Progress Sitefinity vs Umbraco
Progress Sitefinity is a closed-source enterprise DXP that you can host yourself or run 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 8.
- Progress Sitefinity Enterprise DXP · Closed source · 22 of 28 built in
- Umbraco Traditional · Open source · 18 of 28 built in
Sources checked: Progress Sitefinity 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 | Progress's .NET CMS and DXP for websites, run self-hosted or on the Sitefinity Cloud PaaS, with ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers. | 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. | Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud Version 15.4.8639, released 29 Sept 2026 | 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 | Progress Software progress.com | Umbraco A/S umbraco.com |
| Licence | Closed source Proprietary | Open source MIT |
| Hosting | Self-hosting Vendor cloud | Self-hosting Vendor cloud Forms and Deploy are paid add-ons when self-hosted. Umbraco Cloud includes both. |
| Built with | .NET, ASP.NET Core and Next.js renderers | C#, ASP.NET Core on .NET 10, TypeScript backoffice |
| Database | Microsoft SQL Server | SQL Server, SQLite |
| Pricing Public list prices only. Hosting and implementation are extra everywhere. | No free option Pricing on request. DX and DX+Enterprise editions, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud. | 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. | Built in Export for deployment writes module and field changes to files for source control. 3 | 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 Module Builder. | 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 Page editor widgets. | 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. | Built in Multilingual content per item. | 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 Resize through URL parameters and thumbnail profiles. 4 | 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. | Built in OData REST web services. 5 | Built in Content Delivery API. 7 |
| GraphQL API The vendor or an official module provides a GraphQL API for content. | Built in GraphQL on the web services layer. 6 | 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. | Built in Service hooks with a webhook action, available on all licences. 7 | 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 ASP.NET Core, Next.js or legacy MVC renderers. 1 | 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 | Built in |
| Scheduled publishing An editor can set a future date and time for content to publish or unpublish. | Built in Scheduled publish and unpublish per item. 9 | Built in 10 |
| Version history The CMS keeps earlier versions of an entry, and editors can compare or restore them. | Built in Revision history. | 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 Page editor with widgets. | Not available |
| Approval workflows Content moves through review stages you configure, such as draft, review and approved, with permissions per stage. | Built in One or two approval levels, or a custom workflow. 8 | 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. | Not available Publishing and scheduling work per item. 9 | 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. | Not available Pages lock while another user edits them. 10 | Not available |
| Access and governance | ||
| Custom roles Admins define their own roles with granular permissions instead of picking from a fixed set. | Built in 11 | Built in User groups with granular permissions. |
| Field-level permissions Admins can restrict access to single fields, on top of content types and entries. | Limited Module Builder types only, in the classic editing UI. Built-in content types have none. 12 | 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. | Built in OpenID Connect and external providers such as Azure AD. 13 | 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. | Paid tier DX + Enterprise includes Audit Trail. Progress sells it as an add-on for DX. 142 | 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 Multisite with shared content and per-site permissions. 15 | 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 Custom fields, widgets and AdminApp extensions. | Built in Backoffice extensions. |
| Plugin marketplace The vendor runs an official directory or marketplace of installable extensions. | Built in Sitefinity integrations directory. 16 | Built in Umbraco Marketplace. |
| Form builder Editors can build and publish forms and collect submissions without code. | Built in Forms module with a drag-and-drop builder. | 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. | Built in Front-end users with registration and login widgets. | Built in Members, separate from backoffice users. |
| AI writing assistant A first-party AI feature in the editing interface generates, rewrites or translates content. | Plugin or add-on Sitefinity AI subscription for text generation and agents. 17 | 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. | Plugin or add-on Sitefinity MCP Server, 15.4.8633 or later, needs a Sitefinity AI subscription. 18 | Built in Umbraco CMS Developer MCP server. 19 |
Progress Sitefinity sources
Checked 29 Sept 2026. Sitefinity CMS 15.4 DX edition, self-hosted or on Sitefinity Cloud.
- Sitefinity CMS 15.4.8639 release notes
- Sitefinity packaging and deployment options
- Export and deploy database changes
- Resize images through the URL
- Set up a web service
- Use GraphQL protocol
- Service hooks
- Content lifecycle and workflow
- Manage scheduled tasks
- Unlock pages
- Permissions
- Progress knowledge base: How to set up field permissions in Sitefinity
- Authentication
- Sitefinity Audit Trail
- Multisite
- Sitefinity integrations directory
- Sitefinity AI
- Sitefinity MCP Server
- Sitefinity release history
- Sitefinity Cloud documentation
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 Progress Sitefinity and Umbraco with the rest of your shortlist in the CMS comparison tool.
Where they differ
Progress Sitefinity and Umbraco get a different status on 8 of the 28 features and the same status on 20. Progress Sitefinity has 22 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
- Progress Sitefinity is closed source (Proprietary). Umbraco is open source (MIT).
- Free option
- Progress Sitefinity has no free option. Umbraco has a free option.
Built in on Progress Sitefinity, a different answer on Umbraco 5
- Content model in code Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- GraphQL API Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
- Visual editing Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Umbraco: Not available.
- Approval workflows Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Form builder Progress Sitefinity: Built in. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
Built in on Umbraco, a different answer on Progress Sitefinity 1
- Official MCP server Progress Sitefinity: Plugin or add-on. Umbraco: Built in.
Built in on neither, with different answers 2
- Content releases Progress Sitefinity: Not available. Umbraco: Plugin or add-on.
- Audit log Progress Sitefinity: Paid tier. Umbraco: Limited.
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