Contentful vs Sanity

Updated October 2026 · AppBreakup editorial

Contentful

Hosted headless CMS and content platform used by large brands for multi-channel content.

Free plan + paid

Visit Contentful Contentful profile

Sanity

Headless content platform with a customisable React editing studio and real-time collaboration.

Free plan + paid

Visit Sanity Sanity profile

The short answer

Pick Sanity if you have developers who want to shape the editing experience in code and a generous free plan with many seats. Pick Contentful if you are a larger organisation that needs mature roles, environments and localisation across many brands and markets, configured mostly in the browser. Both are hosted headless platforms; the main difference is that Sanity's studio is code, while Contentful is configured through its web app.

Contentful or Sanity: our take

Both platforms store structured content in the cloud and deliver it to websites and apps through APIs, so neither has servers for you to run. Contentful has teams model content types in the browser, editors fill in forms, and developers fetch content through REST and GraphQL. Environments, roles, localisation, scheduled publishing and an app framework make it a common pick for large organisations with many brands and markets, and Contentful Studio adds visual page building on top. Sanity stores content in its Content Lake and gives editors Sanity Studio, an open-source React app that developers configure in JavaScript or TypeScript. Schemas, custom inputs and previews are all code, content is queried with GROQ or GraphQL, and editors get real-time presence, comments, scheduled releases and visual editing on the live site.

Pricing is a clear point of difference. Sanity's free plan costs $0 forever with up to 20 seats, its Growth plan is $15 per seat/month, and add-ons such as dedicated support ($799 per month) cover larger needs. Contentful also has a free plan, but its paid plans get expensive quickly, and quotas on records, locales and API usage shape how you model content.

The working experience differs too. Contentful's form-based interface can feel abstract to editors used to page builders, but it can be set up without writing much code. Sanity's editing studio can fit a project closely, though almost everything needs a developer, and GROQ is one more query language to learn.

Developer-led teams, startups and agencies building with modern frameworks such as Next.js will often prefer Sanity's flexibility and pricing. Large organisations that want a mature, governed content hub with strong roles and localisation, and have the budget, tend to fit Contentful better.

Choose Contentful if…

Larger companies delivering structured content to many sites, apps and markets
Mature APIs, SDKs and integrations for any front end
Strong roles, environments and localisation for big teams

Choose Sanity if…

Developer teams who want an editing interface tailored to their content
Editing studio is fully customisable in code
Real-time collaboration and visual editing

What is Contentful?

Contentful is one of the best-known headless content platforms. Teams model content types in the browser, editors fill them in, and developers fetch everything through REST and GraphQL APIs to power websites, apps and other channels. Environments, roles, localisation, scheduled publishing and an app framework for custom editor extensions make it suitable for large organisations with many brands, markets and developers. Studio adds visual page building on top of structured content, and AI features help with drafting and translation. It is fully hosted, so there are no servers to run. The trade-offs are cost and limits: the free plan suits small projects, but paid plans jump sharply, and record, locale and API quotas shape how you model content. Editors used to WYSIWYG page builders can also find a pure form-based interface abstract. Pricing is a free tier, a self-serve paid plan and custom enterprise plans. It is a web app.

What is Sanity?

Sanity is a hosted content platform where content lives in its cloud Content Lake and editors work in Sanity Studio, an open-source React app that developers configure in code. Schemas, custom inputs, desk structure and previews are all defined in JavaScript or TypeScript, so the editing experience can be shaped closely to each project. Content is queried with GROQ or GraphQL, and editors collaborate in real time with presence indicators, comments, scheduled releases and visual editing on top of the live site. It is popular with developer teams building with Next.js and other modern frameworks, from startups to large brands. The free plan is generous for small projects and includes many user seats; the Growth plan is priced per seat, and add-ons and enterprise plans cover more quota and support. The downsides are that almost everything needs a developer to set up, and GROQ is one more query language to learn. It runs in the browser.

Side by side

Attribute	Contentful	Sanity
Pricing	Free plan + paid	Free plan + paid
Open source	No	No
Self-hostable	No	No
Platforms	Web	Web
Best for	Larger companies delivering structured content to many sites, apps and markets	Developer teams who want an editing interface tailored to their content
Status	Active	Active