# Contentful vs DatoCMS

**Leader by vioscaleAI score:** Contentful

| Attribute | Contentful | DatoCMS |
|---|---|---|
| **vioscaleAI score** | 80.5 (59% (medium)) | 61.7 (71% (medium)) |
| content.faq | `[{"answer":"Contentful is a headless CMS and digital experience platform enabling teams to create and deliver personalized content at scale, with AI-powered automation, visual content assembly, and comprehensive workflow capabilities. It is indexed under CMS Software.","source":"https://www.contentful.com","question":"What is Contentful?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"Contentful offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans start at $0 per month. Prices are published openly on the vendor's own pricing page. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.contentful.com","question":"Is Contentful free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed browser-based access to Contentful. That is the extent of what we could verify from public sources, so it may well offer desktop or mobile clients we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.contentful.com","question":"What platforms does Contentful support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for Contentful, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.contentful.com","question":"Can Contentful be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed SOC 2 and ISO 27001 for Contentful. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as Contentful not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.contentful.com/security","question":"What security certifications does Contentful have?","confidence":0.7}]` | `[{"answer":"A headless content management system that lets teams create, manage, and distribute content to multiple digital channels from a centralized hub using APIs, with support for multiple languages, roles, and real-time updates. It is indexed under CMS Software.","source":"https://www.datocms.com/blog/we-made-big-changes-to-our-pricing-model","question":"What is DatoCMS?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"DatoCMS offers a free tier, so you can start without paying. Paid plans are also available: Developer, Professional, Agency and Enterprise. Pricing changes often, so verify at source before relying on it.","source":"https://www.datocms.com/blog/we-made-big-changes-to-our-pricing-model","question":"Is DatoCMS free?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"DatoCMS supports the web and a command-line interface. Platforms we have not confirmed are simply not listed here rather than ruled out.","source":"https://www.datocms.com/blog/we-made-big-changes-to-our-pricing-model","question":"What platforms does DatoCMS support?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have only confirmed a cloud / SaaS deployment for DatoCMS, so it appears to be vendor-hosted. If a self-hosted option exists we have not found it documented publicly.","source":"https://www.datocms.com/blog/we-made-big-changes-to-our-pricing-model","question":"Can DatoCMS be self-hosted?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have confirmed 11 integrations for DatoCMS, including Vercel, Jekyll, Hugo, Middleman, Imgix, Shopify, Next.js and Gatsby, plus 3 more. This is what we could verify from public sources, so the vendor may support others we have not indexed.","source":"https://www.datocms.com/blog/we-made-big-changes-to-our-pricing-model","question":"What does DatoCMS integrate with?","confidence":0.6},{"answer":"We have independently confirmed ISO 27001 for DatoCMS. Certifications we do not list are ones we have not been able to verify from public sources, which is not the same as DatoCMS not holding them. Always confirm compliance directly before you rely on it.","source":"https://www.datocms.com/security","question":"What security certifications does DatoCMS have?","confidence":0.7}]` |
| deployment.options | `{"cloud":true}` | `{"cloud":true}` |
| description.long | Contentful is a headless CMS and digital experience platform enabling teams to create and deliver personalized content at scale, with AI-powered automation, visual content assembly, and comprehensive workflow capabilities. | A cloud-based content management platform that separates content from presentation, enabling teams to manage structured content with visual editing, API-driven content delivery, and direct deployment to modern hosting platforms. |
| features.capabilities | `{"cms_type":"headless","free_tier":true,"multisite":true,"open_source":false,"headless_api":true,"localization":true,"self_hostable":false,"visual_builder":true,"managed_hosting":true,"content_workflow":true,"plugin_ecosystem":"Marketplace with apps and integrations to extend platform","structured_content":true}` | `{"cms_type":"headless","free_tier":true,"multisite":true,"open_source":false,"headless_api":true,"localization":true,"pricing_model":"freemium","visual_builder":true,"managed_hosting":true,"content_workflow":true,"deployment_model":"cloud_managed_saas","plugin_ecosystem":"Integrations with popular static site generators including Jekyll, Hugo, Middlem","structured_content":true,"graphql_api_native_delivery":true,"real_time_visual_preview_editor":true,"multi_language_localization_i18n":true,"nextjs_gatsby_native_framework_support":true,"visual_content_modeling_schema_builder":true,"granular_role_based_access_control_rbac":true,"shopify_bigcommerce_ecommerce_integration":true}` |
| integrations.count | - | 9 |
| integrations.list | - | `[{"name":"Vercel"},{"name":"Jekyll"},{"name":"Hugo"},{"name":"Middleman"},{"name":"Imgix"},{"name":"Shopify","native":true,"category":"ecommerce"},{"name":"Next.js","native":true,"direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Gatsby","native":true,"direction":"outbound"},{"name":"React Router","native":true,"direction":"outbound"},{"name":"Hexo","native":true,"category":"static site generator"},{"name":"Pelican","native":true,"category":"static site generator"}]` |
