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CMS comparison Craft CMS vs Sanity

Craft CMS vs Sanity

Craft CMS is a closed-source traditional CMS that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Sanity 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 17.

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  • Craft CMS Traditional · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Sanity Headless · Closed source · 15 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Craft CMS on 29 Sept 2026, Sanity 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
Craft CMS vs Sanity feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Craft CMS Traditional
Sanity Headless
Overview
What it is Self-hosted PHP CMS with custom fields and Twig templates. Pixel & Tonic sells licences per project and runs Craft Cloud hosting.Headless CMS with an open-source React editor, Sanity Studio, configured in code. Sanity stores content in its hosted Content Lake.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes. Craft CMS 5 in Solo, Team and Pro editions. Craft 6 is in alpha. Version 5.11.3, released 18 Sept 2026 Sanity hosted Content Lake with Sanity Studio 6 Version 6.16.0, released 22 Sept 2026
Vendor Pixel & Tonic craftcms.com Sanity sanity.io
Licence Closed source Proprietary Craft License, source available Closed source MIT for Sanity Studio. The Content Lake backend is proprietary.
Hosting Self-hosting Vendor cloud Craft Cloud starts at $120 per month per project and includes a Team licence. No self-hosting Vendor cloud You can host the Studio anywhere, but content always lives in Sanity's cloud.
Built with PHP, Yii 2, TwigTypeScript, React for Studio. Hosted Content Lake with GROQ and GraphQL APIs
Database MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQLHosted Sanity Content Lake
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. Free to start Solo free for one user. Team $279, Pro $399 per project, then $99 per year for updates. Enterprise on request. Free to start Free plan. Growth $15 per seat 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. Built in Project config YAML records sections, entry types and fields for Git. 7 Built in 3
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. Built in 6 Not available You define schemas only in Studio code. 3
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them. Built in Matrix fields with nested entry types. 8 Built in Array fields of typed objects act as a page builder. 3
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language. Built in Per-site and per-language field translation on every edition. 61 Plugin or add-on Official document-level and field-level internationalization plugins. 4
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service. Built in 10 Built in Image pipeline resizes, crops and converts by URL parameter. 5
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Element API plugin. 12 Built in HTTP API queried with GROQ. 1
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Built in 111 Built in The Sanity CLI deploys it from the schema. 1
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. Plugin or add-on Free first-party Webhooks plugin. 13 Built in GROQ-powered webhooks: 2 on Free, 4 on Growth. 16
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. Built in Twig templates. Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in 14 Built in 1
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. Built in Post date and expiry date on entries. 15 Paid tier Scheduled drafts on Growth and Enterprise. 1
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. Built in Editors can view and restore revisions. 14 Limited Draft history kept 3 days on Free, 90 on Growth, 365 on Enterprise. 1
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. Built in 1 Built in 17
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it. Limited Live Preview shows the edit form beside the page. No click-to-edit. 14 Built in Presentation tool with click-to-edit overlays on every plan. 17
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. Plugin or add-on Workflow plugin by Verbb, $49. 16 Not available Build with document actions or a community plugin such as Workflow Manager. 914
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release. Not available Paid tier Content Releases add-on on Enterprise. 1
Real-time co-editing Two or more editors can work on the same entry at once and see each other's changes live. Not available Built in 1
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. Paid tier Pro. Team allows one user group. Solo has one user. 51 Paid tier Enterprise. Free has 2 fixed roles, Growth 5. 18
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. Paid tier Per-field Current User Condition. Rules by user group need Pro. 65 Limited API access rules are per document. Studio can hide or lock fields per role. 8
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. Paid tier First-party SAML SSO on Enterprise. 13 Paid tier SAML SSO on Enterprise. 1
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. Not available No core log. Craft 5 audit plugins exist but are niche. 20 Paid tier Full audit trail and History API on Enterprise. 1
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users. Built in Included on every edition. 19 Built in Several projects per organization and Studio workspaces. 11
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface. Built in 18 Built in Custom inputs, tools and document actions in the React Studio. 39
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. Built in Craft Plugin Store. 1 Built in Sanity Exchange. 10
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Plugin or add-on Formie by Verbb, $99. Pricing page lists forms as plugin-only. 171 Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. Paid tier Public registration needs Pro. 5 Not available
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. Not available No first-party AI feature. Built in Content Agent on every plan. In-Studio AI Assist on Growth and Enterprise. 113
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content. Not available Third-party Craft CMS MCP plugin by Stimmt Digital. 19 Built in Hosted at mcp.sanity.io with OAuth. 12

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

Where they differ

Craft CMS and Sanity get a different status on 17 of the 28 features and the same status on 11. Craft CMS has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Sanity has 15. Two matching statuses can still name different paid tiers or limits, so read the notes in the table before treating a row as equal.

Self-hosting
Craft CMS can be self-hosted. Sanity cannot be self-hosted.

Built in on Craft CMS, a different answer on Sanity 5

  • Content model in the UI Craft CMS: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
  • Localization Craft CMS: Built in. Sanity: Plugin or add-on.
  • Renders the website Craft CMS: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
  • Scheduled publishing Craft CMS: Built in. Sanity: Paid tier.
  • Version history Craft CMS: Built in. Sanity: Limited.

Built in on Sanity, a different answer on Craft CMS 6

  • REST API Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Sanity: Built in.
  • Webhooks Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Sanity: Built in.
  • Visual editing Craft CMS: Limited. Sanity: Built in.
  • Real-time co-editing Craft CMS: Not available. Sanity: Built in.
  • AI writing assistant Craft CMS: Not available. Sanity: Built in.
  • Official MCP server Craft CMS: Not available. Sanity: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 6

  • Approval workflows Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Sanity: Not available.
  • Content releases Craft CMS: Not available. Sanity: Paid tier.
  • Field-level permissions Craft CMS: Paid tier. Sanity: Limited.
  • Audit log Craft CMS: Not available. Sanity: Paid tier.
  • Form builder Craft CMS: Plugin or add-on. Sanity: Not available.
  • Site member accounts Craft CMS: Paid tier. Sanity: Not available.

More comparisons

Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: Craft CMS vs Payload and Sanity vs Payload.

Craft CMS against other platforms

Sanity against other platforms

Open the CMS comparison tool to put up to six platforms in one table.

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