14 Best Contentful Alternatives in 2026 (After the Salesforce Acquisition)

verified October 2026
Katarina Harbuzava Expert Technical Writer
21 min

The best Contentful alternatives in 2026 are Sanity for developer-led teams, Storyblok for visual editing, Payload CMS for open-source and self-hosting, and Contentstack for enterprise composable stacks. Strapi, Hygraph, Directus, Prismic, Kontent.ai, DatoCMS, Builder.io, Agility CMS, Webflow and TinaCMS cover narrower needs, from GraphQL federation to marketing page building.

The right choice depends on why you are leaving. Throughout 2025, most teams we helped move off Contentful left over pricing. In 2026, ownership became the bigger question: Salesforce signed a definitive agreement to acquire Contentful on June 1, 2026, and completed the roughly $1.5 billion deal on September 1, 2026 (see our full breakdown of the deal). Pricing has not changed yet, but many teams are reviewing their renewal, data-control and exit-cost position now.

Key facts

  • Moving from Contentful’s Free plan to Lite costs at least $3,600 a year, with no tier in between.
  • Contentful’s Lite plan starts at about $300/month billed annually, with up to 20 users and 1M API calls/month.
  • Sanity’s free plan includes up to 20 seats and 10,000 documents; Growth costs $15 per seat/month.
  • Payload CMS is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted, making it the strongest option for teams prioritizing data control.

TL;DR: Best Contentful alternative by use case

  • Managed, developer-first content backend: Sanity
  • Visual editing and component-based pages: Storyblok
  • Open source, self-hosted, Next.js-native: Payload CMS
  • Open source with the largest community: Strapi
  • Enterprise composable DXP: Contentstack
  • GraphQL and content federation: Hygraph
  • Headless layer over an existing SQL database: Directus
  • Marketing teams building pages from slices: Prismic
  • Governance and regulated industries: Kontent.ai
  • Fast setup for multilingual marketing sites: DatoCMS
  • Drag-and-drop visual page building: Builder.io
  • Mid-market teams that want structure plus page management: Agility CMS
  • All-in-one visual site builder with CMS: Webflow
  • Git-based content for docs and blogs: TinaCMS

Official migration partner: FocusReactive. FocusReactive is a certified partner of Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and Payload CMS. We plan and run migrations off Contentful to the platforms in this list, with content modeling, SEO-safe redirects and Next.js frontends. See our Contentful migration services or estimate your project with the CMS Migration Estimator.

Why are teams looking for Contentful alternatives in 2026?

Teams leave Contentful for three reasons: ownership, price and platform limits. The Salesforce deal added the first reason in 2026. The other two have driven migrations for years.

Salesforce ownership. Salesforce signed a definitive agreement on June 1, 2026 and closed the deal on September 1, 2026, for roughly $1.5 billion in cash. Salesforce positions Contentful as an enterprise content layer for Data 360 and Agentforce. Published pricing is unchanged as of October 2026. The bigger risk is commercial: Contentful may be sold inside larger Salesforce agreements, which can raise the cost of leaving later. For EU teams, the concern is corporate control under the US CLOUD Act, not only server location. Read our full breakdown: Salesforce bought Contentful: what’s changing for customers.

Pricing cliff. Contentful’s Free plan allows 10 users, 2 locales and 100K API calls a month. The next tier, Lite, starts at about $300 a month billed annually, so the jump from Free costs at least $3,600 a year. Premium is custom. Third-party procurement data puts the enterprise median at about $64,300 a year. See our Contentful pricing guide for plan-by-plan detail.

Platform limits. Free-plan API calls are blocked at the hard limit until the next billing cycle. Each Space is billed separately. AI Actions sit on Enterprise plans, and Personalization is a separate product on top of that. Teams that need many locales, environments or spaces hit these limits early.

If you rely heavily on Salesforce and expect integration gains, staying on Contentful can be the right call. A migration should solve a problem you actually have.

Who should stay on Contentful?

Not every organization should migrate. Despite concerns around pricing and Salesforce ownership, Contentful remains one of the strongest enterprise headless CMS platforms on the market. If your current implementation is meeting business needs, a migration may create more cost and risk than value.

