Contentful is a hosted content platform for modelling content and delivering it to websites, applications and other channels through APIs. The frontend is a separate implementation, rather than an automatically finished website. Plan and space entitlements control usage, roles, locales and environments. Its Free plan is for learning and testing: the current usage terms exclude commercial use. A business deployment should therefore assess a commercially suitable subscription alongside frontend hosting and integration work. Learn more about Contentful
Who should take a closer look?
Teams building multiple delivery experiences around a managed structured-content service
Capabilities to explore
✓Structured content modelling
✓Content delivery and management APIs
✓Roles and locale controls
Free learning and testing planA permanent Free plan exists for learning and testing. Current usage terms prohibit commercial use on Free; it is not a free business production plan.
Strapi is a headless CMS with a free MIT-licensed Community edition and separately licensed paid CMS capabilities. Developers define structured content and expose it through APIs to a frontend they build. The software can be self-hosted or deployed using a paid Strapi Cloud hosting plan. CMS and Cloud subscriptions are separate choices: a Cloud subscription can run Community CMS, while a self-hosted team can buy premium CMS features without buying Cloud hosting. Learn more about Strapi
Who should take a closer look?
Development teams wanting an extensible API-based CMS with a choice of hosting responsibility
Capabilities to explore
✓Content-type builder
✓REST and GraphQL APIs
✓Media library and draft publishing
Free self-hosted Community editionCommunity CMS is free under the MIT licence when self-hosted. Strapi Cloud hosting is paid; old Free Cloud plan and trial descriptions are no longer current.
Sanity combines a hosted content database with a customisable editing environment, Sanity Studio, and APIs for delivering structured content. Developers shape schemas and connect the content service to their own websites or applications. A Free plan supports smaller projects within defined usage and permission limits, including public datasets only. Public content datasets are unsuitable for secrets or private business records; a buyer should resolve access requirements before building a production content model. Learn more about Sanity
Who should take a closer look?
Teams treating content as structured data and wanting a configurable editorial interface
Capabilities to explore
✓Customisable Sanity Studio editor
✓Hosted real-time content database
✓Structured schemas and references
Free hosted plan with public datasetsA permanent Free plan is available with usage limits, two permission roles and public-only datasets. Paid-plan trials do not expand those permanent Free entitlements.
No tools match those filters. Try a different name or remove the free-plan filter.
Compare headless cms options
Read the buying decisions, plan boundaries and evidence behind a shortlist.
A headless CMS supplies content services and authoring capabilities; the customer-facing experience still needs an implementation. Define the content contract, editorial preview and channel responsibilities before comparing packages. Free software, a free hosted allowance and permission for commercial use are separate checks.
Questions to ask before you buy
Which content relationships and editorial checks must the model represent?
Who owns the front end, preview, deployment and API integration?
Which commercial-use, environment, user and usage conditions apply?
Put your shortlist to the test
Model a representative item with linked content, an image and a translation. Ask an editor to preview and publish a revision, then verify the consuming website and its failure state. Inspect API permissions, environment promotion, rate limits, exports and the retained operating cost.
