CMS comparison Contentstack vs Framer

Contentstack vs Framer

Contentstack is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Framer 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 17.

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Contentstack Headless · Closed source · 17 of 28 built in
Framer Site builder · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Contentstack on 29 Sept 2026, Framer 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 Framer feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Contentstack Headless	Framer Site builder
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 visual site builder with a CMS, hosting and AI agents. Designers build pages on a canvas. Run by Framer.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Contentstack Content Cloud headless CMS, Free, Growth and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Contentstack contentstack.com	Framer B.V. framer.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud	No self-hosting Vendor cloud A paid plan is required to connect a custom domain.
Built with	Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, CLI and SDKs	Hosted SaaS with React code components
Database	Managed by Contentstack	Managed by Framer
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. Basic $10, Pro $30 per site per month billed yearly. Extra editors $20 per month.
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	Not available You build collections in the editor or sync them through the Plugin and Server APIs. 3 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 13
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 Components with properties that content editors can change on-page. 14
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	Plugin or add-on Translation locales add-on, $20 per locale per month. One free locale to try. 1 17
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 Generates 512 to 4096 px variants served through srcset. 8
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in 5	Limited Server API in open beta, through the framer-api package over WebSocket. No plain REST. 2 3
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 4	Not available
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in	Not available Webhooks cover form submissions only. 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	Built in CMS items can stay in draft. 13
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in 6	Not available No native scheduling. Third-party Marketplace plugins add it. 18
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Built in Version history and rollback of published versions. 6 7
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 12	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 Visual Editor on every plan. 1 12	Built in Canvas editing and on-page editing of the live site. 14
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	Limited Editors review and merge Pro branches. Only Deploy permission publishes. No stages. 4 5
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	Paid tier Branching on Pro groups changes and ships them in one merge. 1 5
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	Built in Free workspaces allow up to three editors. 1
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	Limited Fixed roles plus Design, Content and Deploy permissions per project. No role builder. 4
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
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. 1 16
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	Not available Not documented publicly.
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 A workspace holds many site projects, each on its own plan. 4
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 Plugins add custom panels and tools to the editor. 11
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Contentstack Marketplace. 13	Built in Framer Marketplace. 12
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Built in Native forms. Submissions can also go to a webhook. 10
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	Built in Agents write, rewrite and translate content. AI credits meter usage. 1 15
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	Not available No MCP server. External Agents, in preview, link AI tools through a CLI and skills. 9

Contentstack sources

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

Framer sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise.

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

Where they differ

Contentstack and Framer get a different status on 17 of the 28 features and the same status on 11. Contentstack has 17 built in on its baseline edition, Framer has 14. 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 Framer 7

Localization Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Plugin or add-on.
REST API Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Limited.
GraphQL API Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Not available.
Webhooks Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Not available.
Content releases Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Paid tier.
Official MCP server Contentstack: Built in. Framer: Not available.

Built in on Framer, a different answer on Contentstack 4

Renders the website Contentstack: Not available. Framer: Built in.
Real-time co-editing Contentstack: Limited. Framer: Built in.
Form builder Contentstack: Not available. Framer: Built in.
AI writing assistant Contentstack: Plugin or add-on. Framer: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 6

Content model in code Contentstack: Limited. Framer: Not available.
Approval workflows Contentstack: Paid tier. Framer: Limited.
Custom roles Contentstack: Paid tier. Framer: Limited.
Field-level permissions Contentstack: Paid tier. Framer: Not available.
Single sign-on Contentstack: Limited. Framer: Paid tier.
Audit log Contentstack: Limited. Framer: Not available.

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