Why Teams Are Migrating from Contentful
When one of our clients first approached us about Contentful migration, their dev team had just spent weeks untangling a React component spanning over 500 lines. Why? To get rich text to render properly.
That was only one of their problems. Previewing content wasn’t possible without publishing it. Updating the schema meant rewriting GraphQL fragments across 70+ files. To make matters worse, they had already outgrown the 25 content type limit and were paying extra for every new user and environment.
Their story isn’t unique. For many mid-sized teams, Contentful migration is no longer a question of if, but when.
The good news is, if you’re looking for an alternative to Contentful or planning a full CMS migration, you have plenty of choices. Modern content management tools offer clear editorial UX and easy integration with frameworks like Next.js.
To help you pick the best candidate for your CMS migration, we’ve prepared a list of recommendations. All of them were chosen based on our experience and how easy they are to work with.
Why Migrate from Contentful?
Contentful can be a great choice for some teams, but problems begin as they start to grow.
The costs scale with usage: Contentful pricing is based on users, environments, and content types. Teams expanding their size or adding staging layers will quickly see higher monthly expenses.
Content type limits require careful planning: Teams on lower-tier plans may reach the 25 content type cap much earlier than expected. When that happens, they might need to spend extra time reworking models or pay more for an upgraded plan.
Rich text requires custom handling: Contentful stores rich text as structured JSON. It’s a flexible solution, but if you’re using a framework like React or Next.js, you’ll need extensive frontend logic to render it consistently.
Previewing isn’t always easy: Editors working with Contentful often have to publish content before seeing how it appears on the live site. Feedback loops are much slower as a result, and it might introduce more problems during intense publishing cycles.
Frontend and backend are tightly integrated: A mix of GraphQL and rigid content structures can make even small schema changes in Contentful a challenge.
Sounds familiar? If so, a headless CMS migration might be a natural next step for you.
Thinking about Migrating to a Headless CMS? Our Experts Can Help
Choosing a Contentful Alternative
Headless CMS (Content Management System) platforms offer plenty of options, but aren’t a one-size-fits-all solution.
“A headless CMS separates the content layer from the presentation layer. Developers can build flexible frontends using any technology, while content teams manage everything in one centralized backend.”
Jakub Dakowicz, CTO at Pagepro
Migrating to a headless CMS can be a great benefit to the business. According to the State of CMS survey, over 99% of people experienced some kind of benefit after switching to headless solutions.
Source: Stoyblok State of CMS 2024
Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, so before migrating from Contentful, consider what your team might need most.
Usability
Is your CMS easy to master for non-technical users? Can editors preview changes in real time? Some headless CMS platforms focus on developer workflows first, and others offer visual editors and drag-and-drop layouts easier to use for content creators.
Pricing
Know what you’re committing to long-term. Is the pricing model predictable, or will it change with usage like Contentful’s? Open-source options like Strapi let you have full control at the cost of maintenance. Meanwhile, SaaS platforms range from flat-fee to usage-based billing.
Flexibility
Your content structure won’t stay the same. Look for a CMS that makes schema changes easy to implement without breaking the whole site.
Tech Stack Compatibility
Make sure the CMS plays nicely with your frontend setup. If you’re using Next.js, features like incremental static regeneration, flexible previews, and fast API access can make a difference in site speed. And speaking of…
Performance
What will happen when your traffic spikes? Some CMS platforms might enforce rate limits or bandwidth caps. Others offer global edge caching and content delivery optimizations.
Localization and Integrations
Does your site support multiple languages or connects with third-party tools? Choose a CMS that handles localization well and will work well with your tools.
Best Alternatives to Contentful in 2025
Now that you know what to pay attention to, we can move to comparing Contentful alternatives. We’ll start with our favorite.
CMS | Best For | Strengths | Tradeoffs | Localisation |
Contentful | Structured enterprise projects, cross-functional teams | Stable platform, GraphQL support, strong integrations | High cost at scale, rigid content modeling, and preview limitations | Built-in, but locale limits apply by plan |
Sanity | Dev-led teams, complex models | Schema-as-code, GROQ, fast preview | Dev setup needed, usage pricing | Unlimited locales, API-driven |
Storyblok | Visual editing, localization | Visual editor, block-based model | Structure is opinionated | Built-in tools, folder-based |
Strapi | Self-hosting, custom backends | Fully customizable, open-source | Maintenance overhead | Plugin-based (i18n), customizable |
Prismic | Fast setup, structured sites | Slices, good docs, fast UI | Less flexible for complex models | Locale support, user-friendly UI |
Sanity
Best for: Dev-led teams and structured content at scale
Used by: Puma, Morning Brew
A great fit for teams using Next.js or building complex content workflows. Sanity Content Operating System has strong developer control. It comes with schema-as-code, GROQ querying, and excellent support for live previews.
