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CMS comparison Contentful vs Craft CMS

Contentful vs Craft CMS

Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 15.

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  • Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, Craft CMS 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
Contentful vs Craft CMS feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Contentful Headless
Craft CMS Traditional
Overview
What it is Hosted headless CMS run by Contentful. Contentful stores content in its cloud and delivers it over REST and GraphQL APIs.Self-hosted PHP CMS with custom fields and Twig templates. Pixel & Tonic sells licences per project and runs Craft Cloud hosting.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes. Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated Craft CMS 5 in Solo, Team and Pro editions. Craft 6 is in alpha. Version 5.11.3, released 18 Sept 2026
Vendor Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com
Licence Closed source Proprietary Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available
Hosting No self-hosting Vendor cloud Runs only in Contentful's cloud. The local MCP server and SDKs are open source. Self-hosting Vendor cloud Craft Cloud starts at $120 per month per project and includes a Team licence.
Built with Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languagesPHP, Yii 2, Twig
Database Managed by ContentfulMySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. Free to start Free plan. Lite $300 per month. Extra Lite Space $850 per month. Enterprise on request. Free to start Solo free for one user. Team $279, Pro $399 per project, then $99 per year for updates. 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. Limited Migration scripts run by the Contentful CLI change the model. No declarative schema files. 3 Built in Project config YAML records sections, entry types and fields for Git. 7
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 1 Built in 6
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. Built in Reorderable reference fields to typed entries. Studio page building is Enterprise. 1 Built in Matrix fields with nested entry types. 8
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. Built in 2 locales on Free, 3 on Lite, custom on Enterprise. 1 Built in Per-site and per-language field translation on every edition. 61
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. Built in Images API resizes, crops and converts by URL parameter. 4 Built in 10
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. Built in 1 Plugin or add-on Free first-party Element API plugin. 12
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Built in 5 Built in 111
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. Built in 1 Plugin or add-on Free first-party Webhooks plugin. 13
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. Not available Built in Twig templates.
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in 1 Built in 14
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. Paid tier Scheduled publishing on Lite and Enterprise. 1 Built in Post date and expiry date on entries. 15
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in 1 Built in Editors can view and restore revisions. 14
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 6 Built in 1
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. Built in Live preview inspector mode opens the field next to the page. Needs the live preview SDK. 6 Limited Live Preview shows the edit form beside the page. No click-to-edit. 14
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. Paid tier Not on the Starter Space. Up to 5 on a Lite Space at $850 a month, custom on Enterprise. 1 Plugin or add-on Workflow plugin by Verbb, $49. 16
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Plugin or add-on Launch is available on Lite and Enterprise plan families, but requires Contentful admin support to purchase and install. 78 Not available
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live. Paid tier Live collaboration on Lite and Enterprise, with per-field presence avatars. 113 Not available
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. Paid tier Premium plans, sold as Enterprise. Free has 2 fixed roles, Lite 3. 19 Paid tier Pro. Team allows one user group. Solo has one user. 51
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. Paid tier Field and locale rules in custom roles. Premium plans only, sold as Enterprise. 10 Paid tier Per-field Current User Condition. Rules by user group need Pro. 65
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. Paid tier SAML 2.0 SSO on Premium plans, sold as Enterprise. 11 Paid tier First-party SAML SSO on Enterprise. 13
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. Paid tier Audit logs on selected Enterprise plans, by sales agreement. 12 Not available No core log. Craft 5 audit plugins exist but are niche. 20
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. Paid tier One Starter Space on Free and Lite, plus one paid Lite Space. Multiple spaces on Enterprise. 1 Built in Included on every edition. 19
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in App Framework for custom field, sidebar, entry and page apps. 14 Built in 18
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15 Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Not available Plugin or add-on Formie by Verbb, $99. Pricing page lists forms as plugin-only. 171
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. Not available Paid tier Public registration needs Pro. 5
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. Plugin or add-on Official AI Content Generator app with your own OpenAI key. AI Actions need Enterprise. 115 Not available No first-party AI feature.
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. Built in Hosted beta server at mcp.contentful.com and an open-source local server. 16 Not available Third-party Craft CMS MCP plugin by Stimmt Digital. 19

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

Where they differ

Contentful and Craft CMS get a different status on 15 of the 28 features and the same status on 13. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Craft CMS 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.

Self-hosting
Contentful cannot be self-hosted. Craft CMS can be self-hosted.

Built in on Contentful, a different answer on Craft CMS 4

  • REST API Contentful: Built in. Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on.
  • Webhooks Contentful: Built in. Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on.
  • Visual editing Contentful: Built in. Craft CMS: Limited.
  • Official MCP server Contentful: Built in. Craft CMS: Not available.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on Contentful 4

  • Content model in code Contentful: Limited. Craft CMS: Built in.
  • Renders the website Contentful: Not available. Craft CMS: Built in.
  • Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. Craft CMS: Built in.
  • Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. Craft CMS: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 7

  • Approval workflows Contentful: Paid tier. Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on.
  • Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Craft CMS: Not available.
  • Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. Craft CMS: Not available.
  • Audit log Contentful: Paid tier. Craft CMS: Not available.
  • Form builder Contentful: Not available. Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on.
  • Site member accounts Contentful: Not available. Craft CMS: Paid tier.
  • AI writing assistant Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Craft CMS: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Contentful vs Payload and Craft CMS vs Payload.

Contentful against other platforms

Craft CMS against other platforms

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

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