You're not alone if you struggle with Contentful's user-unfriendly interface or hit the 8KB GraphQL request limit.

Contentful remains a prominent name in the headless CMS space. Teams explore other options because of its limitations with scalability and integration. I have watched these challenges impact projects, especially with mission-critical applications that just need more flexibility.

This is why I created this complete list of 15 Contentful alternatives for 2025. Storyblok earned 75 G2 awards for its visual editor. Hygraph's content federation powers Samsung and Telenor's systems. Let's help you find a CMS that works better for your team.

Understanding Contentful's Limitations

Teams often run into Contentful's limitations when they scale their content operations. Let's get into why many organizations now look for contentful alternatives.

Interface Challenges

New users face major hurdles with Contentful's learning curve. Recent studies show that 40% of users reported difficulties navigating Contentful's features, especially when setting up for the first time. Content modeling becomes complex and leads to longer onboarding periods. This delays project timelines and creates friction for marketing teams.

The platform's default entry editor doesn't meet specialized content needs. Teams must invest in custom development to work around these interface limitations. This creates extra work for development teams that are already stretched thin.

Pricing Concerns

Rising costs make teams search for contentful alternatives. Data shows that 30% of users expressed concerns about rising costs as their content libraries grew larger.

The platform's technical limits make things more complicated:

Content Delivery API has a 55 requests-per-second rate limit
Management API allows only 7 requests per second
Core features like localization and advanced permissions cost extra

Growing organizations can face unexpected budget increases or performance issues during high-traffic periods because of these restrictions.

Integration Restrictions

Teams struggle to connect Contentful with their existing software. Studies reveal 40% of users struggled with platform integration due to API limits and complex query requirements. Only 35% of leaders reported their current tech stack makes flexibility and scaling easier.

These integration challenges often need extra development resources. This can delay projects and disrupt workflows.

Developer Resource Requirements

Contentful needs substantial technical expertise. About 35% of users mentioned needing extensive customization options that required developer support. The platform needs more developer input compared to other solutions. Teams must have specialized skills for setup and maintenance.

Teams find it hard to manage content relationships, especially if they're new to Contentful's linked entries approach. Organizations without resilient development teams struggle to realize the platform's full potential. This leads them to look for more user-friendly contentful alternatives.

Strapi: Leading Open Source Contentful Alternative

Strapi: Leading Open Source Contentful Alternative

Strapi takes a completely different path to content management than Contentful's proprietary SaaS model. Teams that want more control over their content infrastructure will find Strapi's advantages quite appealing.

Key Features and Benefits

Strapi stands out from other Contentful alternatives because you can customize it fully. You can modify both the backend and admin panel, unlike other solutions. The platform has:

A user-friendly interface for content modeling
Ready-to-use REST and GraphQL APIs
Built-in support for multiple languages
Detailed permission controls based on roles
Support for databases of all types (MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB)

The platform's open-source nature has caught the attention of over 15,000 active community members and 600+ contributors. This has created a thriving ecosystem around it.

Strapi Pricing vs Contentful

Strapi's free plan has unlimited content types, locales, API calls, entries, and admin users, unlike Contentful's tiered pricing with limits. This makes it a great choice for startups and budget-conscious teams.

Strapi's paid plans start at £7.15/month, which is nowhere near Contentful's starting price. The Pro cloud plan costs £78.62/month and comes with hosting, CDN integration, and 100,000 CMS entries. Larger organizations can opt for the Team plan at £396.29/month with extra features.

Use Cases and Limitations

Strapi works best when you:

Build custom apps that just need flexible content models
Run projects with tight budgets
Want full control of your tech stack

The platform does require more technical know-how than other options. You'll need developers to set it up and maintain it, especially for custom features. On top of that, updates sometimes create migration issues.

Cloud Hosting Options

Strapi Cloud now offers managed hosting, though it started as a self-hosted solution.

The cloud version combines database hosting, email services, CDN integration, and asset storage in one package. You won't have to worry about managing infrastructure but still keep the flexibility of open-source.

Teams can also host Strapi themselves on any infrastructure. This way, they retain control over performance, security, and costs.

Storyblok: Visual Editor Powerhouse

Storyblok: Visual Editor Powerhouse

Teams frustrated by Contentful's complex interface will find Storyblok a refreshing alternative with its user-friendly visual editing experience. This headless CMS creates a perfect balance between developer flexibility and marketer usability, making it stand out among contentful alternatives.

Visual Editing Capabilities

Storyblok's visual editor stands as its most distinctive feature and delivers a true WYSIWYG experience that Contentful doesn't offer. Content creators can see immediate live previews across desktop, tablet, and mobile devices, which shows exactly how their pages will look before publishing. The system comes with helpful visual indicators:

Automatic scrolling to clicked content blocks
Highlighted editable elements with outlines
Contextual menus for quick editing
Immediate preview of changes

Content creation and visualization merge smoothly in this approach, which optimizes workflows without compromising flexibility.

