We used Oden to analyze Contentful, Sanity, Strapi, and Prismic across public docs, pricing pages, G2 reviews, and Reddit discussions to cut through marketing claims. If you’re trying to pick a headless CMS, you’re likely juggling tradeoffs around cost, flexibility, editorial UX, and how much developer time you can realistically spend. This guide pulls those threads together so you can see, in one place, how each platform actually behaves in the wild. All data points are based on sources available as of November 2025.

Which Headless CMS platform has the best rating?

(Using overall G2 ratings and review counts as a comparable benchmark as of November 2025.)

Takeaways

• Sanity leads on both rating and sample size: 4.7 from 900+ reviews is statistically more robust than the others, assuming G2’s verified-review process holds. Source: G2 – Sanity.io
• Strapi’s 4.5 rating on ~200 reviews suggests strong satisfaction among a smaller but enthusiastic, largely developer-heavy user base. Source: G2 – Strapi
• Contentful and Prismic sit in the low‑to‑mid 4s; differences of 0.1–0.2 on G2 are usually less meaningful than the qualitative themes (e.g., “powerful but pricey” vs “easy but limited”). Source: G2 – Contentful, G2 – Prismic
• For large sample sizes (300–900+ reviews), rating differences of <0.3 tend to be “soft” signals; reading Pros/Cons and recent reviews matters more than the headline score. Source: G2 – Contentful, G2 – Sanity
• Ratings also reflect different audiences: Sanity and Contentful skew toward larger, multi‑team organizations, while Strapi and Prismic have more representation from agencies, smaller teams, and dev‑led projects. Source: G2 – Sanity.io, G2 – Strapi, G2 – Prismic, G2 – Contentful

How much do Headless CMS platforms really cost?

Headline pricing is only part of the story; each platform mixes free tiers, per‑user or per‑space pricing, and usage-based overages.

What this means in practice

• All four have free options, but only Strapi offers an open‑source edition you can self‑host indefinitely without licensing fees; the others are SaaS‑only. Source: Strapi GitHub, Contentful pricing, Sanity pricing, Prismic pricing
• Contentful’s real entry point for commercial use is Lite at $300/month, which can be a steep jump from free for small teams, especially if you outgrow 1M API calls/month and 100 GB bandwidth. Source: Contentful pricing, Contentful usage limits
• Sanity and Prismic have more “startup‑friendly” step‑ups: $15/user/month for Sanity Growth, or $10–25/repo/month for Prismic, so small teams can stay under ~$100/month for quite a while. Source: Sanity Growth plan blog, Prismic pricing
• Strapi can be the cheapest at scale if you self‑host (no license fees, just infra), but Cloud and paid CMS editions add per‑seat and usage‑based costs similar to the others. Source: Strapi GitHub, Strapi Cloud usage & billing docs
• Sanity’s per‑seat model means cost scales linearly with your editorial headcount; Contentful and Prismic scale more with spaces/repos and consumption (API calls/bandwidth). Source: Sanity pricing, Contentful usage limits, Prismic billing docs

Always double-check current prices with each vendor's calculator or sales team.

What are the key features of each platform?

Contentful

Core positioning: Composable, API‑first content platform for omnichannel digital experiences. Source: Composable content platform – Contentful

Key Features:

• Rich multi‑API surface: Content Delivery, Management, Preview, Images, and GraphQL APIs provide read/write access, previews, and image transformations, all fronted by a global CDN. Source: Contentful API basics
• Composable content modeling: Content is modeled as modular content types and references, enabling reuse across sites, apps, and regions rather than page‑centric templates. Source: Composable content platform – Contentful
• Modern free tier for prototyping: Free plan includes 25 content types, 2 locales, 10k records, 2 sandbox environments, and 100K API calls/month for non‑commercial use. Source: Contentful usage limits, Free plan FAQ
• Composable architecture focus: Marketing and docs emphasize “composable content” as the evolution of headless, integrating many tools into a unified platform. Source: What is composable content? – Contentful
• Enterprise governance: Higher plans add advanced roles, workflows, localization features, and enterprise‑grade uptime and security SLAs. Source: Contentful pricing

Best For:

• Teams needing an enterprise‑ready content hub spanning many channels and brands.
• Organizations already standardized on modern JAMstack or composable architectures.
• Companies willing to invest in development resources to fully leverage a powerful API‑first stack. Source: Contentful API basics, G2 – Contentful Reviews

