CMS comparison Contentful vs TYPO3

Contentful vs TYPO3

Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. TYPO3 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 19.

Book a call

Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
TYPO3 Traditional · Open source · 20 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, TYPO3 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 TYPO3 feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Contentful Headless	TYPO3 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 for multi-site, multilingual websites, with workspaces and granular backend permissions. Self-hosted, often run by agencies.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	TYPO3 v14 LTS, version 14.3, open source Version 14.3.7, released 8 Sept 2026
Vendor	Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com	TYPO3 Association (project); TYPO3 GmbH sells support and extended LTS typo3.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 No vendor SaaS. TYPO3 agencies and hosts run managed installations.
Built with	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languages	PHP, Symfony components, Fluid
Database	Managed by Contentful	MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, SQLite
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. Commercial support and extended LTS are sold separately.
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 TCA in PHP. The Content Blocks extension adds YAML definitions. 11
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in 1	Plugin or add-on Mask extension builds content elements in the backend. 12
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 Content elements on pages, reordered by drag and drop.
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 Page and record translations. Guided translation wizard in v14. 2
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 Server-side image processing with crop variants. 10
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in 1	Plugin or add-on EXT:headless outputs pages as JSON. Core has no content API. 13
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	Built in Webhooks system extension, in core since v12. 6
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 Fluid templates. Camino default theme in v14. 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 Via the Workspaces system extension. 5
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 stop dates on pages and content.
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in 1	Built in Record history with diff and undo.
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 6	Built in Workspace preview links. 5
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	Plugin or add-on Visual Editor extension from Friends of TYPO3. TYPO3 plans core support for v15. 3
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 Custom stages in Workspaces. 5
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 Workspaces publish staged changes together. 5
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	Built in Backend user groups. 9
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 Exclude fields per backend group. 9
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 OpenID Connect extensions such as causal/oidc. 14
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 Log module records backend changes by user.
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 Several site configurations in one installation.
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 Backend modules and custom form elements.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15	Built in TYPO3 Extension Repository. 16
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Built in Form Framework with a backend form editor. 7
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Not available	Built in Frontend users and the felogin extension. 8
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 Core ships AI integration points only. Third-party extensions such as AI Suite. 4 17
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. hauptsache.net's TYPO3 MCP Server. 15

Contentful sources

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

TYPO3 sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. TYPO3 v14 LTS, version 14.3, open source.

Considering more platforms? Compare Contentful and TYPO3 with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Contentful and TYPO3 get a different status on 19 of the 28 features and the same status on 9. Contentful has 14 built in on its baseline edition, TYPO3 has 20. 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). TYPO3 is open source (GPL-2.0-or-later).
Self-hosting: Contentful cannot be self-hosted. TYPO3 can be self-hosted.
Vendor cloud: Contentful has a vendor-run cloud. TYPO3 has no vendor-run cloud.

Built in on Contentful, a different answer on TYPO3 5

Content model in the UI Contentful: Built in. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
REST API Contentful: Built in. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
GraphQL API Contentful: Built in. TYPO3: Not available.
Visual editing Contentful: Built in. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
Official MCP server Contentful: Built in. TYPO3: Not available.

Built in on TYPO3, a different answer on Contentful 11

Content model in code Contentful: Limited. TYPO3: Built in.
Renders the website Contentful: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
Approval workflows Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. TYPO3: Built in.
Custom roles Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
Audit log Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Built in.
Form builder Contentful: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.
Site member accounts Contentful: Not available. TYPO3: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Not available.
Single sign-on Contentful: Paid tier. TYPO3: Plugin or add-on.
AI writing assistant Contentful: Plugin or add-on. TYPO3: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Contentful 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