We get asked which is the best headless CMS more than almost any other platform question. The honest answer is that several of them are very good, and the right one depends on who edits the content, who builds the front end and how much of the stack you want to own.

In this guide we compare the seven headless platforms we build on most often: Sanity, Contentful, Storyblok, Strapi, Payload, Prismic and Directus. For each one we explain what it does well, where it falls short and the kind of project it suits. At the end you will find a clear verdict by situation.

What to look for before comparing products

If you are new to the idea, our guide to headless CMS explained covers the basics. In short, a headless CMS stores and manages content, then hands it to a separate front end through an API. That front end might be a Next.js site, a mobile app or both.

Before looking at features, we ask clients four questions:

  • Hosted or self-hosted? Do you want the vendor to run the backend, or would you rather own it and host it yourself?
  • Who edits? Marketers who want to see the page as they build it, or editors filling in structured fields?
  • How complex is the content? A few page types, or dozens of related content types with references between them?
  • What skills do you have? A headless site always needs developers. The question is how much backend work they are happy to take on.

The first question often decides the shortlist. Sanity, Contentful, Storyblok and Prismic are run for you on a subscription that rises with seats and usage. Strapi, Payload and Directus can run on your own infrastructure, so you pay for hosting and maintenance instead. We cover that trade-off in open source vs SaaS CMS.

Sanity: the most flexible hosted option

Sanity splits into two parts. The Studio is an open-source React editing interface that you configure in code, and the Content Lake is Sanity’s hosted content store, queried with its own language, GROQ, or with GraphQL.

Because the Studio is code, you can shape the editing experience almost any way you like: custom inputs, previews, desk structures and workflows. Real-time collaboration works well, and the content model lives in your repository alongside the front end, which developers appreciate.

The trade-off is that a good Sanity setup needs a developer who knows it. Out of the box, editors get a clean but fairly plain interface, and visual editing needs some work to set up properly. Pricing is per project, with a generous free plan and paid tiers that rise with seats and usage.

Best for: teams with developers who want full control of the editing experience and complex, highly structured content.

Contentful: the established enterprise choice

Contentful is one of the longest-running headless platforms and is widely used by large organisations. It is fully hosted, has a mature API, solid localisation, roles and permissions, and a large app marketplace.

Content models are built in the web interface rather than in code, which suits organisations where several teams share one platform. Governance features are a real strength.

The downside is cost and limits. Contentful’s paid plans sit at the higher end of the market, and the free and entry plans have tight caps on content types, records and locales. Smaller teams often outgrow the cheaper tiers sooner than they expect, so check current pricing and limits against your content model before you commit.

Best for: larger organisations that need governance, many locales and a vendor with an enterprise track record.

Storyblok: visual editing first

Storyblok is built around a visual editor. Editors see a live preview of the page and click on components to change them, which feels much closer to a traditional page builder than most headless tools.

Content is made of nestable blocks, so marketers can build new landing pages from approved components without a developer. Localisation and workflows are well supported, and it works with all the main front-end frameworks.

The block-based approach is less suited to deeply relational content, and complex models can feel awkward. It is a hosted SaaS product with tiered plans, so costs rise with seats and features.

Best for: marketing teams that want to build and change pages visually on a headless stack.

Prismic: simple page building for marketing sites

Prismic is a hosted headless CMS centred on slices, which are reusable page sections. Developers build slices locally with Slice Machine, and editors stack them to create pages.

It is one of the quickest platforms to get a marketing site live on, especially with Next.js or Nuxt. The editor is simple, and the pricing ladder starts low, with a free plan for small projects.

Prismic is less suited to complex data models, heavy relationships or large editorial workflows. It shines when the main job is building and maintaining marketing pages.

Best for: marketing sites and smaller teams that want something simple and quick to launch.

Strapi is an open-source Node.js headless CMS that you can host yourself, or run on Strapi Cloud. You build content types in an admin panel, and it generates REST and GraphQL APIs for you.

Strapi 5 is the current major version, and Strapi 4 has now reached end of life, so any v4 project should be planning its upgrade. The core is free under an open-source licence, with some advanced features in paid plans.

