CMS comparison Contentful vs Wix

Contentful vs Wix

Contentful is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Wix is a closed-source site builder 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.

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Contentful Headless · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
Wix Site builder · Closed source · 21 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentful on 29 Sept 2026, Wix 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 Wix feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Contentful Headless	Wix Site builder
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 website builder with a CMS, business apps and hosting, run by Wix.com Ltd. Wix Studio adds an editor and workspace for agencies.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Contentful Platform SaaS, Free, Lite and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Salesforce (acquired Contentful in September 2026) contentful.com	Wix.com Ltd. wix.com
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 Wix Headless serves the same content to a frontend you host.
Built with	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, SDKs for JavaScript and other languages	Hosted SaaS, JavaScript through the Wix IDE, CLI and SDK
Database	Managed by Contentful	Wix CMS collections, managed by Wix
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. Light $17, Core $29, Business $39, Business Elite $159 per month billed yearly in the US.
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	Limited Only Wix CLI apps and headless projects define collections in TypeScript files. 13
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 20
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 Editors add and reorder sections and saved components on the canvas.
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 Wix Multilingual, with manual or automatic translation. 14
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 Resize and crop through image URL parameters. 15
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in 1	Built in Data Items REST API. 3
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 5	Built in GraphQL endpoint over the same data as the REST API. 4
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in 1	Built in App webhooks, or an HTTP request step in Wix Automations. 16
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 Draft status on CMS items, on by default for new collections. 11
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 status changes on CMS items. 11
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in 1	Limited CMS keeps weekly and manual collection backups. Restores replace whole collections. 9
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
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	Paid tier Approvals for site changes in the Wix Studio enterprise solution. 8
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	Limited Release Manager publishes whole site versions and test sites. No grouped item releases. 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	Built in Built into the Studio Editor. 7
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 Not every permission is available to custom roles. 6 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 CMS permissions apply per collection. 20
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 OpenID Connect only, with the Wix Studio enterprise solution. 10
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 One account or Studio workspace manages many sites, each on its own plan.
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 Dashboard extensions add custom pages and widgets. 17
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Contentful Marketplace. 15	Built in Wix App Market.
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Built in Wix Forms.
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Not available	Built in Members Area handles sign-up and login.
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 text creator in the Wix and Studio editors. 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 Wix MCP for docs, code and site API calls. 5

Contentful sources

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

Wix sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Wix website builder with Wix CMS, in Wix Editor and Wix Studio.

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

Where they differ

Contentful and Wix 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, Wix has 21. 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 Wix 1

Version history Contentful: Built in. Wix: Limited.

Built in on Wix, a different answer on Contentful 8

Renders the website Contentful: Not available. Wix: Built in.
Scheduled publishing Contentful: Paid tier. Wix: Built in.
Real-time co-editing Contentful: Paid tier. Wix: Built in.
Custom roles Contentful: Paid tier. Wix: Built in.
Multiple sites Contentful: Paid tier. Wix: Built in.
Form builder Contentful: Not available. Wix: Built in.
Site member accounts Contentful: Not available. Wix: Built in.
AI writing assistant Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Wix: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Content releases Contentful: Plugin or add-on. Wix: Limited.
Field-level permissions Contentful: Paid tier. Wix: Not available.
Audit log Contentful: Paid tier. Wix: Not available.

More comparisons

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

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