CMS comparison Contentful vs Liferay DXP

Contentful vs Liferay DXP

Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Liferay DXP is a closed-source enterprise DXP 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 14.

Book a call

Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 26 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, Liferay DXP 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 Liferay DXP feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Contentful Headless	Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP
Overview
What it is	Hosted headless CMS run by Contentful. Contentful stores content in its cloud and delivers it over REST and GraphQL APIs.	Java platform for websites, portals and commerce, with a new object-based CMS. Self-hosted or run by Liferay as PaaS or SaaS.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1. Version 2026.q3.5, released 25 Sept 2026
Vendor	Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com	Liferay, Inc. liferay.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary, under the Liferay EULA. Free Tier activation key at no cost
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 Free Tier suits smaller-scale use and gets no security patches, SAML or AI Hub.
Built with	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languages	Java, OSGi, React
Database	Managed by Contentful	MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, IBM Db2
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 Tier at no cost for smaller-scale use. Enterprise Subscription per server instance, price 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 Definitions export to JSON and deploy from the repo as batch client extensions. 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 Objects and web content structures. 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 Fragments on content pages. 11
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
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 Adaptive Media generates set image resolutions. 8
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in 1	Built in Headless REST APIs. 9
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 5	Built in 9
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in 1	Built in Object actions call a webhook on add, update or delete. 10
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
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
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 Display and expiration dates.
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in 1	Built in
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 6	Built in
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 Inline editing in the content page editor. 11
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 Kaleo workflow, also included in the Free Tier. 3
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	Built in Publications group changes and publish them together. 12
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 A page locks while one editor has it open. 13
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	Built in
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 Permissions apply per object, entry or asset. 14
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	Built in SAML and OpenID Connect. The Free Tier lacks SAML. 3 15
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 Audit framework with search and export of events. 16
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
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 Client extensions. 7
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15	Built in Liferay Marketplace. 17
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Built in Liferay Forms.
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Not available	Built in
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	Built in AI Hub writing tools in the new CMS. Not in the Free Tier. 4 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	Built in Built-in MCP server released in 2026.Q3, switched on by feature flag. 19

Contentful sources

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

Liferay DXP sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1..

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

Where they differ

Contentful and Liferay DXP get a different status on 14 of the 28 features and the same status on 14. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Liferay DXP has 26. 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. Liferay DXP can be self-hosted.

Built in on Liferay DXP, a different answer on Contentful 12

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

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Not available.
Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. Liferay DXP: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Contentful against other platforms

Liferay DXP against other platforms

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

We're booking content platform
engagements for 2026.

Twenty-five minutes to walk through the work and decide if we're the right team for it. Scoping and a fixed price come after.

Book a 25-min call Or email us instead