Sanity vs Contentful

GROQ and Portable Text enable union types, nested arrays, and custom input components, all first-class.

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

Objects and Portable Text blocks are shared across document types and map directly to your design system.

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

Custom validators work in schema definitions but require developer-written JavaScript, not a no-code option.

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

Studio is highly customizable but needs developer configuration before non-technical editors are comfortable.

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

The Presentation tool offers click-to-edit live previews but requires developer config to connect your frontend.

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

Content Releases and versioning built in. Custom workflow states need Studio customization or third-party plugins.

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

Imgix-powered CDN with hotspot and crop built in. Asset manager handles images, files, and custom sources.

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

Presence indicators, cursor tracking, and simultaneous editing are core to Sanity Studio, not a bolt-on.

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

Role-based access per content type on paid plans. Field-level permissions need custom Studio configuration.

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

Field-level localization via @sanity/language-filter, well maintained but requires schema wiring by a developer.

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

Fallback logic must be implemented in GROQ queries or the frontend, no native CMS fallback configuration.

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

GROQ docs, REST reference, GraphQL playground, and schema-generated TypeScript types are all excellent.

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

Starters for Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, and SvelteKit. next-sanity is the most polished CMS integration in Next.js.

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

Mutations API, Assets API, and GROQ support any programmatic workflow. Sanity CLI handles migrations and dataset ops.

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

Multiple datasets provide isolation but promotion needs manual scripting. Enterprise adds dataset aliases for hot-swap.

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

Edge CDN with Imgix image transforms. Fast globally but slightly behind Fastly-backed competitors on cold-start latency.

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

Fully managed cloud with zero server config. Studio can be hosted anywhere or embedded in your app.

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

Sanity Exchange has plugins for forms, SEO, and AI. Core integrations are solid but third-party quality varies.

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

One of the most active CMS communities, Slack is genuinely helpful, docs are thorough, and release cadence is high.

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