Staying on Contentful can be the right decision if:

  • You’re heavily invested in the Salesforce ecosystem and expect value from integrations with Agentforce, Data Cloud, or other Salesforce products.
  • You already have a mature Contentful implementation with custom apps, workflows, and editor training in place.
  • Your licensing costs are predictable and fit your long-term budget.
  • Data ownership, self-hosting, and exit flexibility are not major concerns for your organization.
  • Your editors are satisfied with the current content workflow and do not require visual editing capabilities.
  • The cost and disruption of migration would outweigh the expected business benefits.

In our experience, the best reason to leave Contentful is not that another CMS has more features. It is that another platform better matches your priorities, whether that’s lower operating costs, greater ownership, visual editing, open-source flexibility, or tighter alignment with your development stack.

How we evaluated these Contentful alternatives

We scored each platform on six criteria that matter to teams moving off Contentful:

  1. Content modeling: how well it handles structured, reusable content and references.
  2. Editor experience: visual editing, preview, workflows and collaboration.
  3. Developer experience: APIs, SDKs, framework support and schema-as-code. For Next.js projects specifically, see our guide to the best headless CMS for Next.js.
  4. Pricing transparency: published tiers, overage rules and the cost of the first paid step.
  5. Ownership and hosting: SaaS vs open source, self-hosting options and data residency.
  6. Migration path from Contentful: importers, documentation and real migration effort.

Pricing and limits come from each vendor’s public pricing page, checked in October 2026. Prices change often, so confirm with the vendor before you sign.

Disclosure: FocusReactive is a certified partner of Sanity, Storyblok, Contentful and Payload CMS. We build and migrate on these platforms for clients. We have tried to apply the same criteria to every platform, including those we do not partner with.

Contentful alternatives compared at a glance

Every platform below has a free tier or a free self-hosted edition except Kontent.ai, which quotes custom pricing only. Prices are list prices from vendor pricing pages, checked October 2026.

Platform Type Free option First paid tier Best for
Contentful (baseline) SaaS 10 users, 2 locales, 100K API calls/mo Lite, ~$300/mo billed annually Enterprises already on Salesforce
Sanity SaaS 20 seats, 10K documents Growth, $15/seat/mo Developer-led teams, structured content
Storyblok SaaS 1 seat, 2 locales, 100K API requests/mo Growth, $99/mo ($90.75 billed annually) Visual editing, marketing teams
Payload CMS Open source (MIT) Free to self-host Enterprise, custom Next.js teams wanting full control
Strapi Open source (MIT) Community edition, self-hosted Cloud Starter, $35/mo Open source with a large plugin ecosystem
Contentstack SaaS 3 users, 1K entries, 100K API calls/mo Build, $29/mo Enterprise composable DXP
Hygraph SaaS 3 seats, 1K entries, 500K API calls Growth, from $199/mo GraphQL and content federation
Directus Source-available (BSL) + cloud Core self-hosted, 3 seats Team, $499/mo billed annually Headless layer over SQL databases
Prismic SaaS 1 user, 2 locales, 4M API calls/mo Starter, $10/mo billed annually Marketing sites built from slices
Kontent.ai SaaS None published Custom quote only Governance, regulated industries
DatoCMS SaaS 300 records, 5 locales Professional, €149/mo billed annually Multilingual marketing sites
Builder.io SaaS 1 user Pro, $24/user/mo Drag-and-drop page building, design-to-code
Agility CMS SaaS Proof of Concept, 5 users Essentials, $699/mo Mid-market sites needing page management
Webflow SaaS site builder Starter, 50 CMS items Premium, $25/mo billed yearly (CMS) Design-led marketing sites
TinaCMS Open source (Apache-2.0) + cloud Free, 2 users Team, $24/mo per project Docs and blogs with content in Git

The 14 best Contentful alternatives: How we evaluated

We assessed each CMS against six criteria:

  • Content modeling flexibility
  • Editor experience
  • Localization support
  • Next.js integration
  • Pricing at scale
  • Migration effort from Contentful

1. Sanity

Sanity is a managed headless CMS built around structured content stored in its Content Lake. Content models are defined in code, and Sanity Studio is an open-source React app that teams customize to fit their editorial workflow. Content is queried with GROQ or GraphQL, and real-time collaboration is built in.