Sanity

Core positioning: Developer‑first “Content Operating System” with a real‑time content lake and fully customizable Studio. Source: Sanity home, Headless Content Operating System

Key Features:

• Content Lake backend: Real‑time, schematized content database (JSON documents) you query and mutate via GROQ or APIs, designed for high‑frequency updates and complex relationships. Source: Headless Content Operating System
• Customizable Sanity Studio: Open‑source React/TypeScript UI you can theme, extend, and embed custom components into, tailored to each content team’s workflow. Source: Sanity home, Sanity solutions – collaboration
• Real‑time collaboration & presence: Google‑Docs‑style multiplayer editing, granular revision history, and presence indicators; editors see each other’s changes live. Source: Sanity solutions – collaboration, G2 – Sanity Reviews
• Content Releases & workflow tooling: Content Releases, comments, tasks, and workflow hooks let teams stage and schedule large multi‑page launches. Source: Headless Content Operating System, Sanity pricing
• AI‑enhanced authoring: Features like Canvas, Content Agent, and AI Assist help convert freeform writing into structured content and automate tagging or enrichment. Source: Sanity home, Headless Content Operating System

Best For:

• Product and content teams that want a single “content OS” spanning many apps, not just the marketing site.
• Developers comfortable with schema‑as‑code and learning GROQ or GraphQL.
• Teams that value real‑time collaboration and custom editorial workflows. Source: G2 – Sanity Reviews, Sanity home

Strapi

Core positioning: Leading open‑source, JavaScript/TypeScript headless CMS that’s fully customizable and self‑hostable, with an optional managed cloud. Source: Strapi GitHub, Strapi Cloud launch press release

Key Features:

• Open‑source and self‑hostable: Community Edition is free, source‑available, and can run on your own infrastructure with Node.js and SQL databases (Postgres, MySQL, MariaDB, SQLite). Source: Strapi GitHub
• Powerful content-type builder: Admin UI lets you design content types with fields, components, and “Dynamic Zones,” giving non‑devs flexible building blocks once models are defined. Source: Strapi GitHub
• REST and GraphQL APIs: Automatically generated APIs for your content types, consumable from any front‑end (React, Vue, Angular, mobile, IoT). Source: Strapi – Jamstack listing
• Plugin & marketplace ecosystem: Plugins for things like content versioning, SEO, sitemaps, and video management extend core capabilities. Source: Strapi Marketplace press release
• Strapi Cloud: Fully managed hosting tiers (Free, Essential, Pro, Scale) provide production‑grade infra with defined quotas for API requests, assets, and backups. Source: Strapi Cloud usage & billing docs, Strapi Free plan blog

Best For:

• Engineering‑heavy teams that want full source control, customization, and the option to self‑host.
• Use cases where Node.js/TypeScript is the default stack and backend flexibility outweighs “out‑of‑the‑box” SaaS features.
• Organizations wanting to avoid vendor lock‑in or long‑term SaaS licensing, especially at high scale. Source: Strapi GitHub, G2 – Strapi

Prismic

Core positioning: Headless page builder and CMS with strong Next.js/Nuxt/SvelteKit integrations and a focus on marketer‑friendly page creation via slices. Source: Prismic home, Slice Machine

Key Features:

• Visual Page Builder with slices: Editors compose pages from reusable “slices” (section components) inside a Visual Page Builder optimized for marketers. Source: Slice Machine, Prismic home
• Slice Machine developer tool: Local dev tool that generates components, JSON models, and TypeScript types, tightly integrated with Next.js, Nuxt, and SvelteKit. Source: Slice Machine, Slice Machine docs
• Generous free & mid‑tier quotas: Free tier includes 4M API calls/month, 100 GB CDN, unlimited documents/types/assets, and Page Builder; higher tiers add users, locales, and more API/CDN limits. Source: Prismic pricing
• Strong framework integrations: Official SDKs and examples for modern frameworks with features like live previews and typed clients. Source: Slice Machine docs, Prismic home
• Marketing‑focused outcomes: Official case studies emphasize faster landing page production, higher Lighthouse scores, and improved SEO via performance and iteration speed. Source: Prismic reviews & stats

Best For:

• Product marketing and web teams running conversion‑focused sites on Next.js, Nuxt, or SvelteKit.
• Agencies and dev shops that want a repeatable “headless page builder” for many client sites.
• Teams that value a low‑code editing experience with custom slices designed by developers. Source: Prismic home, G2 – Prismic Reviews

What are the strengths and weaknesses of each platform?

