, ero
[warn] cache purge queued at cloudflare
$ curl -w '%{time_total}' -o /dev/null -s https://site/
0.043s
0.04sttfb, cached page
100k+posts per instance
nthemes, one codebase
0plugins to babysit
what is inside
Boring technology, assembled well
Nothing exotic — every piece is something you can hire another developer to maintain. That is the point.
Postgres + Payload admin
A real database with real indexes, and an editing interface built for the content model instead of one bent into posts and meta rows.
Self-hosted video
Storage nodes serve files through nginx secure_link — signed, expiring URLs. No file-host commissions, no host dying and taking your catalog with it.
Multi-theme
One codebase, several front-end skins selected per deployment. A tube, a photo-gallery site and a games portal can share the same engine.
Content API
Parsers push content over a versioned API — no WordPress REST overhead, no plugin conflicts, and a contract that does not change under you.
Accounts & anti-bot
Registration, login, gated content, rate limits, honeypots and math captcha — the parts everyone bolts on with three plugins, built in and consistent.
honest comparison
Theme or engine — which one?
Most projects should stay on WordPress. Here is where the line actually falls.
| situation | xsonlytube (wordpress) | xsonly engine |
|---|---|---|
| Up to ~100k posts | yes, comfortably | overkill |
| Several hundred thousand posts | possible with tuning | the right tool |
| You want plugins and a familiar admin | yes | no plugin ecosystem |
| Own video hosting, signed links | partly | built in |
| Several front-ends, one content base | hard | by design |
| Time to launch | days | weeks |
| Who can maintain it | any wp developer | a node developer |
we will say “stay on WordPress” if that is the answer — moving you is not automatically a win for anyone
how a build goes
From decision to live
Model your content
Videos, galleries, packs, models, studios, tags — whatever your catalog actually is, described once and properly.
Import the old site
Full migration with URL mapping and redirects, so search engines see a redesign rather than a new site.
Skin it
An existing theme adjusted to your brand, or a new front-end — the engine does not care which.
Hand over
Deploy scripts, admin accounts, a README and a walkthrough call. You can hire anyone to continue.
per-project pricing
Tell us what is straining
Post count, current stack, traffic, where it hurts. You get a straight answer about whether the engine is worth it — including “no”.