Contentful vs Statamic

Strong content types with references. Lacks native union fields, workarounds need multiple reference fields.

Blueprints define schemas in YAML, any field type, nested Replicators, and Bard give complete modeling flexibility.

Content types can reference each other for reuse but there's no native block primitive. Rich Text embedded entries help.

Fieldsets allow reusable field groups across blueprints. Replicators handle block sets.

Built-in validators for required, range, size, and regex. Custom validators need a UI extension to configure.

Blueprints support required, min/max, regex, and custom validation. Custom validators need PHP rules, developer setup.

The web app is polished and familiar, editors with any CMS background can publish independently without developer help.

The Control Panel is one of the most carefully designed CMS interfaces. Bard and live preview are particularly polished.

Live preview requires developer config of the Preview API. No out-of-the-box visual editor available.

Live preview via Preview Target config. Not zero-config but straightforward for developers on Laravel projects.

Draft and published states built in. Tasks and comments need Teams+ plans. Approval chains require external tooling.

Revisions, scheduling, and workflow states built in. Approval chains need the Collaboration addon on the Pro plan.

Media Library handles uploads, tagging, and image API transforms. No native AI cropping or focal points.

Best-in-class for a Laravel CMS, Glide transforms, focal points, alt text, cropping and flexible storage (local, S3, Cloudflare R2, etc).

No simultaneous editing, last save wins. Conflicts between concurrent editors are not surfaced in real time.

No real-time editing. Multi-user access supported but editors can overwrite without live conflict detection.

Roles support content type and tag-based access. Field-level permissions need Contentful Apps or higher plans.

Roles and permissions per collection, nav, and assets. Granular for most teams, field-level access needs custom PHP.

Multi-locale is a core feature, every field localizes independently with locale-specific publishing states.

Multi-site and multi-locale are first-class. Each site has its own locale, content tree, and field-level translations.

Fallback is configurable in space settings and honored by the Delivery API when a translation is missing.

Locale fallback configurable in the sites config, Statamic falls back to default locale when translation is missing.

Comprehensive REST and GraphQL docs with a playground, official SDKs in JS, Python, and PHP, with TypeScript support.

REST API and GraphQL are well documented. No frontend SDKs are available.

Official Next.js and Astro starters for all major frameworks. The npm package is mature and well-documented.

Primarily PHP/Laravel. No official Next.js or Astro starters.

The CMA supports migrations, bulk ops, and content type management. contentful-migration CLI is production-grade.

Full REST API for content management and direct PHP/Eloquent server-side access. The Stache is programmable via Laravel.

Environment branching is a flagship feature. Each space supports multiple environments with full content promotion.

Git-based content means environments are code, branch, test, merge. No CMS env UI but flat files make diffs natural.

Content via Fastly CDN with sub 100ms API response times. Images via Fastly Image Optimizer.

Self-hosted by default. Flat-file storage eliminates DB queries for most reads, speed depends on hosting.

Fully managed SaaS with zero infrastructure to configure or maintain. Scales transparently with usage.

Requires PHP/Laravel hosting. More setup than SaaS CMS but simpler than Node.js + DB for teams already on Laravel.

Largest CMS marketplace, apps for Shopify, Salesforce, Cloudinary, and Imgix. Enterprise integrations are solid.

Marketplace has addons for e-commerce, and SEO. Quality is high, stricter review process than npm packages.

Active forums and a certification program. Less community content than others but strong enterprise support.

Tight-knit Discord community with an accessible core team. Fewer developers than some alternatives but high expertise density.