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CMS comparison Contentful vs Joomla

Contentful vs Joomla

Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Joomla is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 23.

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  • Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Joomla Traditional · Open source · 12 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, Joomla 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 Joomla feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Contentful Headless
Joomla 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.Open-source PHP CMS built around articles, custom fields, core multilingual support and group-based access control. Self-hosted.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes. Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated Joomla 6.1, open source. Joomla 5.4 is still maintained. Version 6.1.3, released 18 Aug 2026
Vendor Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com Open Source Matters, Inc. (Joomla project) joomla.org
Licence Closed source Proprietary Open source GPL-2.0-or-later
Hosting No self-hosting Vendor cloud Runs only in Contentful's cloud. The local MCP server and SDKs are open source. Self-hosting No vendor cloud The project's launch.joomla.org offers free hosted sites through a hosting partner.
Built with Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languagesPHP
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 Free and open source. Hosting and commercial extensions cost extra.
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 Not available Fields live in the database. A new content type means writing a component.
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 1 Limited Custom fields on articles, contacts, users and categories. No new content types. 5
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 Limited Modules placed in template positions. No page-level block editor in core. 4
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-item language with multilingual associations. 7
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 Limited Manual crop and resize in Media. No generated sizes or URL transforms. 9
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. Built in 1 Built in Web Services API with token authentication. 10
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 None in core. Only small third-party extensions. 19
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 Template system, with Cassiopeia as the default.
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in 1 Limited Unpublished items only. Saving a published article updates it live. 8
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 Start and finish publishing dates. 8
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in 1 Built in Compare and restore. Includes custom field values since 6.0. 34
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 6 Limited Backend Preview shows the last saved version of an article. 8
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 Front-end editing opens the article or module form on the site. 4
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 Built in Workflows component, off by default. Visual workflow editor since 6.1. 112
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 Joomla checks out and locks an item while someone edits it.
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 User groups, access levels and ACL. 4
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 Built in Per-field Edit Custom Field Value permission. 6
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 Plugin or add-on SAML or OIDC extensions from the JED. Core authenticates against LDAP only. 1314
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 Built in User Actions Log. 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 Not available One site per install. Third-party multisite extensions only. 15
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 Components, modules, plugins and custom field types.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15 Built in Joomla Extensions Directory, the JED. 14
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Not available Limited Contact forms accept custom fields. Core emails submissions and does not store them. 20
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. Not available Built in Front-end registration and login. 4
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. Third-party extensions such as 4AI. 18
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 only, e.g. Onepoint's MCP Server for Joomla. 16

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

Where they differ

Contentful and Joomla get a different status on 23 of the 28 features and the same status on 5. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Joomla has 12. 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). Joomla is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
Self-hosting
Contentful cannot be self-hosted. Joomla can be self-hosted.
Vendor cloud
Contentful has a vendor-run cloud. Joomla has no vendor-run cloud.

Built in on Contentful, a different answer on Joomla 9

  • Content model in the UI Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
  • Reusable blocks Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
  • Image transformations Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
  • GraphQL API Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Not available.
  • Webhooks Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Not available.
  • Drafts Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
  • Preview Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
  • Visual editing Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Limited.
  • Official MCP server Contentful: Built in. Joomla: Not available.

Built in on Joomla, a different answer on Contentful 7

  • Renders the website Contentful: Not available. Joomla: Built in.
  • Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Built in.
  • Approval workflows Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Built in.
  • Custom roles Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Built in.
  • Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Built in.
  • Audit log Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Built in.
  • Site member accounts Contentful: Not available. Joomla: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 7

  • Content model in code Contentful: Limited. Joomla: Not available.
  • Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Joomla: Not available.
  • Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Not available.
  • Single sign-on Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Plugin or add-on.
  • Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. Joomla: Not available.
  • Form builder Contentful: Not available. Joomla: Limited.
  • AI writing assistant Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Joomla: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Contentful against other platforms

Joomla against other platforms

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

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