Editors can use real-time collaboration and a customizable Studio interface without hard limits on content types or locales. To make the switch easier, Sanity offers an official Contentful migration plugin that automates schema and content migration in minutes.
Sanity’s initial setup requires a lot of technical involvement early on, but it pays off in long-term flexibility and performance.
You can read more about it in our article, Best Use Cases of Sanity.
Pricing
Sanity’s free plan includes 20 user seats, two datasets, unlimited content types/locales, and live preview. The Growth plan starts at $15 per non-admin seat/month, adding features like content releases, comments, and AI Assist. Enterprise plans offer extras like SSO, audit logs, and SLAs (custom pricing).
What Are The Differences Between Contentful And Sanity?
“We’ve worked with all major headless CMS platforms, and Sanity has the best balance between developer control and editorial usability. For teams migrating from Contentful, it solves a lot of long-standing issues without locking you into rigid pricing or workflows.”
Jakub Dakowicz, Pagepro CTO
Sanity uses a schema-as-code model. Developers can define content structure in JavaScript and version it like any other code. Contentful, meanwhile, relies on a UI-based model, which is easier to get started with but harder to scale.
The GROQ query language used by Sanity gives full control over content fetching. Contentful uses GraphQL and REST, which often requires workarounds for complex queries.
Contentful supports content preview, but often requires more setup and doesn’t reflect changes until after publishing. Sanity, on the other hand, offers real-time collaboration and live preview features from the get-go.
When it comes to pricing, Contentful charges per user, environment, and content type. Sanity charges are based on your usage, like API calls, bandwidth, and data storage.
Storyblok
Best for: Content teams that want visual control
Used by: Oatly, Octopus Energy
Storyblok shines with its visual editor and block-based content model, making it easy for marketers and editors to manage pages without developer input. Built-in localization tools are also a plus. However, the CMS has a more opinionated structure, which may be limiting for custom or deeply nested content models.
Pricing
Storyblok’s free Starter plan includes one user and one space. The Entry plan starts at ~$90/month (billed annually) for five users, one space, a visual editor, and 400 GB of traffic. Additional bandwidth costs apply.
What Are the Differences Between Contentful and Storyblok?
Storyblok is built around a visual editor and block-based content model, making it especially appealing to marketers and content teams. It allows editors to preview and edit pages visually without developer help. Contentful, by contrast, is more structured and developer-oriented. It has a form-based editor and fewer built-in visual controls.
In terms of modeling, Contentful has flexibility in defining content types, but Storyblok’s component-based structure promotes more consistency across pages.
On the technical side, both support modern frameworks like Next.js. Still, Contentfu requires more manual GraphQL work and richer frontend logic. Storyblok has a simpler setup with REST APIs and SDKs for faster integration.
Their pricing differs a lot, since Storyblok is more focused on project tiers and team roles.
Strapi
Best for: Teams that want full control and self-hosting
Strapi is open-source and fully customizable, and supports custom backends and APIs. It’s great for developers who want control over every part of the stack. However, with that freedom comes a cost. Ongoing maintenance and hosting responsibilities fall entirely on your team.
Pricing
Strapi Cloud offers a free tier with 10k API calls, 10 GB storage, and 100 emails. The Essential plan starts at $15/month with more storage and domains. Higher tiers scale up to 1M–10M API calls and 1 TB bandwidth.
What Are the Differences Between Contentful and Stapi?
The biggest difference is hosting and control. Contentful is a fully managed, cloud-based CMS with a proprietary backend. Strapi is open-source and self-hosted, offering you complete control.
Strapi is ideal for teams that want to build custom APIs, enforce specific security rules, or control deployment environments. Contentful trades that flexibility for ease of use and reduced maintenance.
In terms of development, Strapi uses a REST or GraphQL API that you can fully customize, while Contentful provides a structured GraphQL and REST mix with stricter limits and conventions.
In terms of pricing, Strapi is free to use if self-hosted, but this requires dev time for setup and maintenance. Contentful charges based on users, content types, and environments.
Prismic
Best for: Simple, structured websites that need to launch fast
Prismic offers a slick UI, fast setup, and “Slice” components that make repeatable layouts easy. It’s ideal for lean teams or projects that don’t need much customization. Its tradeoff is less flexibility for complex content models.
Pricing
Prismic offers a free plan for one user. Paid plans (Medium, Platinum, Enterprise) scale by users, locales, API limits, and features. Even paid tiers now include locale limits.
What Are the Differences Between Contentful and Prismic?
Contentful is flexible in content modeling. You can define any type of content model and use GraphQL or REST APIs to fetch data. It’s powerful, but often requires more developer involvement.
Prismic is very approachable for non-technical users. It uses a Slice-based approach for reusable content components. It also includes a built-in preview system and easy-to-use editor UI.
