DatoCMS vs Wagtail
DatoCMS is a closed-source headless CMS that runs on the vendor's cloud. Wagtail is an open-source traditional CMS that you host yourself. The table below sets them side by side on 28 features. They get a different status on 15.
- DatoCMS Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in
- Wagtail Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: DatoCMS on 29 Sept 2026, Wagtail 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 CMS built on Django. Content types are Python models, and you host it yourself on any Python stack. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | DatoCMS SaaS, Free, Professional and Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated | Wagtail 8, open source Version 8.0, released 25 Aug 2026 |
| Vendor | DatoCMS datocms.com | Wagtail core team (created by Torchbox) wagtail.org |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Open source BSD-3-Clause |
| Hosting | No self-hosting Vendor cloud | Self-hosting No vendor cloud The Wagtail project runs no managed hosting. Deploy it like any Django app. |
| Built with | Hosted SaaS with GraphQL delivery and REST management APIs, TypeScript client | Python, Django |
| Database | Managed by DatoCMS | PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, 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. No licence fee. |
| 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 Page and snippet types are Django models. 2 |
| 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 Developers define content types in Python only. |
| 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 StreamField blocks. 2 |
| 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 Core i18n with simple_translation. The wagtail-localize package adds a translation workflow. 3 |
| 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 Renditions with resize, crop and format filters. 4 |
| 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 | Built in Read-only v2 API. Writable v3 API in preview since 8.0. 51 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in 1 | Plugin or add-on wagtail-grapple, maintained by Torchbox. 6 |
| Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published. | Built in 1 | Not available Django signals such as page_published. No webhook settings. 18 |
| 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 1 | Built in |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in 1 | Built in Go-live and expiry dates. 7 |
| 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 Editors can compare and revert revisions. 11 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in 17 | Built in 20 |
| 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 | Limited Preview panel beside the edit form. No click-to-edit on the page. 20 |
| 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 | Built in Moderation workflows with tasks assigned to groups. 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 | 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 Concurrent editing notifications warn editors. No live co-editing. 12 |
| 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 | Built in Groups with page, collection and model permissions. 9 |
| 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 Set in code with the permission argument on panels. 10 |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Paid tier Enterprise, with SCIM provisioning. 1 | Plugin or add-on django-allauth supports SAML and OpenID Connect. 19 |
| 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 Site-wide history report of logged actions. 11 |
| 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 sites in one installation with shared users. 9 |
| 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 Hooks, viewsets and custom panels. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in DatoCMS Marketplace. 19 | Built in Wagtail packages directory on wagtail.org. 17 |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Not available | Built in wagtail.contrib.forms form builder. 13 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Not available | Limited Login for private pages is built in. Public sign-up needs a package such as django-allauth. 14 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Wagtail AI, an officially supported package. 15 |
| 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 | Limited Experimental wagtail-mcp package, announced September 2026. 16 |
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
Wagtail sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Wagtail 8, open source.
- Wagtail 8.0 release notes
- How to use StreamField for mixed content
- Wagtail docs: Internationalization
- Wagtail docs: Images
- Wagtail API v2 usage guide
- wagtail-grapple on GitHub
- Wagtail guide: Scheduled publishing
- Wagtail guide: Configure workflows for moderation
- Wagtail docs: Permissions
- Wagtail docs: Panels reference
- Wagtail docs: Audit log
- Wagtail 6.2: content metrics and concurrent editing
- Wagtail docs: Form builder
- Wagtail docs: Private pages
- Wagtail AI
- Experiments with MCP in Wagtail
- Wagtail docs: Packages
- Wagtail docs: Signals
- django-allauth: SAML provider
- Wagtail 4.0 release notes: live preview panel
Considering more platforms? Compare DatoCMS and Wagtail with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
DatoCMS and Wagtail get a different status on 15 of the 28 features and the same status on 13. DatoCMS has 16 built in on its baseline edition, Wagtail 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
- DatoCMS is closed source (Proprietary). Wagtail is open source (BSD-3-Clause).
- Self-hosting
- DatoCMS cannot be self-hosted. Wagtail can be self-hosted.
- Vendor cloud
- DatoCMS has a vendor-run cloud. Wagtail has no vendor-run cloud.
Built in on DatoCMS, a different answer on Wagtail 5
- Content model in the UI DatoCMS: Built in. Wagtail: Not available.
- GraphQL API DatoCMS: Built in. Wagtail: Plugin or add-on.
- Webhooks DatoCMS: Built in. Wagtail: Not available.
- Visual editing DatoCMS: Built in. Wagtail: Limited.
- Official MCP server DatoCMS: Built in. Wagtail: Limited.
Built in on Wagtail, a different answer on DatoCMS 7
- Content model in code DatoCMS: Limited. Wagtail: Built in.
- Renders the website DatoCMS: Not available. Wagtail: Built in.
- Version history DatoCMS: Limited. Wagtail: Built in.
- Approval workflows DatoCMS: Paid tier. Wagtail: Built in.
- Field-level permissions DatoCMS: Not available. Wagtail: Built in.
- Audit log DatoCMS: Paid tier. Wagtail: Built in.
- Form builder DatoCMS: Not available. Wagtail: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 3
- Content releases DatoCMS: Limited. Wagtail: Not available.
- Single sign-on DatoCMS: Paid tier. Wagtail: Plugin or add-on.
- Site member accounts DatoCMS: Not available. Wagtail: Limited.
More comparisons
Full write-ups with worked examples and costs: DatoCMS vs Payload.
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- Wagtail vs Payload
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- Sitecore vs Wagtail
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- Storyblok vs Wagtail
- Strapi vs Wagtail
- TYPO3 vs Wagtail
- Umbraco vs Wagtail
- Wagtail vs Webflow
- Wagtail vs Wix
- Wagtail vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Wagtail
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