Contentstack vs Umbraco
Contentstack is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Umbraco is an open-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 12.
- Contentstack Headless · Closed source · 17 of 28 built in
- Umbraco Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Contentstack on 29 Sept 2026, Umbraco 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 Contentstack, sold alongside its AI agent and customer data products. It delivers content over REST and GraphQL APIs. | Open-source .NET CMS that renders sites with Razor or serves content headless. Self-hosted or run on Umbraco Cloud. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Contentstack Content Cloud headless CMS, Free, Growth and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated | Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release. Version 17.7.0, released 17 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Contentstack contentstack.com | Umbraco A/S umbraco.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | No self-hosting Vendor cloud | Self-hosting Vendor cloud Forms and Deploy are paid add-ons when self-hosted. Umbraco Cloud includes both. |
| Built with | Hosted SaaS with REST and GraphQL APIs, CLI and SDKs | C#, ASP.NET Core on .NET 10, TypeScript backoffice |
| Database | Managed by Contentstack | SQL Server, SQLite |
| 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 to self-host. Umbraco Cloud Starter €45, Standard €280, Professional €730 per month. 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 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Deploy saves document types as .uda files in Git. Paid on-premises, included on Umbraco Cloud. 45 |
| 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 Document types are built in the backoffice. |
| 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 List and Block Grid editors. 6 |
| 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 Culture variants per property. |
| 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 ImageSharp crops and resizes images from query string parameters. 9 |
| APIs and delivery | ||
| REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. | Built in 5 | Built in Content Delivery API. 7 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in 4 | Not available No official GraphQL. Community package Nikcio.UHeadless adds one. 20 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Built in | Built in 8 |
| 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 Razor templates. |
| Editorial workflow | ||
| Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. | Built in | Built in |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in 6 | Built in 10 |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in | Built in Rollback compares and restores earlier versions. 11 |
| 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. 112 | Not available |
| 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. 17 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Workflow add-on. Its free version is capped at five approval groups. Full use is paid. 1221 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Release Sets in a licensed Umbraco Workflow. 13 |
| 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 |
| 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 User groups with granular permissions. |
| 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. 19 | Limited Per-property read and write limits per user group, enforced in the UI only. 14 |
| 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 | Built in OpenID Connect providers such as Entra ID, configured in code. 15 |
| 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 | Limited Audit trail per item plus a log viewer. No installation-wide audit screen in core. 16 |
| 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 Several root nodes, each with its own domains. |
| 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 Backoffice extensions. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Contentstack Marketplace. 13 | Built in Umbraco Marketplace. |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Not available | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Forms, paid licence. Included on Umbraco Cloud. 217 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Not available | Built in Members, separate from backoffice users. |
| 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. 113 | Plugin or add-on Free Umbraco.AI packages add prompts and an editor copilot. 18 |
| 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 Umbraco CMS Developer MCP server. 19 |
Contentstack sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Contentstack Content Cloud headless CMS, Free, Growth and Enterprise plans.
- Contentstack pricing
- Contentstack docs: Migrate content using the CLI migration command
- Contentstack docs: Image Delivery API
- Contentstack docs: GraphQL Content Delivery API
- Contentstack docs: Content Delivery API
- Contentstack docs: About Releases
- Contentstack docs: About Workflows
- Contentstack docs: Real-Time Collaboration in the Entry Editor
- Contentstack docs: Examples to create custom roles
- Contentstack docs: About Single Sign-On (SSO)
- Contentstack docs: Monitor stack activities in Audit Log
- Contentstack docs: About Visual Editor
- Contentstack docs: AI Assistant app
- Contentstack docs: Contentstack MCP Server
- Contentstack docs: About Languages
Umbraco sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release..
- Umbraco releases
- Umbraco pricing
- Umbraco 18 release
- Umbraco Deploy licensing
- Umbraco Cloud: UDA files
- Umbraco docs: Block Grid
- Umbraco docs: Content Delivery API
- Umbraco docs: Webhooks
- Umbraco docs: Image Cropper
- Umbraco docs: Scheduled Publishing
- Umbraco docs: Rollback to a previous version
- Umbraco Workflow
- Umbraco Workflow docs: Release Sets
- Umbraco docs: Property Level UI Permissions
- Umbraco docs: External Login Providers
- Umbraco docs: Log Viewer
- Umbraco Forms licensing
- Umbraco.AI on GitHub
- Umbraco MCP on GitHub
- Nikcio.UHeadless on Umbraco Marketplace
- Umbraco Workflow docs: Licensing
Considering more platforms? Compare Contentstack and Umbraco with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Contentstack and Umbraco get a different status on 12 of the 28 features and the same status on 16. Contentstack has 17 built in on its baseline edition, Umbraco has 18. 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
- Contentstack is closed source (Proprietary). Umbraco is open source (MIT).
- Self-hosting
- Contentstack cannot be self-hosted. Umbraco can be self-hosted.
Built in on Contentstack, a different answer on Umbraco 3
- GraphQL API Contentstack: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
- Visual editing Contentstack: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
- Content releases Contentstack: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on Umbraco, a different answer on Contentstack 4
- Renders the website Contentstack: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Custom roles Contentstack: Paid tier. Umbraco: Built in.
- Single sign-on Contentstack: Limited. Umbraco: Built in.
- Site member accounts Contentstack: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 5
- Content model in code Contentstack: Limited. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Approval workflows Contentstack: Paid tier. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Real-time co-editing Contentstack: Limited. Umbraco: Not available.
- Field-level permissions Contentstack: Paid tier. Umbraco: Limited.
- Form builder Contentstack: Not available. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
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- Joomla vs Umbraco
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- Umbraco vs Payload
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- Strapi vs Umbraco
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