CMS comparison Contentstack vs DatoCMS

Contentstack vs DatoCMS

Contentstack is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. DatoCMS 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 7.

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Contentstack Headless · Closed source · 17 of 28 built in
DatoCMS Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentstack on 29 Sept 2026, DatoCMS 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

Contentstack vs DatoCMS feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Contentstack Headless	DatoCMS Headless
Overview
What it is	Hosted headless CMS run by Contentstack, sold alongside its AI agent and customer data products. It delivers content over REST and GraphQL APIs.	Hosted headless CMS run by DatoCMS. It delivers content over a GraphQL API, with a REST API for content management.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Contentstack Content Cloud headless CMS, Free, Growth and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Contentstack contentstack.com	DatoCMS datocms.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, CLI and SDKs	Hosted SaaS with GraphQL delivery and REST management APIs, TypeScript client
Database	Managed by Contentstack	Managed by DatoCMS
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Free plan. Growth $299 per month, extra users $25 per user per month. Enterprise on request.	Free to start Free plan. Professional €149 per month billed annually, or €199 monthly. Enterprise 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 Contentstack CLI. No declarative schema files. 2	Limited Migration scripts run by the DatoCMS CLI, auto-generated from environment diffs. 1 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 1
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Modular Blocks fields, plus the Visual Editor for page layout. 12	Built in Block library used in modular content and Structured Text fields. 1
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Entry-level localization in over 200 languages. 15	Built in Field-level locales, 5 included and up to 10 with paid add-ons. 1
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Image Delivery API resizes, crops and converts by URL parameter. 3	Built in Images API with imgix URL parameters. 3
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in 5	Built in REST Content Management API reads records. Delivery is GraphQL. 1 11
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 4	Built in 1
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in	Built in 1
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	Built in 1
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in 6	Built in 1
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Limited History kept 3 days on Free, 60 days on Professional. 1
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 12	Built in 1 7
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Visual Editor on every plan. 1 12	Built in Click-to-edit overlays on the site in draft mode. 1 7
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Paid tier Custom workflows on Growth and Enterprise. 1 7	Paid tier Editorial workflows with stage permissions on Enterprise. 1 6
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Releases deploy grouped entries and assets to an environment. 6	Limited Publishing a record can also publish its linked records. No standalone releases. 1
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live.	Limited Field-level locks and presence. Rolling out in phases with Drafts and Auto Save. 8	Not available Presence and live updates, but a record locks while one editor edits it. 4
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Paid tier 2 custom roles on Growth, 500 on Enterprise. None on Free. 1	Built in Projects include Admin and Editor roles and can create additional roles. The Free plan is limited to 2 editor seats. 1 5
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Paid tier Field rules inside custom roles, from Growth. 1 9	Not available Rules apply per model, creator, locale and workflow stage. Locale rules need Enterprise. 5
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Limited SAML 2.0 documented; baseline availability unconfirmed. Eligible tiers are not public. Confirm access in the contract. 10	Paid tier Enterprise, with SCIM provisioning. 1
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Limited Stack and organization logs documented; baseline availability unconfirmed. Confirm access and retention in the contract. 11	Paid tier Enterprise. 1
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Separate stacks in one organization. Scaling stacks is a Growth and Enterprise option. 1	Built in Separate projects per site. 3 on Free, extra projects €39 a month on Professional. 1
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in Developer Hub apps in field, sidebar and dashboard UI locations. 13	Built in Plugin SDK for field editors, sidebars and custom pages. 1
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Contentstack Marketplace. 13	Built in DatoCMS Marketplace. 1 9
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 Assistant app with Contentstack-managed or your own model keys. 1 13	Plugin or add-on Official AI Translations plugin with your own OpenAI, Gemini, Claude or DeepL key. 8 9
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in Official server run locally with npx @contentstack/mcp. 14	Built in Remote MCP server at mcp.datocms.com. 10

Contentstack sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Contentstack Content Cloud headless CMS, Free, Growth and Enterprise plans.

DatoCMS sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans.

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

Where they differ

Contentstack and DatoCMS get a different status on 7 of the 28 features and the same status on 21. Contentstack has 17 built in on its baseline edition, DatoCMS 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 Contentstack, a different answer on DatoCMS 2

Version history Contentstack: Built in. DatoCMS: Limited.
Content releases Contentstack: Built in. DatoCMS: Limited.

Built in on DatoCMS, a different answer on Contentstack 1

Custom roles Contentstack: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 4

Real-time co-editing Contentstack: Limited. DatoCMS: Not available.
Field-level permissions Contentstack: Paid tier. DatoCMS: Not available.
Single sign-on Contentstack: Limited. DatoCMS: Paid tier.
Audit log Contentstack: Limited. DatoCMS: Paid tier.

More comparisons

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

Contentstack against other platforms

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