CMS comparison DatoCMS vs FirstSpirit

DatoCMS vs FirstSpirit

DatoCMS is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. FirstSpirit is a closed-source enterprise DXP 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 11.

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DatoCMS Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in
FirstSpirit Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 19 of 28 built in

Sources checked: DatoCMS on 29 Sept 2026, FirstSpirit 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

DatoCMS vs FirstSpirit feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	DatoCMS Headless	FirstSpirit Enterprise DXP
Overview
What it is	Hosted headless CMS run by DatoCMS. It delivers content over a GraphQL API, with a REST API for content management.	Java-based enterprise CMS with in-preview editing and a CaaS layer for headless delivery. Runs as FirstSpirit Cloud or on-premises.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated	FirstSpirit 5.2 monthly release line, FirstSpirit Cloud and on-premises Version 2026.10 (5.2.261011), released 15 Sept 2026
Vendor	DatoCMS datocms.com	Crownpeak Technology GmbH, part of Rezolve Ai since December 2025 firstspirit.com
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	No self-hosting Vendor cloud	Self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Hosted SaaS with GraphQL delivery and REST management APIs, TypeScript client	Java, ContentCreator web client, SiteArchitect desktop app
Database	Managed by DatoCMS	Built-in repository, plus SQL databases such as PostgreSQL for data sources
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Free plan. Professional €149 per month billed annually, or €199 monthly. Enterprise on request.	No free option Pricing 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 DatoCMS CLI, auto-generated from environment diffs. 1 2	Built in Templates sync to files in Git through external synchronization and FSDevTools. 3 4
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in 1	Limited Developers build templates in SiteArchitect but write their forms as XML. 4 12
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Block library used in modular content and Structured Text fields. 1	Built in Pages consist of sections based on section templates.
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in Field-level locales, 5 included and up to 10 with paid add-ons. 1	Built in Language-dependent fields per project language.
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 with imgix URL parameters. 3	Built in FirstSpirit automatically generates the image resolutions defined per project.
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in REST Content Management API reads records. Delivery is GraphQL. 1 11	Built in CaaS REST API. 5 6
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 1	Built in CaaS GraphQL API generated from the FirstSpirit data model. 5 6
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in 1	Limited CaaS Change Streams push change events over WebSocket. 6
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 Generates pages from templates. CaaS covers headless delivery.
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 Changes stay unreleased until the release workflow runs. 8
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in 1	Limited Admins set up timed schedule entries. Editors have no per-item publish date. 10
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Limited History kept 3 days on Free, 60 days on Professional. 1	Built in
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in 1 7	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 Click-to-edit overlays on the site in draft mode. 1 7	Built in ContentCreator in-preview editing. Omnichannel Manager for headless frontends. 7
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Paid tier Editorial workflows with stage permissions on Enterprise. 1 6	Built in 8
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Limited Publishing a record can also publish its linked records. No standalone releases. 1	Limited Release with dependencies publishes a page with its linked media and parents. 9
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 Presence and live updates, but a record locks while one editor edits it. 4	Not available The Collaboration module adds comments on fields. No co-editing. 11
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in Projects include Admin and Editor roles and can create additional roles. The Free plan is limited to 2 editor seats. 1 5	Built in Groups with permissions per store and node.
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available Rules apply per model, creator, locale and workflow stage. Locale rules need Enterprise. 5	Limited Form rules hide or lock single fields per user group. 12
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Paid tier Enterprise, with SCIM provisioning. 1	Built in SAML and OpenID Connect login modules. 13 14
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Paid tier Enterprise. 1	Built in Audit logging to the server log once enabled. 15
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in Separate projects per site. 3 on Free, extra projects €39 a month on Professional. 1	Built in Several projects per server. Multisite Management shares content between them. 16
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in Plugin SDK for field editors, sidebars and custom pages. 1	Built in ContentCreator and SiteArchitect plug-ins.
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in DatoCMS Marketplace. 1 9	Built in FirstSpirit Marketplace. 17
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Not available	Plugin or add-on Formcentric for FirstSpirit, a partner product. 18
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 Translations plugin with your own OpenAI, Gemini, Claude or DeepL key. 8 9	Plugin or add-on AI Suite module: Content, Analyze and Image assistants. 1 17
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in Remote MCP server at mcp.datocms.com. 10	Built in CaaS Platform MCP server builds and runs CaaS GraphQL queries. 19

DatoCMS sources

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

FirstSpirit sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. FirstSpirit 5.2 monthly release line, FirstSpirit Cloud and on-premises.

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

Where they differ

DatoCMS and FirstSpirit get a different status on 11 of the 28 features and the same status on 17. DatoCMS has 16 built in on its baseline edition, FirstSpirit has 19. 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: DatoCMS cannot be self-hosted. FirstSpirit can be self-hosted.
Free option: DatoCMS has a free option. FirstSpirit has no free option.

Built in on DatoCMS, a different answer on FirstSpirit 3

Content model in the UI DatoCMS: Built in. FirstSpirit: Limited.
Webhooks DatoCMS: Built in. FirstSpirit: Limited.
Scheduled publishing DatoCMS: Built in. FirstSpirit: Limited.

Built in on FirstSpirit, a different answer on DatoCMS 6

Content model in code DatoCMS: Limited. FirstSpirit: Built in.
Renders the website DatoCMS: Not available. FirstSpirit: Built in.
Version history DatoCMS: Limited. FirstSpirit: Built in.
Approval workflows DatoCMS: Paid tier. FirstSpirit: Built in.
Single sign-on DatoCMS: Paid tier. FirstSpirit: Built in.
Audit log DatoCMS: Paid tier. FirstSpirit: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 2

Field-level permissions DatoCMS: Not available. FirstSpirit: Limited.
Form builder DatoCMS: Not available. FirstSpirit: Plugin or add-on.

More comparisons

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

FirstSpirit against other platforms

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

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