Sanity is the closest like-for-like move from Contentful for developer-led teams. It keeps the managed SaaS model but gives developers far more control over the editing interface. Sanity offers a free contentful-to-sanity migration tool that translates Contentful content models into Sanity schemas and moves entries, assets and references. That makes a proof of concept cheap.

Key highlights:

  • Schema-as-code with a fully customizable React Studio
  • GROQ and GraphQL APIs with real-time collaboration
  • Visual editing and live preview for Next.js
  • Free Contentful importer for schemas, content and assets
  • Per-seat pricing with generous free tier (up to 20 seats)

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Free: $0, up to 20 seats, 10K documents, 1M API CDN requests/month
  • Growth: $15 per seat/month, up to 50 seats, 25K documents
  • Enterprise: custom, adds SAML SSO, custom roles, SLA and audit trail

Watch out for: Studio customization needs React developers. Extra datasets on Growth cost $999 per dataset/month.

Best for: product and engineering teams that want Contentful’s managed model with more flexibility.

Official partner: FocusReactive is a certified Sanity agency partner (since about 2020) and runs Contentful-to-Sanity migrations. See FocusReactive Sanity services.

Links:

2. Storyblok

Storyblok is a headless CMS known for its visual editor. Editors build pages from nestable components called blocks and see changes in a live preview as they type. Developers still get a clean API and SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt, Astro and other frameworks.

Storyblok suits teams leaving Contentful because editors struggle with form-based entry and lack of preview. Its component model differs from Contentful’s entry-and-reference model, so prototype the content model before you commit. FocusReactive rebuilt Arrive (EasyPark) on Storyblok and Next.js, reaching a Lighthouse score of 97 and +38% organic traffic.

Key highlights:

  • Visual Editor with real-time preview on every plan
  • Nestable, component-based content blocks
  • Built-in AI for content generation and translation
  • Storyblok Agents on Growth plans and above
  • Uptime SLA up to 99.99% on Elite

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Starter: free, 1 seat, 2 locales, 100K API requests/month
  • Growth: $99/month ($90.75 billed annually), 5 seats, 1M API requests
  • Growth Plus: $349/month, 15 seats, 10 locales, 4M API requests
  • Premium and Elite: custom, add SSO, GraphQL, environments and custom workflows

Watch out for: GraphQL, environments and SSO start at Premium. Growth Plus does not allow extra seats.

Best for: marketing-led teams that want visual editing without giving up a headless architecture.

Official partner: FocusReactive is a certified Storyblok partner and builds Storyblok + Next.js sites. See FocusReactive Storyblok services.

Links:

3. Payload CMS

Payload CMS is an open-source, MIT-licensed headless CMS and application framework that runs inside your Next.js app. Content models, access control and hooks are written in TypeScript. You host it yourself, on your own database and infrastructure.

Payload is the strongest option if Salesforce ownership is the problem. Figma acquired Payload in June 2025 and has committed to keeping it open and independently usable, according to CMSWire. Because the code is MIT-licensed and self-hosted, you keep your data and your exit options. FocusReactive has shipped Payload builds such as Reverse Health (23 content collections, 7 user roles, 9 languages) and Kids Empire (120+ locations). See our Payload CMS work.

Key highlights:

  • MIT-licensed, about 44.5K GitHub stars (October 2026)
  • Native to Next.js, with code-defined TypeScript schemas
  • Built-in auth, field-level access control, localization and multi-tenancy
  • Works with Postgres, MongoDB and SQLite
  • Enterprise adds SSO, publishing workflows and AI auto-embedding for RAG

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Open source: free to self-host, no seat or API limits
  • Enterprise: custom pricing via demo request

Watch out for: you own hosting, scaling, backups and security. Budget for DevOps time.

Best for: engineering teams on Next.js that want full control of data, hosting and cost.

Official partner: FocusReactive is a certified Payload CMS partner. See FocusReactive Payload CMS services.

Links:

4. Strapi

Strapi is an open-source headless CMS for Node.js with one of the largest communities in the space. The Community edition is MIT-licensed and free to self-host with no usage limits. Teams that do not want to run infrastructure can use Strapi Cloud.

Strapi fits teams that want open-source control but prefer a ready-made admin panel and plugin marketplace over a code-first framework. It gives you more control than Contentful, with more infrastructure responsibility. REST and GraphQL APIs are both supported.