On the downside, Prismic is less flexible for complex or deeply nested schemas. Its querying options are more limited compared to Contentful’s API.
Prismic offers a simple tier-based pricing, which may be easier to predict for smaller teams than Contentful’s.
Pricing Comparison
CMS | Free Plan | Starting Paid Plan | Pricing Model |
Yes (10 users, 2 locales) | ~$300/mo (Lite) | Users, environments, and content types | |
Yes (unlimited types, 1 dataset) | ~$15/mo per seat (Growth) | API calls, bandwidth, and users | |
Yes (1 user, 1 space) | ~$90/mo (Growth) | Project tiers and roles | |
Yes (self-hosted, full features) | $0 (self-hosted only) | Hosting and maintenance | |
Yes (1 user, 1 locale) | $180/mo (Medium) | Users and features |
*Pricing as of July 2025
Checklist: How to Migrate from Contentful to a Headless CMS
Migrating from Contentful is a delicate process. One mistake can result in missing content or a blow to your SEO rankings. Before attempting it yourself, make sure you’re prepared or have the support of Contentful migration specialists.
We’ve prepared a seven-step checklist you can use to migrate from Contentful to a headless CMS of your choice. Follow it along for the best results.
Step One: Rebuilding Content Schemas
Before anything moves, your new CMS needs to match the structure of your existing content. This may mean rethinking models to take advantage of your new platform’s strengths.
Step Two: Exporting Content from Contentful
Using Contentful’s CLI or API, you’ll extract all your entries, assets, and metadata. For large projects, this step often includes custom scripts to handle edge cases or nested relationships.
Step Three: Transforming the Data
Every CMS stores content differently. You’ll need to write a script that reshapes Contentful’s output into a format your new CMS understands.
Step Four: Importing to the New CMS
Once transformed, content is imported using the new platform’s API or CLI tools. This is usually done in stages to allow for testing and adjustments.
Step Five: Updating your Frontend
Your site’s data fetching layer will need updates to reflect new APIs, schema changes, and preview setups. This is a good moment to simplify logic or remove legacy workarounds.
Step Six: Testing and Validation
Everything gets reviewed: content accuracy, internal links, media assets, SEO tags, and redirects. The goal is a seamless switch with no broken URLs or missing pages.
Step Seven: (Optional) Redesign or Refactor
A migration is often a good time to modernize your component library or refresh the design.
Make Your Migration Count
Contentful migration should start with finding the best solution for your team. If you’re hitting limits, fighting with previews, or watching costs climb, it may be time to move on.
For companies using frameworks like Next.js, Sanity, Storyblok, and Strapi offer more flexibility, clearer pricing, and better alignment with modern development workflows.
Still, choosing the right alternative is only half the challenge. A smooth CMS migration takes planning, precision, and experience. If you’re considering replatforming from Contentful, we’re here to help.
Pagepro has supported many successful CMS migrations, and we’re always available if you need Contentful migration experts.
Ready to Migrate from Contentful? Contact Us
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Should I Migrate from Contentful?
Many teams outgrow Contentful’s pricing model, content limits, or technical constraints. If your team is struggling with slow previews, complex rich text rendering, or rising CMS costs, a migration may help streamline workflows and reduce long-term overhead.
What is the Website Migration Cost?
Costs vary depending on project size and complexity. A basic migration with minimal schema changes and no frontend updates might cost a few thousand pounds. A full migration can range higher.
How Long Does a Typical CMS Migration Take?
At Pagepro, smaller projects can be migrated in 2 to 4 weeks. For larger sites with complex schemas, multiple locales, or custom logic, migrations may take from 6 to 10 weeks.
What CMS Works Best with Next.js?
Sanity is a popular choice for teams using Next.js. Its fast APIs, schema-as-code approach, and support for live preview make it a strong fit. Strapi and Storyblok also offer solid Next.js support, though with different tradeoffs.
Will I Lose Content or SEO Rankings if I Migrate from Contentful?
Not if the migration is planned carefully. A proper CMS migration includes redirect handling, SEO tag preservation, structured content mapping, and link validation.
Why is Contentful So Expensive?
Contentful’s pricing is based on multiple factors: users, environments, content types, locales, and API usage. For small teams, this can be manageable, but as your content model grows or you scale your team, the costs can increase sharply. Many teams also pay more for features like staging environments or localization.
Is Sanity the Best CMS?
Depends on your needs. Sanity is one of the most flexible and developer-friendly CMS platforms available, especially for teams using React or Next.js. It offers schema-as-code, live preview, fast APIs, and strong customization options.
What Are the Disadvantages of Sanity CMS?
Sanity has a steeper learning curve, especially for non-technical teams. Its schema-as-code approach is powerful but requires developer setup.
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