CMS comparison Contentful vs Decap CMS

Contentful vs Decap CMS

Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Decap CMS is an open-source headless 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 20.

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Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
Decap CMS Headless · Open source · 6 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, Decap 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 Decap CMS feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Contentful Headless	Decap CMS Headless
Overview
What it is	Hosted headless CMS run by Contentful. Contentful stores content in its cloud and delivers it over REST and GraphQL APIs.	Open-source Git-based CMS. A React admin app added to your site edits Markdown, YAML or JSON files and commits them to your repository.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Decap CMS 3, open source. Decap Turbo hosted backend is in public preview. Version 3.16.3, released 22 Sept 2026
Vendor	Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com	Decap CMS project (formerly Netlify CMS), maintained in Europe decapcms.org
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Open source MIT
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 Decap Turbo, a hosted backend for login and Git access, is in public preview.
Built with	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languages	JavaScript, React
Database	Managed by Contentful	Your Git repository on GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea or Azure
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 and open source. The Decap Turbo hosted backend, in public preview, has a Free plan and Pro at €19 per month.
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 Collections and fields are defined in config.yml. 6
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in 1	Not available
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 List widget with variable types. 7
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 Side-by-side editing per locale, stored per folder, file or field. 8
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	Not available Media goes to the repo or an external media library.
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in 1	Not available Content is files in Git. Read them through the Git host API. 2
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 5	Not available
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in 1	Not available Use the Git host's webhooks on commit.
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 Pairs with a static site generator. 2
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 Editorial workflow keeps drafts on a branch until merged. 9
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	Not available
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in 1	Not available History lives in Git. The CMS has no revision view.
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 6	Built in Preview pane with custom templates and styles. 10
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 Preview pane beside the form. No click-to-edit on the live page. 10
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	Limited Fixed Drafts, In review and Ready stages. No per-stage permissions. 9
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. 7 8	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. 1 13	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. 1 9	Plugin or add-on Decap Turbo, in public preview, has a custom roles add-on at €19 per month on Pro. Core uses Git access. 12 14
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
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	Limited Sign-in runs through the Git host or Turbo. SAML only where the Git host enforces it. 4 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	Plugin or add-on Decap Turbo, in public preview, has an activity log on its Free plan. Core has Git history only. 12
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	Plugin or add-on Decap Turbo organizations share members across sites. Turbo is in public preview. Extra sites €10/month. 14 12
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 Custom widgets, preview templates and editor components. 11 10
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15	Not available No official extension directory.
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. 1 15	Not available
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

Contentful sources

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

Decap CMS sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Decap CMS 3, open source. Decap Turbo hosted backend is in public preview..

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

Where they differ

Contentful and Decap CMS get a different status on 20 of the 28 features and the same status on 8. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Decap CMS has 6. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Licence: Contentful is closed source (Proprietary). Decap CMS is open source (MIT).
Self-hosting: Contentful cannot be self-hosted. Decap CMS can be self-hosted.

Built in on Contentful, a different answer on Decap CMS 9

Content model in the UI Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
Image transformations Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
REST API Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
GraphQL API Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
Webhooks Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
Version history Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
Visual editing Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Limited.
Plugin marketplace Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.
Official MCP server Contentful: Built in. Decap CMS: Not available.

Built in on Decap CMS, a different answer on Contentful 1

Content model in code Contentful: Limited. Decap CMS: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 10

Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Not available.
Approval workflows Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Limited.
Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Decap CMS: Not available.
Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Not available.
Custom roles Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Plugin or add-on.
Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Not available.
Single sign-on Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Limited.
Audit log Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Plugin or add-on.
Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. Decap CMS: Plugin or add-on.
AI writing assistant Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Decap CMS: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Contentful against other platforms

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