CMS comparison Optimizely CMS vs Sanity

Optimizely CMS vs Sanity

Optimizely CMS is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run 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 16.

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Optimizely CMS Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in
Sanity Headless · Closed source · 15 of 28 built in

Sources checked: Optimizely CMS 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

Optimizely CMS vs Sanity feature comparison. Columns are the two platforms. Rows are features, grouped by area.
Platform	Optimizely CMS Enterprise DXP	Sanity Headless
Overview
What it is	Optimizely's .NET CMS for rendered and headless sites, hosted on Optimizely's DXP cloud or self-hosted, with Optimizely Graph for delivery.	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.	Optimizely CMS 13 PaaS, the current flagship. CMS SaaS is a separate hosted variant. Version 13.1.3, released 9 Sept 2026	Sanity hosted Content Lake with Sanity Studio 6 Version 6.16.0, released 22 Sept 2026
Vendor	Optimizely optimizely.com	Sanity sanity.io
Licence	Closed source Proprietary	Closed source MIT for Sanity Studio. The Content Lake backend is proprietary.
Hosting	Self-hosting Vendor cloud Self-hosted installs lose Opti ID features such as Opal and the DAM.	No self-hosting Vendor cloud You can host the Studio anywhere, but content always lives in Sanity's cloud.
Built with	.NET 10, ASP.NET Core	TypeScript, React for Studio. Hosted Content Lake with GROQ and GraphQL APIs
Database	SQL Server, Azure SQL on DXP	Hosted Sanity Content Lake
Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere.	No free option Pricing on request.	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.	Built in Content types as C# classes. 3	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 Content types and properties in Settings. 4	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 Blocks in content areas and Visual Builder elements.	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.	Built in Language branches per content item. 5	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 DXP CDN resizes, crops and converts images by URL parameters. 6	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.	Built in Content Delivery API 13 and a management REST API. 1 2	Built in HTTP API queried with GROQ. 1
GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content.	Built in Optimizely Graph, included in the CMS 13 licence. 2 8	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.	Limited Graph webhooks fire on sync batches and expired content only. Per-item hooks need code. 7 2	Built in GROQ-powered webhooks: 2 on Free, 4 on Growth. 1 6
Renders the website The CMS itself renders and serves the public pages through themes or templates. Headless-only products answer no.	Built in ASP.NET Core MVC and Razor rendering, or headless. 2	Not available
Editorial workflow
Drafts Editors save changes as a draft and publish them later. The live version stays untouched until then.	Built in 9	Built in 1
Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish.	Built in 9	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	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 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 Visual Builder. 2	Built in Presentation tool with click-to-edit overlays on every plan. 1 7
Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage.	Built in Approval sequences. 10	Not available Build with document actions or a community plugin such as Workflow Manager. 9 14
Content releases Editors group changes across several entries and publish them together as one release.	Built in Projects publish or schedule grouped items together. 11	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.	Not available Comments and notifications only. 12	Built in 1
Access and governance
Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set.	Built in Access rights for roles and virtual roles. 13	Paid tier Enterprise. Free has 2 fixed roles, Growth 5. 1 8
Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries.	Not available Access rights apply per content item. Not documented per property. 13	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.	Built in Opti ID with an external identity provider, or OpenID Connect in code. 2	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.	Built in Change Log in Settings. 14	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 Several sites and hosts in one installation. 15	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 Shell modules, gadgets and custom editor widgets. 16	Built in Custom inputs, tools and document actions in the React Studio. 3 9
Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions.	Built in Optimizely connectors directory and NuGet add-ons. 17	Built in Sanity Exchange. 10
Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code.	Plugin or add-on Optimizely Forms package. No extra licence. 18	Not available
Site member accounts The platform handles sign-up and login for public site users or members, separate from editors.	Limited Visitor login uses ASP.NET Core authentication set up in code. 2	Not available
AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content.	Plugin or add-on Opal, billed through Opal credits. Needs Opti ID on DXP. 2 19	Built in Content Agent on every plan. In-Studio AI Assist on Growth and Enterprise. 1 13
Official MCP server The vendor publishes a Model Context Protocol server so AI agents can read or write content.	Built in MCP server in the Optimizely.Cms.Opal.Tools package. 20	Built in Hosted at mcp.sanity.io with OAuth. 12

Optimizely CMS sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Optimizely CMS 13 PaaS, the current flagship. CMS SaaS is a separate hosted variant..

Sanity sources

Checked 29 Sept 2026. Sanity hosted Content Lake with Sanity Studio 6.

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

Where they differ

Optimizely CMS and Sanity get a different status on 16 of the 28 features and the same status on 12. Optimizely CMS has 22 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.

Self-hosting: Optimizely CMS can be self-hosted. Sanity cannot be self-hosted.
Free option: Optimizely CMS has no free option. Sanity has a free option.

Built in on Optimizely CMS, a different answer on Sanity 10

Content model in the UI Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
Localization Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Plugin or add-on.
Renders the website Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
Scheduled publishing Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Paid tier.
Version history Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Limited.
Approval workflows Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Not available.
Content releases Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Paid tier.
Custom roles Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Paid tier.
Single sign-on Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Paid tier.
Audit log Optimizely CMS: Built in. Sanity: Paid tier.

Built in on Sanity, a different answer on Optimizely CMS 3

Webhooks Optimizely CMS: Limited. Sanity: Built in.
Real-time co-editing Optimizely CMS: Not available. Sanity: Built in.
AI writing assistant Optimizely CMS: Plugin or add-on. Sanity: Built in.

Built in on neither, with different answers 3

Field-level permissions Optimizely CMS: Not available. Sanity: Limited.
Form builder Optimizely CMS: Plugin or add-on. Sanity: Not available.
Site member accounts Optimizely CMS: Limited. Sanity: Not available.

More comparisons

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

Optimizely CMS against other platforms

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