Key highlights:

  • MIT-licensed Community edition with unlimited entries and API calls
  • Role-based access control included free since v4.8
  • REST and GraphQL APIs
  • Large plugin marketplace and community
  • Strapi Cloud for managed hosting

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Community (self-hosted): free
  • Cloud Starter: $35/month per project, 100K API requests
  • Cloud Pro: $90/month, 1M API requests, always-on runtime
  • Cloud Business: $450/month, 10M API requests, 99.9% SLA
  • Enterprise (self-hosted): custom, adds SSO, audit logs and SLA support

Watch out for: Cloud Starter sleeps when idle and has no backups. Overage on Cloud is $1.50 per extra 25K API requests.

Best for: teams that want open source with a familiar admin UI and minimal custom code.

Links:

5. Contentstack

Contentstack is an enterprise headless CMS positioned as a composable digital experience platform. Beyond content, it bundles personalization, a customer data platform (Lytics), workflow automation and hosting. Its Agent OS layer orchestrates AI agents across content operations.

Contentstack is the natural choice for enterprises that want to stay on a managed, proprietary platform with a broader DXP feature set. If Salesforce ownership is your concern, note that Contentstack is also proprietary SaaS, so weigh vendor lock-in carefully. Contentstack runs a dedicated Contentful migration offer for switching customers.

Key highlights:

  • Headless CMS plus Visual Editor on every plan, including Free
  • Brand Kit and Agent OS included in all tiers
  • Personalize and Lytics CDP on Enterprise
  • Choice of AWS, Azure or GCP on Enterprise
  • Compliance-focused, with a 99.5%+ uptime SLA on Enterprise

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Free: $0, 3 users, 10 content types, 1K entries, 100K API calls/month
  • Build: $29/month, 3 users, 2.5K entries, 250K API calls
  • Growth: $299/month, 10 users, 20K entries, 1M API calls
  • Enterprise: custom, 50+ users, 6M+ API calls; Personalize is priced separately

Watch out for: the jump from Growth to Enterprise is where most DXP features unlock. Personalize is a separate cost.

Best for: large organizations that want a full composable DXP from one vendor.

Links:

6. Hygraph

Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS) is a GraphQL-native headless CMS. Its signature feature is content federation: you can pull data from remote APIs, such as a PIM or commerce backend, into one GraphQL endpoint alongside your CMS content.

Hygraph suits teams that already use GraphQL heavily or need to unify content from several systems. Contentful offers GraphQL too, but Hygraph treats it as the core of the product rather than an add-on.

Key highlights:

  • GraphQL-native API for queries and mutations
  • Content federation from remote sources (up to 10 on Enterprise)
  • Live preview, commenting and assignment on the free plan
  • Up to 80 locales on Enterprise
  • SSO, multitenancy, audit logs and 99.95% SLA on Enterprise

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Hobby: free, 3 seats, 2 locales, 1K entries, 500K API calls
  • Growth: from $199/month, 10 seats, 3 locales, 10K entries, 1M API calls, 1 remote source
  • Enterprise: custom, up to 200 seats, 1M+ entries, 50M+ API calls

Watch out for: Growth includes only 3 locales and 10K entries. Multilingual projects usually need Enterprise.

Best for: GraphQL-first teams that need to federate content from several backends.

Links:

7. Directus

Directus is an open data platform that wraps any SQL database with REST and GraphQL APIs and a no-code admin app. Unlike most headless CMSs, it does not own your schema: it reads and writes your existing database tables directly.

Directus is a strong fit when content lives alongside operational data, or when you want a CMS on top of a Postgres or MySQL database you already run. It can be self-hosted or run on Directus Cloud.

Key highlights:

  • Works with existing SQL databases (Postgres, MySQL, SQLite and others)
  • Auto-generated REST and GraphQL APIs
  • No-code admin app with Flows for automation
  • AI Assistant and advanced RBAC included in the free Core tier
  • Self-hosting available on every tier

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Core (self-hosted): $0, 3 seats, 25 collections, 5 flows
  • Team: $499/month billed annually ($599 monthly), 10 SSO seats, 50 collections
  • Enterprise: custom, 200+ collections, SAML/OIDC SSO
  • Open Innovation Grant: free self-hosting for organizations under $5M annual revenue and fewer than 50 employees

Watch out for: free self-hosting depends on company size. Larger companies pay for Team or Enterprise even when self-hosting.

