DatoCMS vs Keystone
DatoCMS is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Keystone is an open-source headless CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 22.
- DatoCMS Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in
- Keystone Headless · Open source · 6 of 28 built in
Sources checked: DatoCMS on 29 Sept 2026, Keystone 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 DatoCMS. It delivers content over a GraphQL API, with a REST API for content management. | Open-source Node.js headless CMS from Thinkmill that generates a GraphQL API and an admin UI from a TypeScript schema. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated | Keystone 6, open source, from the @keystone-6/core package Version 8.1.0, released 31 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | DatoCMS datocms.com | Thinkmill keystonejs.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | No self-hosting Vendor cloud | Self-hosting No vendor cloud No managed hosting. Thinkmill offers enterprise support. |
| Built with | Hosted SaaS with GraphQL delivery and REST management APIs, TypeScript client | TypeScript, Node.js, GraphQL, Prisma, Next.js for the admin UI |
| Database | Managed by DatoCMS | PostgreSQL, MySQL, SQLite |
| 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. | Free to start Free and open source. Enterprise support from Thinkmill 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. 12 | Built in Lists and fields are TypeScript config. 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 | Not available |
| 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 Component blocks inside the document field. 8 |
| 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 | Not available No locale support documented. Model translations yourself. 12 |
| 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 | Not available Image field stores originals. The Cloudinary field hands resizing to Cloudinary. 711 |
| 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. 111 | Not available GraphQL only. Custom REST routes through extendExpressApp. 4 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in 1 | Built in |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Built in 1 | Not available No webhook settings. Call URLs from hooks in code. 10 |
| 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 1 | Not available |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in 1 | Not available |
| 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 | Not available |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in 17 | Not available |
| 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. 17 | Not available |
| 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. 16 | Not available |
| 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 | Not available |
| 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 |
| 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. 15 | Limited Roles are access-control functions written in code. No role editor in the admin. 5 |
| 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 | Built in Field-level access control. 5 |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Paid tier Enterprise, with SCIM provisioning. 1 | Not available The auth package covers password login. SSO means custom session code. 6 |
| Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log. | Paid tier Enterprise. 1 | Not available |
| 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 | Not available |
| 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 Custom admin pages, navigation and field views. 9 |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in DatoCMS Marketplace. 19 | Not available |
| 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 | Built in createAuth works on any list, including site users. 6 |
| 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. 89 | Not available |
| 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 | Not available |
DatoCMS sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans.
- DatoCMS pricing
- DatoCMS docs: Write and test migration scripts
- DatoCMS docs: Images API
- DatoCMS docs: Record-level collaboration, presence and locking
- DatoCMS docs: Project collaborators, roles and permissions
- DatoCMS docs: Workflows
- DatoCMS docs: Visual Editing
- DatoCMS docs: Translating content with AI
- DatoCMS Marketplace: AI Translations plugin
- DatoCMS docs: MCP Server
- DatoCMS Content Management API: Record
Keystone sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Keystone 6, open source, from the @keystone-6/core package.
- @keystone-6/core on the npm registry
- Keystone releases on GitHub
- Keystone homepage
- Keystone docs: System configuration
- Keystone docs: Access control
- Keystone docs: Authentication
- Keystone docs: Image field
- Keystone docs: Document field demo
- Keystone docs: Custom admin UI pages
- Keystone docs: Hooks guide
- Keystone docs: Cloudinary image field
- Keystone documentation index (llms.txt)
Considering more platforms? Compare DatoCMS and Keystone with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
DatoCMS and Keystone get a different status on 22 of the 28 features and the same status on 6. DatoCMS has 16 built in on its baseline edition, Keystone has 6. 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
- DatoCMS is closed source (Proprietary). Keystone is open source (MIT).
- Self-hosting
- DatoCMS cannot be self-hosted. Keystone can be self-hosted.
- Vendor cloud
- DatoCMS has a vendor-run cloud. Keystone has no vendor-run cloud.
Built in on DatoCMS, a different answer on Keystone 13
- Content model in the UI DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Localization DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Image transformations DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- REST API DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Webhooks DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Drafts DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Scheduled publishing DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Preview DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Visual editing DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Custom roles DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Limited.
- Multiple sites DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Plugin marketplace DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
- Official MCP server DatoCMS: Built in. Keystone: Not available.
Built in on Keystone, a different answer on DatoCMS 3
- Content model in code DatoCMS: Limited. Keystone: Built in.
- Field-level permissions DatoCMS: Not available. Keystone: Built in.
- Site member accounts DatoCMS: Not available. Keystone: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 6
- Version history DatoCMS: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Approval workflows DatoCMS: Paid tier. Keystone: Not available.
- Content releases DatoCMS: Limited. Keystone: Not available.
- Single sign-on DatoCMS: Paid tier. Keystone: Not available.
- Audit log DatoCMS: Paid tier. Keystone: Not available.
- AI writing assistant DatoCMS: Plugin or add-on. Keystone: Not available.
More comparisons
Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: DatoCMS vs Payload.
DatoCMS against other platforms
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Keystone against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Keystone
- Contentful vs Keystone
- Contentstack vs Keystone
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Keystone
- Craft CMS vs Keystone
- Decap CMS vs Keystone
- Directus vs Keystone
- Drupal vs Keystone
- EmDash vs Keystone
- FirstSpirit vs Keystone
- Framer vs Keystone
- Ghost vs Keystone
- HubSpot CMS vs Keystone
- Hygraph vs Keystone
- Instatic vs Keystone
- Joomla vs Keystone
- Keystone vs Kirby
- Keystone vs Liferay DXP
- Keystone vs Optimizely CMS
- Keystone vs Payload
- Keystone vs Prismic
- Keystone vs Progress Sitefinity
- Keystone vs Sanity
- Keystone vs Sitecore
- Keystone vs Squarespace
- Keystone vs Statamic
- Keystone vs Storyblok
- Keystone vs Strapi
- Keystone vs TYPO3
- Keystone vs Umbraco
- Keystone vs Wagtail
- Keystone vs Webflow
- Keystone vs Wix
- Keystone vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Keystone
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