# Best Headless CMS Platforms 2026

Best Headless CMS Platforms 2026

Omnichannel content needs flexible APIs and editor-friendly workflows. Here’s how Contentful, Strapi, and Sanity compare in 2026—pricing, modeling, and DX.

Quick Picks

• Best enterprise + ecosystem: Contentful
• Best open-source & self-hostable: Strapi
• Best for realtime editing + DX: Sanity

Pricing Snapshot (2026)

What to Look For

• Content modeling flexibility and migrations.
• Localization, roles/permissions, and workflows.
• APIs (REST/GraphQL), webhooks, and image/CDN handling.
• Editor experience and preview environments.
• Hosting model: cloud vs self-host, SLAs, and scaling.

Platform Notes

Contentful

• Mature app ecosystem; strong localization and roles.
• Great for enterprise teams and multiple properties.
• Priced by users/locales/API usage; plan carefully.

Strapi

• Open-source core; self-host or use Strapi Cloud.
• Customizable through plugins; solid GraphQL/REST.
• Good fit if you want code-first flexibility.

Sanity

• Realtime collaboration; portable text; flexible Studio.
• Great DX with GROQ and client libraries.
• Usage-based pricing; watch quotas for media.

Setup Checklist (60 Minutes)

• Define content model and locales; plan migrations.
• Set roles, workflows, and previews for editors.
• Connect CDN/asset pipeline; enable webhooks to frontend.
• Load sample content; test publish/rollback.

Final Recommendation

Choose Contentful for enterprise governance, Strapi if you want open-source control, and Sanity for realtime editing and developer velocity. Model content once and ship to every channel.