Best for: teams that want a headless layer over their own SQL database.

Links:

8. Prismic

Prismic is a headless page builder for marketing websites. Developers build reusable sections called Slices in code, and marketers assemble pages from them in the Visual Page Builder. It has first-class SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt and SvelteKit.

Prismic suits teams whose Contentful use is mostly marketing pages, and who want cheaper, simpler pricing. The free plan includes unlimited documents and 4M API calls a month, which is generous for small sites.

Key highlights:

  • Slices: developer-built, reusable page sections
  • Visual Page Builder on every plan, including Free
  • Unlimited documents, types and assets on all plans
  • Built-in image optimization
  • Migration API for importing content

Pricing (October 2026, billed annually per repository):

  • Free: $0, 1 user, 2 locales, 4M API calls/month
  • Starter: $10/month, 3 users, 3 locales
  • Small: $25/month, 7 users, 4 locales
  • Medium: $150/month, 25 users, 5 locales, user roles
  • Platinum: $675/month, unlimited users, 8 locales
  • Enterprise: custom, adds SSO, SLAs and custom roles

Watch out for: locale counts are low below Enterprise (8 on Platinum). It is less suited to complex, deeply relational content.

Best for: marketing teams building landing pages and websites from reusable sections.

Links:

9. Kontent.ai

Kontent.ai is an enterprise headless CMS focused on content governance, workflows and compliance. It lists SOC 2, ISO 27001/27017, GDPR, HIPAA, GLBA and CSA STAR on its pricing page. Country teams can manage their own content within central rules.

Kontent.ai suits regulated industries and large content operations where approval flows and audit matter more than developer flexibility. Pricing is quote-only under a single Flex plan, so budget conversations start with sales.

Key highlights:

  • Strong governance, roles and editorial workflows
  • Broad compliance coverage, including HIPAA and SOC 2
  • AI for text creation, translation and content variants
  • 24/7 in-app chat support on all plans
  • Integrations with Shopify, Algolia, Netlify and Zapier

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Flex plan: custom quote only, no published tiers

Watch out for: no free tier or public price list, which makes early comparison harder.

Best for: enterprises in finance, healthcare and the public sector that need governance first.

Links:

10. DatoCMS

DatoCMS is a hosted headless CMS with a GraphQL Content Delivery API and strong multilingual support. Editors get a clean interface, sandboxes for safe schema changes and Visual Editing on paid plans.

DatoCMS is a good fit for agencies and marketing teams that want Contentful-style structured content with simpler, more predictable pricing. Its Professional plan includes 100K records and 1TB bandwidth for €149 a month billed annually.

Key highlights:

  • GraphQL Content Delivery API plus REST Content Management API
  • Sandboxes for testing schema changes
  • Visual Editing and Plugin SDK on Professional
  • Add-on pricing for extra locales, records and collaborators
  • SSO, audit logs and editorial workflows on Enterprise

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Free: 300 records, 5 locales, 100K API calls/month; service stops at limits
  • Professional: €149/month billed annually (€199 monthly), 10 collaborators, 100K records, 1M API calls
  • Enterprise: custom, adds SLAs, SSO and custom roles

Watch out for: the free plan stops serving content at its limits. Locales cap at 10 on Professional.

Best for: multilingual marketing sites that need predictable costs.

Links:

11. Builder.io

Builder.io is a visual development platform with a drag-and-drop editor that plugs into your existing codebase. It turns Figma designs into code and lets marketers build pages from your own React components. AI agents assist with design-to-code and page building.

Builder.io fits teams that used Contentful mainly for landing pages and want marketers to ship pages without developer tickets. It often runs alongside a structured CMS rather than replacing it entirely.

Key highlights:

  • Drag-and-drop Visual Editor using your own components
  • Figma plugin and design-to-code workflow
  • AI agent credits on every plan
  • GitHub, GitLab and Bitbucket connections
  • SSO, RBAC and SLAs on Enterprise

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Free: $0, 1 user, 60 agent credits/month
  • Pro: $24 per user/month, 500 agent credits
  • Team: $40 per user/month, up to 20 users, comments and peer reviews
  • Enterprise: custom

Watch out for: it is a page-building tool first. Deeply structured, reusable content is better handled in a dedicated headless CMS.