Self-hosting means you control your data and costs, but you also own updates, security, backups and scaling. Plugins vary in quality, so choose them carefully.

Best for: teams that want an open-source, self-hosted backend with a friendly admin panel.

Payload: code-first and built on Next.js

Payload is an open-source, TypeScript-first CMS. Since version 3 it installs directly into a Next.js app, so your CMS and front end can live in one codebase. Figma acquired Payload in 2025, and the project has stayed MIT licensed.

Everything is defined in code: collections, fields, access control and hooks. That makes it very popular with developers, and it can act as a full application framework, not just a CMS. It works with MongoDB and with Postgres or SQLite.

Editors get a clean admin panel, but visual editing is not as polished as Storyblok’s. Like Strapi, you are responsible for hosting and maintenance. We compare the two in detail in Strapi vs Payload CMS.

Best for: developer-led teams building on Next.js who want the CMS inside the application.

Directus: a CMS on top of your own database

Directus takes a different approach. It sits on top of an SQL database, existing or new, and gives you an admin app and APIs for it. It does not force its own structure onto your data.

That makes it very good for projects where the content is really business data, such as product catalogues, internal tools or anything that other systems also read. It can be self-hosted or run on Directus Cloud.

Licensing needs attention. Directus is source-available rather than traditional open source, with free use for smaller organisations under its revenue and size thresholds and paid licences above them. Check the current licence terms before you plan around it.

Best for: data-heavy projects, or teams that want a CMS layer over an existing database.

The best headless CMS options side by side

Platform Hosting Editing style Best for
Sanity Hosted content store, Studio you deploy Custom, code-configured Complex structured content with developer support
Contentful Fully hosted Structured fields Large organisations needing governance
Storyblok Fully hosted Visual, block-based Marketing teams building pages visually
Prismic Fully hosted Slices, simple page building Marketing sites that need to launch quickly
Strapi Self-hosted or Strapi Cloud Admin panel, structured fields Open-source backend with a friendly admin
Payload Self-hosted, inside Next.js Code-defined admin Developer-led Next.js projects
Directus Self-hosted or Directus Cloud Admin app over SQL Data-heavy projects and existing databases

Our verdict

There is no single best headless CMS, but there is usually a clear best fit:

  • Choose Sanity if you have developers and want the most flexible editing experience with complex, structured content.
  • Choose Contentful if you are a larger organisation that needs governance, permissions and many locales, and the budget fits.
  • Choose Storyblok if marketers need to build pages visually and that matters more than complex data modelling.
  • Choose Prismic if you want a simple marketing site launched quickly with an easy editor.
  • Choose Strapi if you want open source and self-hosting with a familiar admin panel.
  • Choose Payload if your team builds on Next.js and wants the CMS in the same codebase.
  • Choose Directus if your content is mostly structured business data or already lives in an SQL database.

And if your team mainly edits pages and blog posts with no plans for apps or other channels, a traditional CMS such as WordPress may serve you better than any headless option. Whatever you pick, spend time on the content model first. Our content modelling guide explains how.

Frequently asked questions

What is the best headless CMS for Next.js?

All seven work well with Next.js. Payload is the closest fit because it installs inside a Next.js app. Sanity, Storyblok and Prismic also have strong Next.js tooling and preview support.

Which headless CMS is free?

Strapi and Payload are open source and free to self-host, though you pay for hosting. Sanity and Prismic have free plans for small projects, and Directus is free for organisations under its thresholds. Check current plan limits before relying on a free tier.

Is a headless CMS good for SEO?

It can be excellent, but SEO depends on the front end. You need server rendering or static generation, plus fields for titles, descriptions, canonical URLs and redirects in your content model.

Is a headless CMS easy for editors to use?

It depends on the platform and the build. Storyblok and Prismic are the most approachable for marketers. Sanity can be made very friendly, but that takes setup work from developers.

Can we switch headless CMS later?

Yes, but it takes work. Content can be exported and imported, while queries and components in the front end need rewriting. A clean content model makes any move much easier.

Next steps

We build on all seven of these platforms, so we have no reason to push one over another. If you would like help choosing, book a free consultation and we will recommend a fit and give you a fixed quote for the build.