Contentful vs DatoCMS
Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. DatoCMS 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 7.
- Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
- DatoCMS Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, DatoCMS 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
| Platform |  |  |
|---|---|---|
| Overview | ||
| What it is | Hosted headless CMS run by Contentful. Contentful stores content in its cloud and delivers it over REST and GraphQL APIs. | Hosted headless CMS run by DatoCMS. It delivers content over a GraphQL API, with a REST API for content management. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated | DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated |
| Vendor | Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com | DatoCMS datocms.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Closed source Proprietary |
| Hosting | No self-hosting Vendor cloud Runs only in Contentful's cloud. The local MCP server and SDKs are open source. | No self-hosting Vendor cloud |
| Built with | Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languages | Hosted SaaS with GraphQL delivery and REST management APIs, TypeScript client |
| Database | Managed by Contentful | Managed by DatoCMS |
| 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 Free plan. Professional €149 per month billed annually, or €199 monthly. 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 | Limited Migration scripts run by the DatoCMS CLI, auto-generated from environment diffs. 12 |
| 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 1 |
| 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 Block library used in modular content and Structured Text fields. 1 |
| 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 Field-level locales, 5 included and up to 10 with paid add-ons. 1 |
| 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 Images API with imgix URL parameters. 3 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in 1 | Built in REST Content Management API reads records. Delivery is GraphQL. 111 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in 5 | Built in 1 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Built in 1 | Built in 1 |
| Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. | Not available | Not available |
| 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 1 |
| 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 1 |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in 1 | Limited History kept 3 days on Free, 60 days on Professional. 1 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in 6 | Built in 17 |
| 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 | Built in Click-to-edit overlays on the site in draft mode. 17 |
| 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 | Paid tier Editorial workflows with stage permissions on Enterprise. 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 | Limited Publishing a record can also publish its linked records. No standalone releases. 1 |
| 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 Presence and live updates, but a record locks while one editor edits it. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Projects include Admin and Editor roles and can create additional roles. The Free plan is limited to 2 editor seats. 15 |
| 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 | Not available Rules apply per model, creator, locale and workflow stage. Locale rules need Enterprise. 5 |
| 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 Enterprise, with SCIM provisioning. 1 |
| 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 | Paid tier Enterprise. 1 |
| 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 Separate projects per site. 3 on Free, extra projects €39 a month on Professional. 1 |
| 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 Plugin SDK for field editors, sidebars and custom pages. 1 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15 | Built in DatoCMS Marketplace. 19 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Not available | Not available |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Not available | Not available |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Official AI Translations plugin with your own OpenAI, Gemini, Claude or DeepL key. 89 |
| 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 | Built in Remote MCP server at mcp.datocms.com. 10 |
Contentful sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans.
- Contentful pricing
- Salesforce signs definitive agreement to acquire Contentful
- contentful-migration on GitHub
- Contentful docs: Images
- Contentful docs: GraphQL Content API
- Contentful docs: Live preview
- Contentful Marketplace: Launch
- Contentful Help Center: Launch
- Contentful Help Center: Create a custom role
- Contentful Help Center: Content permissions
- Contentful Help Center: Single sign-on (SSO)
- Contentful docs: Set up audit logs
- Contentful Help Center: The entry editor
- Contentful docs: Create a custom app
- Contentful Marketplace: AI Content Generator
- Contentful docs: MCP server
- MarketScreener (S&P Capital IQ): Salesforce completed the acquisition of Contentful on September 1, 2026
DatoCMS sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans.
- DatoCMS pricing
- DatoCMS docs: Write and test migration scripts
- DatoCMS docs: Images API
- DatoCMS docs: Record-level collaboration, presence and locking
- DatoCMS docs: Project collaborators, roles and permissions
- DatoCMS docs: Workflows
- DatoCMS docs: Visual Editing
- DatoCMS docs: Translating content with AI
- DatoCMS Marketplace: AI Translations plugin
- DatoCMS docs: MCP Server
- DatoCMS Content Management API: Record
Considering more platforms? Compare Contentful and DatoCMS with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Contentful and DatoCMS get a different status on 7 of the 28 features and the same status on 21. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, DatoCMS has 16. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.
Built in on Contentful, a different answer on DatoCMS 1
- Version history Contentful: Built in. DatoCMS: Limited.
Built in on DatoCMS, a different answer on Contentful 3
- Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Built in.
- Custom roles Contentful: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Built in.
- Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 3
- Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. DatoCMS: Limited.
- Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Not available.
- Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Not available.
More comparisons
Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Contentful vs Payload and DatoCMS vs Payload.
Contentful against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Contentful
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- Contentful vs Craft CMS
- Contentful vs Decap CMS
- Contentful vs Directus
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- Contentful vs Joomla
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- Contentful vs Kirby
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- Contentful vs Payload
- Contentful vs Prismic
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- Contentful vs TYPO3
- Contentful vs Umbraco
- Contentful vs Wagtail
- Contentful vs Webflow
- Contentful vs Wix
- Contentful vs WordPress
- Contentful vs Xperience by Kentico
DatoCMS against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs DatoCMS
- Contentstack vs DatoCMS
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs DatoCMS
- Craft CMS vs DatoCMS
- DatoCMS vs Decap CMS
- DatoCMS vs Directus
- DatoCMS vs Drupal
- DatoCMS vs EmDash
- DatoCMS vs FirstSpirit
- DatoCMS vs Framer
- DatoCMS vs Ghost
- DatoCMS vs HubSpot CMS
- DatoCMS vs Hygraph
- DatoCMS vs Instatic
- DatoCMS vs Joomla
- DatoCMS vs Keystone
- DatoCMS vs Kirby
- DatoCMS vs Liferay DXP
- DatoCMS vs Optimizely CMS
- DatoCMS vs Payload
- DatoCMS vs Prismic
- DatoCMS vs Progress Sitefinity
- DatoCMS vs Sanity
- DatoCMS vs Sitecore
- DatoCMS vs Squarespace
- DatoCMS vs Statamic
- DatoCMS vs Storyblok
- DatoCMS vs Strapi
- DatoCMS vs TYPO3
- DatoCMS vs Umbraco
- DatoCMS vs Wagtail
- DatoCMS vs Webflow
- DatoCMS vs Wix
- DatoCMS vs WordPress
- DatoCMS vs Xperience by Kentico
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