Best for: marketing teams that need drag-and-drop page building on top of a React codebase.

Links:

12. Agility CMS

Agility CMS is a headless CMS that combines structured content with page management. Editors manage sitemaps, page templates and modules, which gives them more control over site structure than Contentful’s entry-based model.

Agility suits mid-market teams that want headless delivery but still think in pages and sitemaps. Every plan includes unlimited locales.

Key highlights:

  • Page management with templates, modules and sitemaps
  • Unlimited locales on all plans
  • Structured content plus page-level control
  • Free Proof of Concept plan
  • Up to 500K+ content items on Enterprise

Pricing (October 2026):

  • Proof of Concept: free, 5 users, 25K entries, 1 sitemap
  • Essentials: $699/month, 5 users, 25K entries, 1 sitemap
  • Enterprise: custom, 50 users, 500K+ entries, 10+ sitemaps

Watch out for: the first paid tier is $699/month with only 5 users, a steep step for small teams.

Best for: mid-market teams that want headless content with editor-managed page structure.

Links:

13. Webflow

Webflow is a visual website builder with a built-in CMS and hosting. Designers build responsive sites visually, and content lives in CMS Collections. It is not headless by default, though it exposes a Data API.

Webflow makes sense when your Contentful setup mostly powers a marketing site, and you would rather drop the separate frontend entirely. It trades flexibility and multi-channel delivery for speed and design control.

Key highlights:

  • Visual design and CMS in one tool, with hosting included
  • CMS Collections with reference fields
  • Localization add-ons (Localize Essential and Advanced)
  • Data API for limited headless use
  • Large template and designer ecosystem

Pricing (October 2026, per site, billed yearly):

  • Starter: free, 50 CMS items, 20 collections
  • Basic: $15/month, no CMS
  • Premium: $25/month, 20,000 CMS items, 40 collections
  • Team: $2,500/month annual contract, 100 collections
  • Localize: from $9/month for 1 to 3 locales

Watch out for: 20,000-item and collection caps, and limited multi-channel delivery. It is a poor fit for apps or omnichannel content.

Best for: design-led marketing teams that want one tool for site and content.

Links:

14. TinaCMS

TinaCMS is an open-source, Git-based headless CMS. Content is stored as Markdown, MDX or JSON files in your Git repository, and editors get a visual editing UI on top. TinaCloud adds hosted authentication, roles and editorial workflow.

TinaCMS suits developer documentation, blogs and smaller marketing sites where content in Git is a feature, not a limit. It removes the vendor database entirely, which also removes most lock-in.

Key highlights:

  • Apache-2.0 license, about 13.8K GitHub stars (October 2026)
  • Content stored in Git as Markdown, MDX or JSON
  • Visual, in-context editing
  • Works with Next.js, Astro and other frameworks
  • SSO and GitHub Enterprise support on Enterprise

Pricing (October 2026, per project):

  • Free: $0, 2 users
  • Team: $24/month, 3 users (up to 10)
  • Team Plus: $41/month, 5 users, Editorial Workflow
  • Business: $249/month, 20 users
  • Enterprise: custom

Watch out for: Git-based storage struggles with large volumes of relational content and high-frequency updates.

Best for: docs sites, blogs and developer-led teams that want content in Git.

Links:

If you are planning a move, start by mapping your content model and SEO redirects before choosing a platform. See how we approach Contentful migrations, or use the CMS Migration Estimator to get a first-pass scope of effort, risks, and timeline.

How do you choose the right Contentful alternative?

Start with why you are leaving, then test the hardest part of your current setup on the shortlisted platform. The reason you leave decides the destination more than any feature list. A short proof of concept on your hardest workflow is the fastest route to a credible decision.

Why you are leaving Contentful Recommended alternatives
Salesforce ownership, data control, or CLOUD Act concerns Payload CMS, Strapi, Webiny, TinaCMS
Price jump from Free to Lite, or rising renewal quotes Sanity, Storyblok, Prismic, DatoCMS
Editors want visual editing and preview Storyblok, Prismic, Builder.io
Developers want schema-as-code and a custom editor Sanity, Payload CMS
You need a broader enterprise DXP Contentstack, Kontent.ai, Sitecore, Optimizely
You need GraphQL federation across systems Hygraph
You want a CMS on top of your existing SQL database Directus
Content is mostly a marketing site Webflow, Prismic, Agility CMS

How long does it take to migrate off Contentful?