Contentful

Strengths:

• Mature, scalable platform: Users praise reliability at scale and the ability to handle high‑traffic, multi‑locale sites with many environments. Source: G2 – Contentful Reviews
• Strong developer experience: G2 reviewers and Reddit comments highlight the clarity and breadth of Contentful’s APIs and documentation compared to some competitors. Source: G2 – Contentful Reviews, Reddit – Contentful vs Contentstack
• Flexible content modeling and reuse: Editors and devs appreciate how modules/schemas can be reused across many pages and properties. Source: G2 – Contentful Reviews
• Ecosystem and integrations: As an early headless CMS, Contentful has broad community adoption and many third‑party integrations and tutorials. Source: Composable content platform – Contentful, G2 – Contentful

Weaknesses:

• Cost escalates quickly: Multiple G2 reviewers mention rapid price increases and that Contentful can be more expensive than alternatives for growing teams. Source: G2 – Contentful Reviews
• Steep learning curve / complex UI: Users report that nested content and the overall editing experience can feel unintuitive, especially for non‑technical marketers. Source: G2 – Contentful Reviews, Reddit – Experiences with Contentful
• Requires developer resources: Marketers on Reddit note that without a dev team, you may struggle to get the promised benefits from a headless setup. Source: Reddit – Thoughts on Contentful

Sanity

Strengths:

• Highly flexible and customizable: G2 reviews frequently mention customization and schema‑as‑code as major advantages, giving devs fine‑grained control over content structures. Source: G2 – Sanity Reviews
• Best‑in‑class collaboration: Real‑time editing, presence, and robust revision history earn consistent praise from teams working across time zones. Source: Sanity solutions – collaboration, G2 – Sanity Reviews
• Generous free tier and transparent Growth pricing: Community feedback points out Sanity’s strong free plan and relatively affordable $15/user Growth plan. Source: Sanity pricing, Sanity Growth plan blog, Reddit – Using Sanity with Next.js
• Good Next.js developer experience: Developers on Reddit often call Sanity a solid choice with plenty of Next.js‑focused tutorials and templates. Source: Reddit – Using Sanity with Next.js

Weaknesses:

• Learning curve (GROQ & Studio): Many G2 and Reddit comments mention that GROQ queries and Studio configuration take time to learn, especially for non‑devs. Source: G2 – Sanity Reviews, Reddit – Using Sanity with Next.js
• Cost concerns at higher scale: Earlier community discussions flagged that once you move beyond Free and small Growth projects, pricing can become a concern, especially for budget‑sensitive clients. Source: Reddit – How reliable are services like Sanity.io?, Sanity Growth plan blog
• Requires thoughtful info architecture: Because Sanity is so flexible, teams without strong schema design can end up with hard‑to‑maintain content structures. Source: G2 – Sanity Reviews

Strapi

Strengths:

• Open‑source and self‑hostable: Users value owning the code and avoiding SaaS lock‑in; Strapi can run anywhere Node and SQL are available. Source: Strapi GitHub, G2 – Strapi
• Developer‑first experience: G2 reviewers highlight flexibility, modern tech stack, and ease of building custom APIs and logic compared with more closed SaaS tools. Source: G2 – Strapi Reviews, Strapi – Jamstack listing
• Plugin ecosystem: The marketplace of first‑ and third‑party plugins lets teams add features like versioning, SEO, or workflows without rebuilding from scratch. Source: Strapi Marketplace press release
• Cloud + self‑host options: Strapi Cloud provides managed hosting while keeping parity with the self‑hosted CMS, so you can switch deployment models as you grow. Source: Strapi Cloud launch press release

Weaknesses:

• Setup and upgrades can be painful: Some G2 reviewers describe Strapi as a “nightmare” to upgrade, citing breaking changes and maintenance overhead. Source: G2 – Strapi Reviews
• Docs can lag new releases: Users mention that documentation sometimes trails behind new features, creating friction during implementation. Source: G2 – Strapi Reviews
• Advanced features locked to paid plans: Things like advanced release workflows, SSO, and longer content history require Growth/Enterprise CMS editions or higher Cloud tiers. Source: Strapi Growth plan announcement, Strapi Cloud usage & billing docs

