Contentful vs Prismic
Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Prismic 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 12.
- Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
- Prismic Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, Prismic 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 page builder where marketers compose pages from developer-built slices. Run by Prismic, with SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt and SvelteKit. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated | Prismic SaaS, Free to Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated |
| Vendor | Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com | Prismic prismic.io |
| 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 | SaaS with SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt and SvelteKit |
| Database | Managed by Contentful | Managed by Prismic |
| 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. Starter $10, Small $25, Medium $150, Platinum $675 per repository per month, billed yearly. |
| 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 Model files live in the project. The Prismic CLI pushes and pulls them. 2 |
| 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 Type Builder in the web app. 3 |
| 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 Slices with variations. 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 2 locales on Free, 8 on Platinum, custom on Enterprise. 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 Image optimization and processing on all plans. 1 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in 1 | Built in Document API. 15 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in 5 | Built in 15 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Built in 1 | Built in 6 |
| 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 |
| 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 Scheduled through releases on every plan. 18 |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in 1 | Built in Full revision history on every plan. 1 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in 6 | Built in Shareable previews on every plan. 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 Page Builder shows live slice previews from your site next to the fields. 7 |
| 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 Writer and Publisher roles from Medium. No configurable review stages. 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. 78 | Built in Up to 200 pages per release. 8 |
| 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 In progress with a waitlist. A status indicator shows who is editing. 10 |
| 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 | Limited Enterprise only. Fixed Read-only, Writer or Publisher levels set per locale. No role builder. 19 |
| 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 | Paid tier Enterprise. 19 |
| 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 Not documented publicly. |
| 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 Each site is a repository on its own plan. Spaces group content inside one. 111 |
| 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 | Limited Integration fields load external catalog data into a picker. No custom UI code. 12 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15 | Not available Integration guides only. No installable marketplace. 13 |
| 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 | Limited Beta on request: AI translation and SEO metadata suggestions. 114 |
| 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 Hosted at mcp.prismic.io, activated per repository. 15 |
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
Prismic sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Prismic SaaS, Free to Enterprise plans.
- Prismic pricing and plan comparison
- Prismic CLI
- Prismic Type Builder
- Prismic slices
- Prismic API references
- Prismic webhooks
- Prismic previews and live previews
- Prismic releases
- Prismic users and permissions
- Prismic update: real-time collaboration
- Prismic: organize pages with spaces
- Prismic integration field
- Prismic integrations
- Prismic AI (beta)
- Prismic MCP server
Considering more platforms? Compare Contentful and Prismic with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Contentful and Prismic get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Prismic 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 Prismic 2
- Extensible admin UI Contentful: Built in. Prismic: Limited.
- Plugin marketplace Contentful: Built in. Prismic: Not available.
Built in on Prismic, a different answer on Contentful 4
- Content model in code Contentful: Limited. Prismic: Built in.
- Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Built in.
- Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Prismic: Built in.
- Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 6
- Approval workflows Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Limited.
- Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Not available.
- Custom roles Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Limited.
- Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Not available.
- Audit log Contentful: Paid tier. Prismic: Not available.
- AI writing assistant Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Prismic: Limited.
More comparisons
Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Contentful vs Payload and Prismic vs Payload.
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Prismic against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Prismic
- Contentstack vs Prismic
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Prismic
- Craft CMS vs Prismic
- DatoCMS vs Prismic
- Decap CMS vs Prismic
- Directus vs Prismic
- Drupal vs Prismic
- EmDash vs Prismic
- FirstSpirit vs Prismic
- Framer vs Prismic
- Ghost vs Prismic
- HubSpot CMS vs Prismic
- Hygraph vs Prismic
- Instatic vs Prismic
- Joomla vs Prismic
- Keystone vs Prismic
- Kirby vs Prismic
- Liferay DXP vs Prismic
- Optimizely CMS vs Prismic
- Prismic vs Payload
- Prismic vs Progress Sitefinity
- Prismic vs Sanity
- Prismic vs Sitecore
- Prismic vs Squarespace
- Prismic vs Statamic
- Prismic vs Storyblok
- Prismic vs Strapi
- Prismic vs TYPO3
- Prismic vs Umbraco
- Prismic vs Wagtail
- Prismic vs Webflow
- Prismic vs Wix
- Prismic vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Prismic
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