Headless CMS
comparison tool
Compare 8 leading platforms across 14 dimensions. Filter by what matters to you and get a recommendation.
Descriptive cells, not binary checkmarks — because details matter.
What matters to you?
Select the requirements that are non-negotiable. Platforms will rerank based on how many they satisfy.
Unlimited entity types, nested paragraphs, references, custom fields
Content types with references, limited to flat structures
Schema as code, portable text, rich references
Dynamic zones, components, relations — flexible
TypeScript schemas, blocks, rich relationships
Blocks (components) + stories (pages), nested structures
Typed schemas, union types, content federation
ACF/Pods for custom fields, CPTs via code
GraphQL + JSON:API + 25 MCP tools, all native
REST + GraphQL, rate limits on lower tiers
GROQ (proprietary) + GraphQL, real-time APIs
REST by default, GraphQL via plugin
REST + GraphQL auto-generated from schema
REST, GraphQL on higher plans
GraphQL-native, real-time mutations
REST in core, GraphQL via WPGraphQL plugin
Drupal media library with image styles, Cloudinary integration
Built-in image transforms, no true DAM
Asset pipeline with hotspots, transforms
Basic media library, limited transforms
Upload fields with image sizes, custom storage adapters
Asset manager with transforms and focal points
Asset management with transforms
Mature media library, plugins for DAM
Full Drupal multilingual — 100+ languages, translation workflows
Locale support, manual translation workflow
Via plugin, not first-class
i18n plugin in core
Built-in localization in core
Field-level and folder-level translations
Locale-based content, stages
Via plugins (WPML, Polylang)
Drupal admin + Puck visual editor for landing pages
Clean web UI, limited inline editing
Sanity Studio is highly customizable (React)
Improving, but less polished than Sanity/Contentful
Modern admin UI (React), customizable
Best-in-class visual editor with live preview
Web UI focused on schema, less on content editing
Gutenberg editor, most familiar to content teams
Puck drag-and-drop with AI content generation
Compose add-on (paid), limited flexibility
Visual Editing via presentation tool
No built-in visual editor
Live preview, no true drag-and-drop
Core feature: click-to-edit visual editor
No native visual editor
Gutenberg is block-based but tied to frontend
Full Drupal auth, SSO, roles, OAuth2 client credentials
SSO on Team+ plans, basic roles
SSO on Enterprise, basic roles
Roles & permissions, SSO on Enterprise
Built-in auth with hooks, SSO ready
Basic roles, SSO on Enterprise
SSO on Enterprise, role-based
Mature user system, plugins for SSO
Managed by default, Drupal core is self-hostable
No — cloud only
Studio self-hosted, content lake is managed
Yes — fully self-hostable
Yes — fully self-hostable
No — cloud only
No — cloud only
Yes — the most self-hostable CMS
Flat monthly tier, no per-API-call charges
Per-user + API call limits, scales fast
Free tier, then usage-based (API calls, assets)
Free self-hosted, paid Cloud tier
Free self-hosted, paid Cloud tier
Per-user + traffic-based, scales with usage
Per-operation pricing, scales with API calls
Free core, pay for hosting + plugins
$29/mo
$300/mo (Basic)
$99/mo (Growth)
Free (self-host)
Free (self-host)
$109/mo (Entry)
$299/mo (Growth)
Free (self-host)
Built on Drupal (GPL), custom modules also open
Proprietary
Studio is open source, backend is proprietary
Fully open source (MIT)
MIT license
Proprietary
Proprietary
GPL
Drupal ecosystem: 40k+ modules, 100k+ developers
Large enterprise user base, active Slack
Active developer community, strong Discord
60k+ GitHub stars, active community
Growing fast, smaller than Strapi
Active but smaller than alternatives
Smaller, more enterprise-focused
Largest CMS community in the world
25 native MCP tools for AI agents (create spaces, import content, etc.)
No native MCP, community adapters only
No native MCP tools
No MCP support
No MCP support
No MCP support
No MCP support
Community plugins emerging
Built into Puck editor: Groq/Claude for content generation
AI Actions add-on, limited to entry-level tasks
AI Assist plugin, limited scope
No built-in AI tools
No built-in AI tools
Storyblok AI for content suggestions
No built-in AI tools
Plugins like Jetpack AI, not first-class