Timelines depend on dependencies, not page count. Exporting content is fast; the application built around Contentful’s API sets the timeline. In one recent FocusReactive project, a site with around 2,000 pages moved off Contentful in roughly two months.

The main cost drivers are not content volume. They are:

  • Custom apps and UI extensions built inside Contentful
  • Editorial workflows, roles and approval steps
  • Preview and visual editing wiring in the frontend
  • Localization across many locales and fallbacks
  • SEO continuity: URL structure, redirects and metadata

A space with 500,000 simple product records can be easier to move than a small site with heavily customized workflows. Start with a proof of concept on the hardest part of your implementation.

Work with the official partner. FocusReactive is a certified partner of Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and Payload CMS, so we know both sides of the move. We handle content modeling, scripted content migration, redirects and the Next.js frontend. Get a free scope with our CMS Migration Estimator, or see our Contentful migration services.

Bottom line: which Contentful alternative to pic

The right Contentful alternative depends on the problem you are solving. Teams worried about Salesforce ownership should look at open-source options like Payload CMS and Strapi. Teams leaving over price or editor experience will find strong managed options in Sanity, Storyblok and Prismic. Enterprises that want a full DXP should compare Contentstack and Kontent.ai.

In the end, it is less about the longest feature list and more about the platform that fits your content model, your team and your exit plan. Test your hardest workflow first, model three years of cost, and plan the migration before you sign. If you want help, FocusReactive, the official partner of Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and Payload CMS, can scope it with you.

Sources (checked October 2026): Sanity pricing · Storyblok pricing · Payload GitHub · Payload Enterprise · Strapi Cloud pricing · Strapi self-hosted pricing · Contentstack pricing · Hygraph pricing · Directus pricing · Prismic pricing · Kontent.ai pricing · DatoCMS pricing · Builder.io pricing · Agility CMS pricing · Webflow pricing · TinaCMS pricing · TinaCMS GitHub · Sanity: Contentful to Sanity · CMSWire on Figma and Payload · FocusReactive: Salesforce bought Contentful · FocusReactive: Contentful pricing

Contentful Alternatives: frequently asked questions

For most developer-led teams, Sanity is the closest replacement for Contentful because it preserves the SaaS operating model while adding schema-as-code, a customizable editor, and more flexible developer workflows. Teams prioritizing ownership often choose Payload CMS, while marketing organizations usually prefer Storyblok for its visual editor.

Yes. Payload CMS and Strapi are free to self-host with no usage limits. Sanity, Storyblok, Prismic, Hygraph, Contentstack and TinaCMS also offer free hosted plans.

Payload CMS, Strapi, Directus and TinaCMS are the main open-source alternatives. Payload and Strapi use the MIT license, and TinaCMS uses Apache-2.0. Directus offers free self-hosting for organizations under $5M annual revenue.

Usually not for small and mid-size teams. Contentful's first paid tier, Lite, costs about $300 a month billed annually. Sanity Growth costs $15 per seat a month, and Storyblok Growth costs $99 a month.

Payload CMS runs natively inside a Next.js app. Sanity and Storyblok also have first-class Next.js support with visual editing and live preview.

FocusReactive is a certified partner of Contentful, Sanity, Storyblok and Payload CMS, and specializes in Contentful migrations on Next.js. See Contentful migration services.

The best enterprise alternative to Contentful depends on your priorities. Contentstack and Kontent.ai are strong choices for organizations that need governance, localization, and enterprise workflows. Sitecore and Optimizely are better suited for companies looking for a complete digital experience platform (DXP) beyond content management.

Yes. Organizations with strict compliance or data sovereignty requirements often consider Payload CMS, Strapi, Webiny, or Directus. These platforms provide greater control over infrastructure, databases, and content storage compared to fully managed SaaS solutions.

Contentstack, Kontent.ai, Sanity, and Hygraph all provide API-first architectures similar to Contentful. They support omnichannel content delivery while offering different strengths in customization, governance, and developer experience.