Now booking enterprise content platform builds for 2026. Contact us

Join us
Contact us

What we build

Who it's for

How we engage

Case studies

Industries

Partnerships

About

Writing

Tools

For startups Join us
Contact us
CMS comparison Framer vs Sanity

Framer vs Sanity

Framer is a closed-source site builder that runs 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 14.

Book a call
  • Framer Site builder · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
  • Sanity Headless · Closed source · 15 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Framer 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
Framer vs Sanity feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform
Framer Site builder
Sanity Headless
Overview
What it is Hosted visual site builder with a CMS, hosting and AI agents. Designers build pages on a canvas. Run by Framer.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. Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise SaaS, continuously updated Sanity hosted Content Lake with Sanity Studio 6 Version 6.16.0, released 22 Sept 2026
Vendor Framer B.V. framer.com Sanity sanity.io
Licence Closed source Proprietary Closed source MIT for Sanity Studio. The Content Lake backend is proprietary.
Hosting No self-hosting Vendor cloud A paid plan is required to connect a custom domain. No self-hosting Vendor cloud You can host the Studio anywhere, but content always lives in Sanity's cloud.
Built with Hosted SaaS with React code componentsTypeScript, React for Studio. Hosted Content Lake with GROQ and GraphQL APIs
Database Managed by FramerHosted Sanity Content Lake
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. Free to start Free plan. Basic $10, Pro $30 per site per month billed yearly. Extra editors $20 per month. 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. Not available You build collections in the editor or sync them through the Plugin and Server APIs. 313 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 13 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 Components with properties that content editors can change on-page. 14 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. Plugin or add-on Translation locales add-on, $20 per locale per month. One free locale to try. 117 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 Generates 512 to 4096 px variants served through srcset. 8 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. Limited Server API in open beta, through the framer-api package over WebSocket. No plain REST. 23 Built in HTTP API queried with GROQ. 1
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. Not available 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. Not available Webhooks cover form submissions only. 10 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 Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then. Built in CMS items can stay in draft. 13 Built in 1
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. Not available No native scheduling. Third-party Marketplace plugins add it. 18 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 Version history and rollback of published versions. 67 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 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. Built in Canvas editing and on-page editing of the live site. 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. Limited Editors review and merge Pro branches. Only Deploy permission publishes. No stages. 45 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. Paid tier Branching on Pro groups changes and ships them in one merge. 15 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. Built in Free workspaces allow up to three editors. 1 Built in 1
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. Limited Fixed roles plus Design, Content and Deploy permissions per project. No role builder. 4 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. Not available 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 Enterprise. 116 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 Not documented publicly. 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 A workspace holds many site projects, each on its own plan. 4 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 Plugins add custom panels and tools to the editor. 11 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 Framer Marketplace. 12 Built in Sanity Exchange. 10
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. Built in Native forms. Submissions can also go to a webhook. 10 Not available
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. Built in Agents write, rewrite and translate content. AI credits meter usage. 115 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 No MCP server. External Agents, in preview, link AI tools through a CLI and skills. 9 Built in Hosted at mcp.sanity.io with OAuth. 12

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

Where they differ

Framer and Sanity get a different status on 14 of the 28 features and the same status on 14. Framer 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.

Built in on Framer, a different answer on Sanity 4

  • Content model in the UI Framer: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
  • Renders the website Framer: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
  • Version history Framer: Built in. Sanity: Limited.
  • Form builder Framer: Built in. Sanity: Not available.

Built in on Sanity, a different answer on Framer 5

  • Content model in code Framer: Not available. Sanity: Built in.
  • REST API Framer: Limited. Sanity: Built in.
  • GraphQL API Framer: Not available. Sanity: Built in.
  • Webhooks Framer: Not available. Sanity: Built in.
  • Official MCP server Framer: Not available. Sanity: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 5

  • Scheduled publishing Framer: Not available. Sanity: Paid tier.
  • Approval workflows Framer: Limited. Sanity: Not available.
  • Custom roles Framer: Limited. Sanity: Paid tier.
  • Field-level permissions Framer: Not available. Sanity: Limited.
  • Audit log Framer: Not available. Sanity: Paid tier.

More comparisons

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

Framer against other platforms

Sanity against other platforms

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

We're booking content platform
engagements for 2026.

Twenty-five minutes to walk through the work and decide if we're the right team for it. Scoping and a fixed price come after.

Book a 25-min call Or email us instead