Pricing Structure

Storyblok's tiered pricing delivers more features at lower price points than Contentful:

Free Plan: Has 1 user, Visual Editor, simple features
Starter Plan: £11.91/month per additional user
Business Plan: Most popular tier with 20 users, improved scalability, and e-commerce integrations
Enterprise: Custom pricing with advanced features like AI SEO, SSO, and custom workflows

Teams looking for better value while keeping advanced capabilities will find Storyblok's pricing structure more appealing.

Integration Ecosystem

The platform boasts an extensive technology ecosystem with pre-built connections to popular tools. Storyblok's App Directory has integrations for CRM, e-commerce, SEO, personalization, and AI tools. Their API-first approach works with virtually any technology stack.

Best For Marketing Teams

Marketing departments shine when using Storyblok, especially when they need independence from development teams. The user-friendly interface lets non-technical users:

Create and publish content without developer assistance
Manage campaigns with integrated workflows
Schedule content in advance for coordinated releases
Work together directly within the CMS using comments and approvals

Marketing teams can launch content faster, which significantly reduces time-to-market compared to Contentful.

Sanity: Real-time Collaboration CMS

Sanity: Real-time Collaboration CMS

Sanity brings Google Docs-style collaboration to the headless CMS world, making it a compelling contentful alternative for teams working on content together. Team members can see each other's cursor movements and changes immediately while editing the same document. This completely eliminates content lockouts.

Content Modeling Flexibility

Sanity's schema-as-code methodology gives developers extraordinary freedom, unlike Contentful's UI-driven approach. This approach proves valuable because developers can:

Define content models programmatically using JavaScript/TypeScript
Create complex, nested content structures without limitations
Version-control content schemas alongside application code

Teams can structure content exactly as needed without adapting to platform limitations. Sanity breaks content into its smallest possible pieces, maximizing reusability across channels.

Sanity Pricing Comparison

Sanity's generous free tier stands out with features that other platforms usually restrict:

Free Plan: Has unlimited content types, locales, and collaboration features Growth Plan: £11.91/month per user with improved capabilities Enterprise Plan: Custom pricing with dedicated support

Sanity's cost-effective pricing scales with usage instead of fixed tiers. Teams focused on collaboration will find value through smoother workflows.

Developer Experience

Sanity Studio, the platform's customizable editing environment, outshines most contentful alternatives. Built on React, developers can:

Create tailored editing interfaces with custom components
Define workflows that match team needs
Add real-time previews with live-as-you-type updates

Sanity supports both GraphQL and GROQ (Graph-Relational Object Queries). GROQ works like "SQL for JSON," enabling precise queries that return exactly the needed data. This results in faster performance as projects grow.

Sanity's TypeScript support automatically generates types from schemas and queries. This maintains end-to-end type safety—a crucial advantage for teams building mission-critical applications.

WordPress with Headless Configuration

WordPress with Headless Configuration

WordPress manages about 65% of CMS-based websites worldwide, and teams now use it as a powerful contentful alternative through headless configuration. This setup splits WordPress's content management backend from the presentation layer and creates flexibility that matches dedicated headless platforms.

Setup and Implementation

A headless WordPress setup needs configuration of the WordPress REST API or GraphQL to serve content to custom frontends. The simple setup needs:

WPGraphQL plugin to extend WordPress with GraphQL support
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) to improve content modeling
Faust.js plugin for authentication and data fetching

Developers can keep WordPress's user-friendly admin interface while they build frontends with modern frameworks like React, Next.js, or Gatsby. The REST API delivers content as JSON instead of HTML, which allows greater frontend flexibility.

Cost Effectiveness

Headless WordPress saves substantial money compared to Contentful [link_2]. The core WordPress software stays free and open-source, with predictable infrastructure costs that scale well. Managed WordPress hosting providers give pre-configured setups that cut original implementation costs, plus:

Automated update processes with backward compatibility
Lower maintenance costs through automation
Hands-free maintenance on managed services

Teams looking for economical contentful alternatives will find this approach efficient and straightforward.

Plugin Ecosystem

WordPress holds a big advantage over purely headless platforms with its huge plugin library. Many plugins extend API functionality through dedicated solutions like WPGraphQL for ACF, Headless Mode, and CoCart for e-commerce functionality in headless setups.

In spite of that, one limitation stands out—all but one of these plugins expose functionality via API endpoints. This might need workarounds or different solutions for specific features.

Security Considerations

The headless WordPress setup improves security by splitting frontend and backend systems. The CMS lives on a different domain than public-facing interfaces, which reduces attack surfaces against malicious requests, DDoS attacks, and data exposure.