Prismic

Strengths:

• Editor‑friendly interface: G2 reviews repeatedly praise how easy it is for non‑technical users to create and edit pages, with a clean UI and simple workflows. Source: G2 – Prismic Reviews
• Slice‑based page building: The slice model lets devs ship reusable components that marketers can mix and match, often leading to very fast landing‑page creation. Source: Slice Machine, Prismic reviews & stats
• Excellent framework integrations: Devs like the tight, officially maintained integrations for Next.js, Nuxt, and SvelteKit, plus auto‑generated types and snippets. Source: Slice Machine docs, Prismic home
• Attractive pricing for small teams: Reviewers and pricing tables note a genuinely useful free tier and entry paid plans at $10–25/month per repo. Source: Prismic pricing, G2 – Prismic Reviews

Weaknesses:

• Docs and onboarding gaps: Some G2 users and Reddit threads complain about confusing docs and a rough initial learning curve around custom types and slices. Source: G2 – Prismic Reviews, Reddit – Anyone here use Prismic?
• Perceived rigidity and dev dependency: A subset of users feel constrained by what’s been coded into slices, requiring dev involvement for seemingly simple changes. Source: Reddit – Anyone here use Prismic?, G2 – Prismic Reviews
• Preview and autosave quirks: Users report occasional issues where preview doesn’t accurately match production or autosave fails, causing frustration. Source: G2 – Prismic Reviews
• Mixed developer sentiment: One Reddit comparison calls Prismic’s developer experience “terrible” versus competitors, even while acknowledging decent pricing. Source: Reddit – Headless CMS options?

How do these platforms position themselves?

Contentful frames itself as a composable content platform—the “next evolution of headless”—designed to unify content across channels, integrate many digital tools, and support complex omnichannel experiences at enterprise scale. Source: Composable content platform – Contentful, What is composable content?, Omnichannel CMS overview

Sanity markets itself as a Content Operating System: a developer‑first platform where structured content in a real‑time Content Lake flows to any app, while customizable Studio workspaces serve different teams. Their messaging heavily emphasizes composability, AI‑powered workflows, and collaboration for modern digital organizations. Source: Sanity home, Headless Content Operating System

Strapi leans into being the leading open‑source headless CMS, emphasizing JavaScript/TypeScript, full customizability, and the choice between self‑hosting and Strapi Cloud. Press releases and GitHub messaging focus on developer control, a strong open‑source community, and composable architectures. Source: Strapi GitHub, Strapi Partner Program press release, Strapi Cloud launch press release

Prismic positions itself as a headless page builder plus CMS—a way to “build with slices” so developers create branded components while marketers ship pages fast. Its homepage highlights deep framework integrations, AI‑enhanced page building, and measurable improvements in launch speed, SEO, and conversions. Source: Prismic home, Slice Machine, Prismic reviews & stats

Which platform should you choose?

Choose Contentful If:

1. You’re building a multi‑site, multi‑locale, omnichannel stack and need strong governance. Contentful’s composable platform and enterprise features are built for complex orgs coordinating many teams and brands. Source: Composable content platform – Contentful, G2 – Contentful
2. You can budget at least ~$300/month to start for commercial use. The Lite plan’s $300/month entry price and “pay more as you grow” usage limits mean it fits best where content is strategically central and budgets match. Source: Contentful pricing, Contentful usage limits
3. Your team includes dedicated developers comfortable with API‑first architectures. Feedback suggests you’ll get the most value if you can invest in good content modeling and integrations. Source: Contentful API basics, Reddit – Thoughts on Contentful
4. You want a mature ecosystem and best‑of‑breed integrations. If you rely on many SaaS tools (commerce, search, personalization), Contentful’s composable focus and marketplace are a plus. Source: Composable content platform – Contentful
5. You prioritize stability and support at scale over lowest cost. G2 reviewers often cite robustness and support quality, even while calling out pricing as a downside. Source: G2 – Contentful Reviews

Choose Sanity If:

