Contentful vs Sanity
Pricing
Contentful: Free tier (10 users), Lite from $300/mo
Sanity: Free tier (3 users), Growth from $15/user/mo
Description
Contentful: Enterprise-grade headless CMS with a structured content model and robust API delivery
Sanity: Headless CMS with a real-time collaborative editing studio and flexible content modeling
Pros
- Reliable CDN-backed content delivery with high uptime
- Strong ecosystem of integrations and official SDKs
- Free plan supports up to 10 users, 100K API calls a month and 10,000 records
- Generous free tier with 100K API requests/mo
- Highly customizable content studio built with React
- Real-time collaboration and structured content with GROQ query language
Cons
- Paid plans are expensive, starting at $300/mo
- Content modeling can feel rigid compared to alternatives like Sanity
- The free plan has hard usage caps: no paid overages, so you must upgrade when you hit a limit
- Steeper learning curve than traditional CMS platforms
- Costs scale with API usage and number of users
Details
Contentful is a headless CMS designed for structured content that can be delivered to websites, apps, and other digital channels via API. It is widely used by larger teams and enterprises but offers a free plan suitable for solo projects, with 10 users, 100,000 API calls and 50 GB of CDN bandwidth a month. The jump from free to the Lite plan is steep at $300/mo, so solo founders should carefully evaluate whether they will outgrow the free tier. Salesforce completed its purchase of Contentful on 1 September 2026, and the company now presents itself as part of Salesforce.
Sanity is a headless CMS that separates content management from presentation, allowing you to deliver content to any frontend via API. Its open-source editing studio (Sanity Studio) is fully customizable with React components. Solo founders benefit from the generous free tier, but should be aware that costs can increase as traffic and team size grow.
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