Framer vs Umbraco
Framer is a closed-source site builder that runs on the vendor's cloud. Umbraco is an open-source traditional CMS 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 17.
- Framer Site builder · Closed source · 14 of 28 built in
- Umbraco Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Framer on 29 Sept 2026, Umbraco 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 visual site builder with a CMS, hosting and AI agents. Designers build pages on a canvas. Run by Framer. | Open-source .NET CMS that renders sites with Razor or serves content headless. Self-hosted or run on Umbraco Cloud. |
| Edition compared The product and release each column describes. | Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise SaaS, continuously updated | Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release. Version 17.7.0, released 17 Sept 2026 |
| Vendor | Framer B.V. framer.com | Umbraco A/S umbraco.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | No self-hosting Vendor cloud A paid plan is required to connect a custom domain. | Self-hosting Vendor cloud Forms and Deploy are paid add-ons when self-hosted. Umbraco Cloud includes both. |
| Built with | Hosted SaaS with React code components | C#, ASP.NET Core on .NET 10, TypeScript backoffice |
| Database | Managed by Framer | SQL Server, SQLite |
| 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 to self-host. Umbraco Cloud Starter €45, Standard €280, Professional €730 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 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Deploy saves document types as .uda files in Git. Paid on-premises, included on Umbraco Cloud. 45 |
| Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code. | Built in 13 | Built in Document types are built in the backoffice. |
| 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 Block List and Block Grid editors. 6 |
| 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 | Built in Culture variants per property. |
| 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 ImageSharp crops and resizes images from query string parameters. 9 |
| 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 Content Delivery API. 7 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Not available | Not available No official GraphQL. Community package Nikcio.UHeadless adds one. 20 |
| 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 8 |
| Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no. | Built in | Built in Razor templates. |
| 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 |
| 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 | Built in 10 |
| 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 | Built in Rollback compares and restores earlier versions. 11 |
| Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing. | Built in | 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 Canvas editing and on-page editing of the live site. 14 | Not available |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Workflow add-on. Its free version is capped at five approval groups. Full use is paid. 1221 |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Release Sets in a licensed Umbraco Workflow. 13 |
| 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 | Not available |
| 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 | Built in User groups with granular permissions. |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Not available | Limited Per-property read and write limits per user group, enforced in the UI only. 14 |
| Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider. | Paid tier Enterprise. 116 | Built in OpenID Connect providers such as Entra ID, configured in code. 15 |
| 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. | Limited Audit trail per item plus a log viewer. No installation-wide audit screen in core. 16 |
| 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 root nodes, each with its own domains. |
| 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 Backoffice extensions. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Framer Marketplace. 12 | Built in Umbraco Marketplace. |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Umbraco Forms, paid licence. Included on Umbraco Cloud. 217 |
| Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors. | Not available | Built in Members, separate from backoffice users. |
| 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 | Plugin or add-on Free Umbraco.AI packages add prompts and an editor copilot. 18 |
| 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 Umbraco CMS Developer MCP server. 19 |
Framer sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Framer 3.0 site plans, Free to Enterprise.
- Framer pricing
- Framer update: Server API (February 2026)
- Framer Developers: Server API introduction
- Framer Help: members, roles and permissions
- Framer: collaboration with branches, reviews and staging
- Framer: publish with staging, hosting and rollback
- Framer Help: staging and versions
- Framer Help: how Framer optimizes images
- Framer External Agents
- Framer Help: connect Framer forms to a webhook
- Framer Developers: plugins introduction
- Framer Marketplace plugins
- Framer CMS
- Framer Help: on-page editing
- Framer blog: Framer 3.0 with Agents and Branching
- Framer Enterprise
- Framer Help: localization
- Framer CMS Scheduler plugin (third party)
Umbraco sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Umbraco CMS 17 LTS, open source. Umbraco 18.2.0 is the latest short-term release..
- Umbraco releases
- Umbraco pricing
- Umbraco 18 release
- Umbraco Deploy licensing
- Umbraco Cloud: UDA files
- Umbraco docs: Block Grid
- Umbraco docs: Content Delivery API
- Umbraco docs: Webhooks
- Umbraco docs: Image Cropper
- Umbraco docs: Scheduled Publishing
- Umbraco docs: Rollback to a previous version
- Umbraco Workflow
- Umbraco Workflow docs: Release Sets
- Umbraco docs: Property Level UI Permissions
- Umbraco docs: External Login Providers
- Umbraco docs: Log Viewer
- Umbraco Forms licensing
- Umbraco.AI on GitHub
- Umbraco MCP on GitHub
- Nikcio.UHeadless on Umbraco Marketplace
- Umbraco Workflow docs: Licensing
Considering more platforms? Compare Framer and Umbraco with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Framer and Umbraco get a different status on 17 of the 28 features and the same status on 11. Framer has 14 built in on its baseline edition, Umbraco 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
- Framer is closed source (Proprietary). Umbraco is open source (MIT).
- Self-hosting
- Framer cannot be self-hosted. Umbraco can be self-hosted.
Built in on Framer, a different answer on Umbraco 4
- Visual editing Framer: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
- Real-time co-editing Framer: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
- Form builder Framer: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- AI writing assistant Framer: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on Umbraco, a different answer on Framer 8
- Localization Framer: Plugin or add-on. Umbraco: Built in.
- REST API Framer: Limited. Umbraco: Built in.
- Webhooks Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Scheduled publishing Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Custom roles Framer: Limited. Umbraco: Built in.
- Single sign-on Framer: Paid tier. Umbraco: Built in.
- Site member accounts Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
- Official MCP server Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 5
- Content model in code Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Approval workflows Framer: Limited. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Content releases Framer: Paid tier. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Field-level permissions Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Limited.
- Audit log Framer: Not available. Umbraco: Limited.
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Umbraco against other platforms
- Adobe Experience Manager vs Umbraco
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- Contentstack vs Umbraco
- CoreMedia Content Cloud vs Umbraco
- Craft CMS vs Umbraco
- DatoCMS vs Umbraco
- Decap CMS vs Umbraco
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- Drupal vs Umbraco
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- Ghost vs Umbraco
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- Hygraph vs Umbraco
- Instatic vs Umbraco
- Joomla vs Umbraco
- Keystone vs Umbraco
- Kirby vs Umbraco
- Liferay DXP vs Umbraco
- Optimizely CMS vs Umbraco
- Umbraco vs Payload
- Prismic vs Umbraco
- Progress Sitefinity vs Umbraco
- Sanity vs Umbraco
- Sitecore vs Umbraco
- Squarespace vs Umbraco
- Statamic vs Umbraco
- Storyblok vs Umbraco
- Strapi vs Umbraco
- TYPO3 vs Umbraco
- Umbraco vs Wagtail
- Umbraco vs Webflow
- Umbraco vs Wix
- Umbraco vs WordPress
- Xperience by Kentico vs Umbraco
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