CMS comparison Liferay DXP vs Prismic

Liferay DXP vs Prismic

Liferay DXP is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run on the vendor's cloud. Prismic 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 10.

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Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 26 of 28 built in
Prismic Headless · Closed source · 16 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Liferay DXP on 29 Sept 2026, Prismic 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

Liferay DXP vs Prismic feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Liferay DXP Enterprise DXP	Prismic Headless
Overview
What it is	Java platform for websites, portals and commerce, with a new object-based CMS. Self-hosted or run by Liferay as PaaS or SaaS.	Hosted headless page builder where marketers compose pages from developer-built slices. Run by Prismic, with SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt and SvelteKit.
Edition compared The product and release each column describes.	Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1. Version 2026.q3.5, released 25 Sept 2026	Prismic SaaS, Free to Enterprise plans SaaS, continuously updated
Vendor	Liferay, Inc. liferay.com	Prismic prismic.io
Licence	Closed source Proprietary, under the Liferay EULA. Free Tier activation key at no cost	Closed source Proprietary
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Free Tier suits smaller-scale use and gets no security patches, SAML or AI Hub.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud
Built with	Java, OSGi, React	SaaS with SDKs for Next.js, Nuxt and SvelteKit
Database	MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, SQL Server, IBM Db2	Managed by Prismic
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	Free to start Free Tier at no cost for smaller-scale use. Enterprise Subscription per server instance, price on request.	Free to start Free plan. Starter $10, Small $25, Medium $150, Platinum $675 per repository per month, billed yearly.
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.	Built in Definitions export to JSON and deploy from the repo as batch client extensions. 7	Built in Model files live in the project. The Prismic CLI pushes and pulls them. 2
Content model in the UI Admins can create and change content types and fields in the admin interface without writing code.	Built in Objects and web content structures. 6	Built in Type Builder in the web app. 3
Reusable blocks Editors compose pages from reusable, typed components or blocks, and can reorder them.	Built in Fragments on content pages. 11	Built in Slices with variations. 4
Localization Editors translate content per locale inside the CMS, by field or by entry, without a separate site for each language.	Built in	Built in 2 locales on Free, 8 on Platinum, custom on Enterprise. 1
Image transformations The CMS resizes, crops or converts images on request, through URL parameters or generated sizes, with no external service.	Built in Adaptive Media generates set image resolutions. 8	Built in Image optimization and processing on all plans. 1
APIs and delivery
REST API A documented REST or JSON HTTP API returns content.	Built in Headless REST APIs. 9	Built in Document API. 1 5
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in 9	Built in 1 5
Webhooks The CMS can call an external URL when content is created, changed or published.	Built in Object actions call a webhook on add, update or delete. 10	Built in 6
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	Built in
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in Display and expiration dates.	Built in Scheduled through releases on every plan. 1 8
Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them.	Built in	Built in Full revision history on every plan. 1
Preview Editors can see unpublished content rendered as it will appear on the site before publishing.	Built in	Built in Shareable previews on every plan. 1 7
Visual editing Editors can click on the rendered page and edit content in place or in a side panel next to it.	Built in Inline editing in the content page editor. 11	Built in Page Builder shows live slice previews from your site next to the fields. 7
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in Kaleo workflow, also included in the Free Tier. 3	Limited Writer and Publisher roles from Medium. No configurable review stages. 9
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Publications group changes and publish them together. 12	Built in Up to 200 pages per release. 8
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 A page locks while one editor has it open. 13	Not available In progress with a waitlist. A status indicator shows who is editing. 10
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in	Limited Enterprise only. Fixed Read-only, Writer or Publisher levels set per locale. No role builder. 1 9
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available Permissions apply per object, entry or asset. 14	Not available
Single sign-on Editors can sign in through SAML or OpenID Connect against a company identity provider.	Built in SAML and OpenID Connect. The Free Tier lacks SAML. 3 15	Paid tier Enterprise. 1 9
Audit log The CMS logs who changed what and when across the whole installation, and admins can review the log.	Built in Audit framework with search and export of events. 16	Not available Not documented publicly.
Platform and extensibility
Multiple sites One installation or account can manage several separate websites or brands with shared users.	Built in	Built in Each site is a repository on its own plan. Spaces group content inside one. 1 11
Extensible admin UI Developers can add their own components, views or fields to the editing interface.	Built in Client extensions. 7	Limited Integration fields load external catalog data into a picker. No custom UI code. 12
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Liferay Marketplace. 17	Not available Integration guides only. No installable marketplace. 13
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Built in Liferay Forms.	Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Built in	Not available
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Built in AI Hub writing tools in the new CMS. Not in the Free Tier. 4 18	Limited Beta on request: AI translation and SEO metadata suggestions. 1 14
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in Built-in MCP server released in 2026.Q3, switched on by feature flag. 19	Built in Hosted at mcp.prismic.io, activated per repository. 15

Liferay DXP sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Liferay DXP 2026.Q3, Enterprise Subscription. The Free Tier replaced Liferay Portal CE from 2026.Q1..

Prismic sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Prismic SaaS, Free to Enterprise plans.

Considering more platforms? Compare Liferay DXP and Prismic with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.

Where they differ

Liferay DXP and Prismic get a different status on 10 of the 28 features and the same status on 18. Liferay DXP has 26 built in on its baseline edition, Prismic has 16. 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: Liferay DXP can be self-hosted. Prismic cannot be self-hosted.

Built in on Liferay DXP, a different answer on Prismic 10

Renders the website Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Not available.
Approval workflows Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Limited.
Custom roles Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Limited.
Single sign-on Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Paid tier.
Audit log Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Not available.
Extensible admin UI Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Limited.
Plugin marketplace Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Not available.
Form builder Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Not available.
Site member accounts Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Not available.
AI writing assistant Liferay DXP: Built in. Prismic: Limited.

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

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