TL;DR
- Sanity: best DX, generous free tier, structured content modelling. Default at Big Helpers for new builds.
- Strapi: self-hosted, fully open source, good for budget-sensitive or data-residency strict.
- Contentful: enterprise-grade, expensive, justified only for large content teams.
- Payload: TypeScript-first, self-hosted, growing fast. Pick if your team is TS-deep.
- WordPress headless: still works, but feels increasingly outdated for new builds.
The 5 options at a glance
| CMS | Hosting | Cost (small site) | DX |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sanity | SaaS | Free up to 3 users + 100K docs | Excellent |
| Strapi | Self-host | ~₹500/mo (your VPS) | Good |
| Contentful | SaaS | $300+/mo | Good but heavy |
| Payload | Self-host | ~₹500/mo (your VPS) | Excellent (TS-native) |
| WordPress headless | Either | Hosting cost | Mixed |
Pick by use case
Sanity — the default for most projects
Real-time collaborative editing, structured schemas via TS, generous free tier covers most SMB sites. SaaS — they handle scaling. Sanity Studio (the editor UI) is genuinely beautiful.
Strapi — self-host, full control
Open-source, runs on your VPS. Full data ownership. Plugin ecosystem is decent. Trade-off: you own ops (updates, backups, scaling).
Contentful — enterprise content teams
Best workflow for 10+ editors with approval chains, multi-language, scheduled publishing. Pricey ($300+/mo). Don't pick for SMBs.
Payload — TS-native self-host
Newer entrant (open-source, TypeScript-first). Growing fast. Worth picking if your team is TypeScript-heavy and you want self-hosted. Steeper learning curve.
WordPress headless
WordPress as backend, Next.js/Nuxt as frontend. Works but feels like fighting the tool. Only pick if you've already standardised on WordPress for editorial workflow and team training.
For new SMB and startup builds: Sanity (60% of builds) for its DX and free tier; Strapi (25%) when client needs self-host or strict data residency; Payload (10%); Contentful only for large editorial teams (5%). Legal CMS example →
Last reviewed: 12 April 2026.
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