The WordPress backend stays web-accessible and needs standard security measures. Regular updates, strong access controls, and careful plugin selection remain essential.

Directus: Database-First Approach

Directus differentiates itself from contentful alternatives through a database-first approach. Your SQL database schema automatically generates a dynamic REST and GraphQL API. Developers get direct database control while maintaining a user-friendly content management system.

Open Source Advantages

Directus gives you the freedom of open-source under a Business Source License (BSL 1.1). Organizations can use Directus free of charge when their annual revenue stays below £3.97 million. The codebase lives on GitHub, letting teams customize and modify the platform according to their needs.

This approach gives you several advantages over proprietary contentful alternatives:

Complete code transparency and control
No vendor lock-in concerns
Community-driven development and support
Self-hosting options on any infrastructure

Pricing Plans

Your deployment needs determine which flexible pricing plan works best:

Cloud Hosting:

Starter: £11.91/month with 1 studio user, 5,000 database entries, and 50,000 API requests
Professional: £78.62/month with 5 studio users, 75,000 database entries, and 250,000 API requests
Enterprise: Custom pricing that includes tailored resources and premium support

Self-Hosted: Organizations under £3.97M in annual revenue can self-host completely free, even for production and commercial projects. Larger organizations need an enterprise license with custom pricing based on their specific requirements.

Customization Options

Directus's extensive customization capabilities set it apart from competitors. The platform has a detailed theming engine that lets you customize both light and dark themes through a dedicated settings interface. You can create:

Custom interfaces that interact with field data
Bespoke layouts for collection items
Tailored themes that match your brand's identity

Directus stays unopinionated about your data structure and adapts to your database schema instead of forcing predetermined models. This makes it ideal for complex projects that have existing databases or unique data requirements.

Prismic: User-Friendly Content Creation

Prismic stands out from other contentful alternatives through its focus on component-based content creation. The platform connects developers and marketers with its easy-to-use visual interface.

Slice Machine Technology

Slice Machine is Prismic's core breakthrough—a local development tool where developers build reusable content components called "slices." These slices work as predefined page sections that marketers can arrange however they want. This approach gives several advantages over traditional CMS platforms:

Developers work directly in their local environment with their code
Code and cloud stay in sync with one-click
Components automatically generate TypeScript definitions

Teams using Slice Machine saw a 65% reduction in Time To Live (TTL) for website projects. The system creates fully responsive components with built-in accessibility features.

Cost Structure

Prismic's tiered pricing grows with your usage:

Free Plan: £0/month - Has 1 user, 4 million API calls, 100GB bandwidth, 2 locales
Starter: £7.94/month - Has 3 users and 3 locales
Small: £19.85/month - Has 7 users and 4 locales
Medium: £119.12/month - Has 25 users, 5 million API calls, 500GB bandwidth, 5 locales
Platinum: £536.06/month - Has unlimited users, 10 million API calls, 1TB bandwidth

This pricing makes Prismic available for small projects while giving room to scale up.

Integration Capabilities

We designed tight integrations for modern JavaScript frameworks like:

Next.js (React)
Nuxt.js (Vue)
SvelteKit (Svelte)

On top of that, it provides both REST and GraphQL APIs for data fetching. GraphQL API lets you selectively fetch documents, which boosts performance for complex content structures.

Prismic's Integration Fields feature pulls data from external services right into content types. This makes it perfect for e-commerce integrations with platforms like Shopify.

Contentstack: Enterprise-Grade Solution

Contentstack stands out as a premium Contentful alternative that serves enterprise organizations looking for advanced capabilities and scalability. This API-first headless CMS runs on a 100% microservices architecture and provides sophisticated tools to manage complex content operations.

Advanced Features

Enterprise-focused capabilities separate Contentstack from others when it comes to large-scale content operations. The platform's workflow management system has multiple workflows within a single stack. Different content types can follow separate review cycles. Stage transition rules work with these workflows to give administrators precise control over content processes.

Other notable enterprise features include:

Bulk operations that handle multiple entries at once
Taxonomy management to organize large-scale content structures
Multi-region content delivery infrastructure that ensures global performance
Permanent asset URLs and digital asset management
ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2 certifications that ensure security compliance

The platform taps into the potential of AI-driven content strategies and automation through Contentstack Automate. This works just like a built-in Zapier to optimize content workflows.

Enterprise Pricing

Contentstack offers three main pricing tiers:

Core Plan: Starts at £790.19/month with 10 users, 1TB storage, and 2M API calls Grow Plan: Begins at £2,382.48/month with 10 users, 5TB storage, and 6M API calls Scale Plan: Custom pricing serves organizations needing 50+ users, unlimited content entries, and 15TB bandwidth

Enterprise deployments typically cost around £26,048.45 annually. Buyers can save about 18% through negotiations. Each plan comes with identical security features—a major advantage over Contentful's tiered security approach.

