CMS comparison Adobe Experience Manager vs Contentful

Adobe Experience Manager vs Contentful

Adobe Experience Manager is a closed-source enterprise DXP that runs on the vendor's cloud. Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 14.

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Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 25 of 28 built in
Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Adobe Experience Manager on 29 Sept 2026, Contentful on 29 Sept 2026. Plans and releases can change after those dates.

WAYF is an official Payload partner and top contributor. Every platform in the table is classified by the same published definitions, and each answer lists the vendor page it came from.

Feature comparison

Built inPaid tierPlugin or add-onLimitedNot available

Adobe Experience Manager vs Contentful feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Adobe Experience Manager Enterprise DXP	Contentful Headless
Overview
What it is	Adobe's enterprise CMS for websites and headless content, run by Adobe as a cloud service with page, fragment and document-based authoring.	Hosted headless CMS run by Contentful. Contentful stores content in its cloud and delivers it over REST and GraphQL APIs.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service Version 2026.9.0, released 24 Sept 2026	Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Adobe business.adobe.com	Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Cloud Service runs only on Adobe's cloud. AEM 6.5 LTS is the separate self-hosted edition.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud Runs only in Contentful's cloud. The local MCP server and SDKs are open source.
Built with	Java, Apache Sling, OSGi, HTL	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languages
Database	Apache Jackrabbit Oak repository, managed by Adobe	Managed by Contentful
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request.	Free to start Free plan. Lite $300 per month. Extra Lite Space $850 per month. Enterprise on request.
Content modelling
Content model in code You define content types in files in your repository, review them like any other code and apply them from there. Imperative migration scripts alone count as limited.	Built in Components, dialogs and Universal Editor models live in the project repository. 2	Limited Migration scripts run by the Contentful CLI change the model. No declarative schema files. 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Content Fragment Model editor. 3	Built in 1
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in 2 9	Built in Reorderable reference fields to typed entries. Studio page building is Enterprise. 1
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Language copies with translation projects and connectors. 4	Built in 2 locales on Free, 3 on Lite, custom on Enterprise. 1
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Web-optimized image delivery resizes, crops and converts DAM images to WebP. 5	Built in Images API resizes, crops and converts by URL parameter. 4
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Content Fragment Delivery with OpenAPI. 6	Built in 1
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in GraphQL for Content Fragments. 6	Built in 5
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in AEM Eventing delivers events through Adobe I/O Events. 7	Built in 1
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in HTL page rendering or Edge Delivery Services. 10	Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in Edits stay on the author tier until published. 11	Built in 1
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Publish later and unpublish later. 11	Paid tier Scheduled publishing on Lite and Enterprise. 1
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Built in 1
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in Separate preview tier.	Built in 6
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Universal Editor and Page Editor. 9	Built in Live preview inspector mode opens the field next to the page. Needs the live preview SDK. 6
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in	Paid tier Not on the Starter Space. Up to 5 on a Lite Space at $850 a month, custom on Enterprise. 1
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Launches group changes across pages and promote them together. 8	Plugin or add-on Launch is available on Lite and Enterprise plan families, but requires Contentful admin support to purchase and install. 7 8
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Limited Only with document authoring in Word or Google Docs. The Universal Editor has no co-editing. 10	Paid tier Live collaboration on Lite and Enterprise, with per-field presence avatars. 1 13
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in AEM groups with repository permissions. 12	Paid tier Premium plans, sold as Enterprise. Free has 2 fixed roles, Lite 3. 1 9
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Limited Repository ACL restrictions can target named properties. No per-field setting in the editors. 12	Paid tier Field and locale rules in custom roles. Premium plans only, sold as Enterprise. 10
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in SAML or OIDC federation through Adobe Admin Console. 13	Paid tier SAML 2.0 SSO on Premium plans, sold as Enterprise. 11
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in Page, replication and DAM audit logs. 14	Paid tier Audit logs on selected Enterprise plans, by sales agreement. 12
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Multi Site Manager with live copies. 15	Paid tier One Starter Space on Free and Lite, plus one paid Lite Space. Multiple spaces on Enterprise. 1
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in UI extensions built with App Builder. 16	Built in App Framework for custom field, sidebar, entry and page apps. 14
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Extension Manager catalogue of Adobe and partner extensions. 16	Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Core Components form container emails, posts or stores submissions. 17	Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Limited Publish-tier login via SAML or OIDC. Sign-up flows need custom code and user sync. 18 13	Not available
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in Generate Variations needs AEM Cloud Service with Edge Delivery entitlement. Licence includes an action allowance; extra actions cost more. 19	Plugin or add-on Official AI Content Generator app with your own OpenAI key. AI Actions need Enterprise. 1 15
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in AEM MCP Server for pages, fragments and assets. 20	Built in Hosted beta server at mcp.contentful.com and an open-source local server. 16

Adobe Experience Manager sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Adobe Experience Manager Sites as a Cloud Service.

Contentful sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans.

Considering more platforms? Compare Adobe Experience Manager and Contentful with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Adobe Experience Manager and Contentful get a different status on 14 of the 28 features and the same status on 14. Adobe Experience Manager has 25 built in on its baseline edition, Contentful has 14. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Free option: Adobe Experience Manager has no free option. Contentful has a free option.

Built in on Adobe Experience Manager, a different answer on Contentful 11

Content model in code Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Limited.
Renders the website Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Paid tier.
Approval workflows Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Paid tier.
Content releases Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Plugin or add-on.
Custom roles Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Paid tier.
Single sign-on Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Paid tier.
Audit log Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Paid tier.
Multiple sites Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Paid tier.
Form builder Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Not available.
AI writing assistant Adobe Experience Manager: Built in. Contentful: Plugin or add-on.

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Real-time co-editing Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Contentful: Paid tier.
Field-level permissions Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Contentful: Paid tier.
Site member accounts Adobe Experience Manager: Limited. Contentful: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Adobe Experience Manager vs Payload and Contentful vs Payload.

Adobe Experience Manager against other platforms

Contentful against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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