Strapi vs Sanity vs Contentful — Headless CMS Comparison

Three leading headless CMS platforms for managing content via API. Strapi is the most popular open-source option with 65K+ stars and full self-hosting. Sanity provides a composable content platform with real-time collaboration. Contentful is the enterprise standard used by Spotify, Vodafone, and BMW.

Headless CMS platforms decouple content management from presentation, serving content via APIs to any frontend. Strapi, Sanity, and Contentful represent open-source, composable, and enterprise approaches respectively.

Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS with 65K+ GitHub stars. Content types are defined through a visual builder, and REST/GraphQL APIs are auto-generated. Built with Node.js, supporting PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQLite. The key advantage is self-hosting — full control over data, infrastructure, and customization through a plugin ecosystem. No per-user pricing at any scale. Strapi Cloud provides a managed option. Best for teams wanting open-source flexibility and data ownership.

Sanity takes a content-as-data approach with its composable platform. Content is stored as structured data queryable via GROQ, a purpose-built query language. Portable Text represents rich content as structured JSON rather than HTML, enabling rendering in any format. The Sanity Studio is an open-source React app fully customizable with plugins and custom components. Real-time collaboration enables multiple editors working simultaneously. Best for teams wanting maximum content modeling flexibility and a customizable editing experience.

Contentful is the enterprise standard for headless CMS, used by major companies for omnichannel content delivery at scale. It provides REST and GraphQL APIs, localization for 100+ locales, media management with image transformations, and scheduled publishing. SDKs cover 10+ platforms. Enterprise features include SSO, audit logs, and custom roles. The Compose and Studio products add visual page-building for marketing teams. Best for large enterprises needing reliable, scalable content infrastructure with strong support.

Strapi for open-source self-hosting and maximum control. Sanity for creative teams wanting a customizable editing experience with structured content. Contentful for enterprises needing battle-tested scalability and comprehensive enterprise features. Also consider Payload CMS — a TypeScript-first open-source alternative with 32K+ stars that combines headless CMS capabilities with a full application framework.

Quick Comparison

Feature	Strapi	Sanity	Contentful
Pricing	Free open-source / Cloud from $29/mo / Enterprise custom	Free tier / Team from $15/user/mo / Enterprise custom	Free (Community) / Team $300/mo / Enterprise custom
Platforms	Self-hosted, Docker, Node.js, Strapi Cloud	API, React Studio, GROQ, GraphQL	API, Web App, REST, GraphQL, 10+ SDKs
Open Source	Yes	No	No
Telemetry	Clean	Clean	Clean
Description	Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS with 65K+ GitHub stars providing a customizable API-first content management system. Auto-generates REST and GraphQL APIs from content types defined through a visual builder. Features role-based access control, media library, internationalization, draft/publish workflow, and a plugin marketplace. Built with Node.js and supports PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite, and MariaDB. Self-hostable with Strapi Cloud also available.	Sanity is a composable content platform providing a real-time, API-first content backend with a customizable editing studio. Content is stored as structured data accessible via GROQ query language or GraphQL. Features real-time collaboration, portable text for rich content modeling, image pipeline with on-the-fly transformations, and webhooks for content-driven workflows. The open-source Sanity Studio provides a fully customizable React-based editing interface deployable anywhere.