1. You want a single “content OS” feeding many digital products. Sanity’s Content Lake and Studio are designed for scenarios where websites, apps, and internal tools all share structured content. Source: Headless Content Operating System
2. Your team can invest in schema‑as‑code and GROQ. If you have developers comfortable with TypeScript and new query languages, Sanity’s flexibility pays off long‑term. Source: Sanity home, G2 – Sanity Reviews
3. You need real‑time collaboration and sophisticated workflows. For distributed editorial teams, the real‑time Studio, Content Releases, and comments/tasks can materially speed up launches. Source: Sanity solutions – collaboration, G2 – Sanity Reviews
4. You want to start cheap and scale predictably with seats. The free tier and $15/user Growth plan make total cost easy to forecast; you’re mostly multiplying seats plus any add‑on usage. Source: Sanity pricing, Sanity Growth plan blog
5. You’re building with Next.js or other modern frameworks and value strong dev tooling. Community sentiment around Sanity + Next.js is very positive, with many examples and starter kits. Source: Reddit – Using Sanity with Next.js

Choose Strapi If:

1. You need open‑source control and self‑hosting. If you want to run your CMS inside your own infrastructure or avoid long‑term SaaS lock‑in, Strapi’s GPL/OSS model is a strong fit. Source: Strapi GitHub
2. Your team is comfortable with Node.js/TypeScript and backend dev. Strapi shines where devs are happy to customize APIs, plugins, and deployment rather than relying on black‑box SaaS. Source: Strapi – Jamstack listing, G2 – Strapi Reviews
3. You want to start free and pay only for hosting and optional enterprise features. Community Edition has no license cost; you can choose between self‑hosting, Strapi Cloud Free/Essential, or commercial Growth/Enterprise plans as you scale. Source: Strapi GitHub, Strapi Cloud usage & billing docs, Strapi Growth plan announcement
4. You’re building something non‑standard that needs deep customization. If your data model or workflows don’t fit typical CMS assumptions, Strapi’s plugin system and extensibility are attractive. Source: Strapi Marketplace press release, G2 – Strapi Reviews
5. You’re okay trading some SaaS polish for control. Reviews suggest you’ll accept more upgrade/maintenance work in exchange for flexibility and cost control. Source: G2 – Strapi Reviews

Choose Prismic If:

1. Your primary goal is shipping on‑brand marketing pages quickly. Prismic’s Page Builder and slices are tuned for marketers creating landing pages, campaigns, and content variations without dev tickets. Source: Prismic home, Prismic reviews & stats
2. You’re building on Next.js, Nuxt, or SvelteKit and want tight integration. Slice Machine and official SDKs generate components, models, and types inside your codebase, reducing boilerplate. Source: Slice Machine, Slice Machine docs
3. You want strong editor experience at a low monthly cost. Free and low‑cost tiers ($10–25/repo/month) with generous API/CDN allowances are compelling for startups and smaller teams. Source: Prismic pricing, G2 – Prismic Reviews
4. You have devs who can design good slices and then “get out of the way.” Prismic works best when engineers invest upfront in a slice library that gives marketers enough flexibility without constant code changes. Source: Slice Machine, G2 – Prismic Reviews
5. You accept some tradeoffs in documentation and flexibility. If your team can absorb a slightly bumpier dev experience in exchange for speed and UX for editors, Prismic can be a strong fit; if not, Sanity or Contentful may be safer. Source: G2 – Prismic Reviews, Reddit – Headless CMS options?

Sources & links

Below are additional, non‑duplicate resources you can use for deeper research.

Company Websites

• Contentful overview
• Sanity home
• Strapi – Jamstack listing
• Prismic home

Pricing Pages

• Contentful pricing
• Sanity pricing
• Strapi Cloud usage & billing docs
• Prismic pricing

Documentation

• Contentful API basics
• Plans & payments docs
• Strapi Cloud usage & billing docs
• Slice Machine docs

G2 Review Pages

• G2 – Contentful Reviews
• G2 – Sanity Reviews
• G2 – Strapi Reviews
• G2 – Prismic Reviews

Reddit Discussions

• Experiences with Contentful
• Using Sanity with Next.js
• Using no-code web builder as front-end for Strapi
• Anyone here use PRISMIC?

Additional Resources

• What is composable content?
• Introducing Sanity for Startups
• Top Headless CMS Framework – Strapi
• Prismic reviews & stats