Scalability Benefits

Contentstack delivers several key advantages as organizations expand. The platform runs on all three major cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud). This unique feature gives businesses more flexibility in their infrastructure choices.

The microservices architecture enables instant scalability without affecting performance. Large-scale global operations benefit from multi-region delivery infrastructure with CDN integration.

Enterprise customers get 24/7 support, dedicated customer success managers, and architecture training. These features are vital for mission-critical applications that need minimal downtime. Teams managing multiple digital properties in various markets will appreciate Contentstack's support for unlimited languages and locales at Scale tier. This removes common barriers to global expansion.

Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS)

Hygraph, previously known as GraphCMS, in 2022 transformed into what they call a "federated content platform." This new platform goes beyond what traditional headless CMS can do and tackles many integration challenges that Contentful doesn't deal very well with.

GraphQL Native Capabilities

Hygraph stands out as the first 100% GraphQL-native headless CMS, while Contentful added GraphQL support later. This key difference brings several benefits:

Queries that generate automatically to fetch single and multiple entries for each content type
Mutations that let you modify content directly through the API
Rich filtering options for flexible data interactions
Client-driven queries that deliver minimal payloads

The platform's GraphQL foundation lets developers focus on building features without needing backend teams for API changes. This setup streamlines development cycles and produces cleaner code.

Pricing Tiers

The pricing structure at Hygraph is straightforward and often gives better value than Contentful:

Free (Hobby): £0 with 3 seats, 5K content entries, unlimited asset storage
Growth: £158.04/month with 10 seats and add-on options
Enterprise: Custom pricing that includes dedicated infrastructure and advanced security

Resource planning becomes simpler since both assets and content count toward entry limits.

Content Federation Features

Content Federation might be Hygraph's biggest advantage—a feature Contentful doesn't have. This technology lets you:

Get content from multiple external systems that use REST and GraphQL APIs
Access all federated content through a single GraphQL endpoint
Link content from different sources without migration

Teams no longer need the custom middleware that Contentful implementations typically require. Content teams can now link product data from commerce systems while developers make one API call to get everything. This is a big deal as it means development becomes much simpler.

Kontent.ai: AI-Enhanced Content Management

Kontent.ai distinguishes itself from other contentful alternatives through its AI-powered content operations. The platform has grown from a simple content management system into a solution that utilizes artificial intelligence throughout the content lifecycle.

AI Capabilities

AI flows through many of Kontent.ai's workflows to increase efficiency. The platform's AI text generation tool creates content that matches specific tone-of-voice requirements. Content teams can produce material faster without compromising quality. This feature works best for writing paragraphs, blog posts, and article summaries.

The platform provides these additional features:

Automated tagging scans text and suggests relevant taxonomy terms to organize content better
AI translation services keep the original tone and context while adapting content for global audiences
Smart image scanning analyzes uploads and creates descriptive alt text to improve accessibility

Kontent.ai's AI components work directly in the CMS interface. Teams don't need third-party integrations, which creates a smooth experience.

Pricing Comparison

Kontent.ai uses a simple pricing approach based on actual usage with volume-based discounts. The transparent model removes complex tiers and hidden costs that users often find in Contentful's highest plans.

The platform keeps a single pricing structure without extra costs for additional components or builders. Organizations can plan their budgets more reliably.

Enterprise Features

Kontent.ai provides strong governance capabilities for organizations in regulated industries. The system's permissions work at every step to maintain content quality and compliance. Security features include Single Sign-On (SSO), multifactor authentication, and flexible workflows with custom roles.

The platform launched Mission Control dashboard, the industry's first content operations hub. It shows workflow bottlenecks and pending content items. Content managers can spot and fix production issues before they become problems.

Kontent.ai meets strict security standards with ISO certifications and SOC 2 Type 2 compliance. Healthcare organizations benefit from its HIPAA compliance.

Webflow: Visual Development Platform

Webflow brings visual development and content management together in one platform. Teams looking for contentful alternatives without coding needs will find it a compelling choice. Designers can build responsive websites visually and retain developer-level control.

Design Flexibility

The visual canvas stands out as Webflow's key feature that helps you build websites without code. Webflow breaks free from template restrictions that other CMSs impose and gives you complete design freedom with:

Pixel-perfect customization for every element
Responsive design controls for all device sizes
Advanced animation and interaction capabilities without JavaScript knowledge
Up-to-the-minute visual feedback as you build

This approach connects design and development seamlessly. You can create custom websites without technical constraints.

CMS Capabilities

Webflow's visual-first CMS powers dynamic content beyond its design tools. The system organizes content through Collections—databases that store different content types like blog posts, team members, or products. Creating scalable websites becomes easier when marketing teams can update them independently.

Collection pages work as templates that automatically generate for each Collection. Changes to these templates apply instantly across all content items.