| market.availability | - | `{"primaryMarkets":[],"availabilityScope":"global","availableCountries":[],"notAvailableCountries":[]}` |
| platform.support | `{"web":true}` | `{"cli":true,"web":true}` |
| pricing | `{"type":"subscription","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Free","summary":"Free forever","features":["2 Roles (Admin, Editor)","2 Custom Locales","100K/month API calls (no overages)","50 GB/month asset bandwidth CDN (no overages)","50 MB max asset upload size","Structured content","Content tags","Links/reference fields","Visual modeler","Taxonomy","Localization","Reference view","Rich text editor","Markdown editor","Image editor","Scheduled publishing","Validation","Content versioning","Community support"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"roles":"2","locales":"2","api_calls":"100K/month","asset_bandwidth":"50 GB/month","asset_upload_size":"50 MB"}},{"free":false,"name":"Lite","summary":"Free base; additional spaces $850/month","features":["3 Roles (Admin, Editor, Author)","3 Custom Locales","1M/month API calls with paid overages allowed","100 GB/month asset bandwidth CDN with paid overages allowed","1000 MB max asset upload size","All Free features","Multi-space orchestration","Custom external references","Roles and permissions","ISO 27001 certified","API token management","Single Sign-On (SSO)","Teams","Custom roles and permissions","Tag-based permissions","User Management API","Environment governance","SCIM provisioning via IdP","Custom domain","Embargoed assets","Static webhook IPs","Security reporting","PCI DSS compliance","Encryption in transit and at rest","24/7 infrastructure monitoring","Medium-density infrastructure","Advanced caching","Standard technical support","Professional Services offerings","Infosec and legal review"],"components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}],"contactSales":false,"includedLimits":{"roles":"3","locales":"3","api_calls":"1M/month","asset_bandwidth":"100 GB/month","asset_upload_size":"1000 MB"}},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Custom pricing; contact sales","features":["All Lite features","Custom roles and locales","Custom API calls with paid overages","Custom asset bandwidth with paid overages","AI Actions with included quotas","Contentful Personalization compatible","Contentful Studio compatible","Dedicated infrastructure","Multi-region delivery infrastructure","EU data residency","Prioritized support with guaranteed response time SLAs","Dedicated Customer Success Manager","Professional Services offerings","Infosec and legal review"],"contactSales":true,"includedLimits":{"roles":"Custom","locales":"Custom","api_calls":"Custom with paid overages","asset_bandwidth":"Custom with paid overages","asset_upload_size":"1000 MB"}}],"addOns":[{"name":"Additional Lite Space","components":[{"kind":"fixed","amount":850,"period":"month","currency":"USD"}]}],"summary":"Free tier available. Lite plan free base with $850/month per additional space. Enterprise with custom pricing.","currency":"USD","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.contentful.com","retrievedAt":"2026-08-01T14:20:15.593Z","startingPrice":{"amount":0,"period":"month","currency":"USD"},"billingPeriods":["month"]}` | `{"type":"freemium","plans":[{"free":true,"name":"Developer","summary":"Free tier with all features included","description":"Fully-featured free tier for developers building small websites and simple web applications","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Professional","summary":"All-inclusive subscription plan","description":"All-inclusive plan with consistent support and reduced overage charges","contactSales":false},{"free":false,"name":"Agency","summary":"Custom pricing for agencies (requires sales contact)","description":"Custom plan for agencies managing multiple projects with discounts up to 80% per project","contactSales":true},{"free":false,"name":"Enterprise","summary":"Enterprise plan with SLA and priority support","description":"Includes guaranteed support response times, premium onboarding, and uptime SLA","contactSales":true}],"summary":"Free Developer tier plus paid Professional, Agency, and Enterprise plans","freeTier":true,"sourceUrl":"https://www.datocms.com/blog/we-made-big-changes-to-our-pricing-model","retrievedAt":"2026-09-08T15:39:39.213Z","billingPeriods":["month","year"]}` |
| pricing.free_tier | yes | yes |
| pricing.model | commercial | freemium |
| pricing.price_level | free | low |
| pricing.transparent | yes | yes |
| reliability.status_page | yes | yes |
| security.disclosure_policy | yes | yes |
| security.gdpr | - | yes |
| security.iso27001 | yes | yes |
| security.pci | yes | - |
| security.soc2 | yes | - |

## Capabilities (CMS Software)

| Capability | Contentful | DatoCMS |
|---|:--:|:--:|
| **Core** |  |  |
| CMS type | Headless / API-first | Headless / API-first |
| **Licensing** |  |  |
| Open-source | ✗ | ✗ |
| **Deployment** |  |  |
| Self-hostable | ✗ | - |
| Managed / cloud hosting offered | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Delivery** |  |  |
| Headless API (REST/GraphQL) | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Content** |  |  |
| Structured content modelling | ✓ | ✓ |
| Localisation / i18n | ✓ | ✓ |
| Content workflow / approvals | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Editing** |  |  |
| Visual / no-code page builder | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Extensibility** |  |  |
| Plugin / app ecosystem size | Marketplace with apps and integrations to extend platform | Integrations with popular static site generators including Jekyll, Hugo, Middlem |
| **Scale** |  |  |
| Multi-site / multi-tenant | ✓ | ✓ |
| **Workflow** |  |  |
| Git-based / code-first workflow | - | - |
| **Pricing** |  |  |
| Free / open tier | ✓ | ✓ |

*Source: vioscaleAI. Generated 2026-10-16T05:52:05.674Z. "-" = undocumented, not absent.*