By Mehdi HassanWhich headless CMS is best for a startup marketing site?
For most startup marketing sites, Payload or Sanity is the best headless CMS. Payload fits teams that want content in their own database inside a Next.js app, and Sanity fits teams that want a hosted backend with a customizable editing studio. Contentful fits larger organizations that need governance, and Strapi fits teams that want a self-hosted CMS as a separate service.
We build marketing sites in Next.js and run Payload in production on our own site, so we have a view, and we'll show our reasoning. If you're comparing because you're already planning a move, read our headless CMS migration hub for the method that works across all four.
How do Contentful, Sanity, Payload and Strapi compare?
The four differ most in hosting model, how the schema is defined, how editors work and how pricing scales. The table summarizes what matters for a marketing site.
Contentful | Sanity | Payload | Strapi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Hosting | Hosted SaaS | Hosted content backend; Studio deploys anywhere | Self-hosted in your Next.js app | Self-hosted or Strapi Cloud |
Schema defined in | Web UI or migration scripts | Code (TypeScript) | Code (TypeScript config) | Admin UI or code |
Rich text | Rich text JSON | Portable Text | Lexical JSON | Blocks editor or Markdown |
Flexible page sections | References to section entries | Arrays of objects | Blocks field | Dynamic zones |
Pricing shaped by | Spaces, content types, locales, seats | Seats and usage | Your hosting and database | Your hosting, or Cloud plan |
Best for | Enterprise teams, many brands | Editorial teams wanting a custom studio | Next.js teams wanting ownership | Teams wanting a separate open-source CMS |
Plans and features change, so check each vendor's current pricing and docs before deciding. The structural differences above change much more slowly than plan prices.
How does pricing scale for each CMS?
Pricing scales on a different axis for each CMS, so the cheapest choice depends on how you'll grow. Contentful's tiers are shaped by content types, locales and spaces; Sanity's by seats and usage; Payload and Strapi by what you pay to host them.
Our research found Contentful's tier jumps, such as a 25-content-type ceiling on a smaller space tier noted by Pagepro, are a common reason teams move to Sanity or Payload. That's the pattern to watch: not the starting price, but the step you hit when you add a language, a content type or an editor. For the specific case of moving off Contentful, see Contentful to Sanity and Contentful to Payload.
Three hypothetical pricing scenarios
For example, suppose three startups each need a CMS for a marketing site.
Startup A has two editors, one language and eight content types. Every option works. The hosted free or entry tiers may cover it, and Payload costs only hosting it already pays for with the Next.js app.
Startup B has six editors, four languages and twenty content types. Contentful's content type and locale boundaries come into play, and Sanity's seat count matters. Payload's cost doesn't change with editors or locales, but someone has to run the database.
Startup C has thirty editors across three brands with approval workflows. Contentful's governance features start to justify the price, and Sanity remains a strong option. A self-hosted CMS needs a team comfortable owning it at that scale.
In each case, check the vendors' current plan pages against your real numbers.
What is Payload like to run in production?
Payload is a TypeScript CMS that installs into your Next.js app, stores content in your own Postgres or MongoDB database and gives editors an admin panel at a route you choose. Running it in production feels like running the rest of your app, which is its main advantage and its main cost.
The schema is code, so collections, fields, access rules and hooks are reviewed in pull requests and typed end to end. The Local API lets server components read content without a network hop. Blocks fields map neatly to page sections, and field-level localization is built in. The trade-off is that you own uptime, backups, database upgrades and media storage. Our notes from production are in setting up Payload CMS for a marketing site, and Sanity vs Payload goes deeper on the two most common finalists.
Pros
- No per-seat or per-locale license cost
- Content in your own database
- Typed schema and Local API inside Next.js
- Flexible blocks for page building
Cons
- You run hosting, backups and upgrades
- Smaller ecosystem than older CMSs
- Admin customization needs developers
When are Sanity, Contentful or Strapi the better choice?
Sanity is the better choice when you want a hosted backend and a deeply customized editing experience. Contentful is better when governance, roles and multi-brand workflows matter more than cost. Strapi is better when you want an open-source CMS running as its own service, separate from the front end.
- Sanity: real-time collaboration, a Studio built in React, Portable Text for rich content and no database to run. Good for editorial teams and content reused across channels.
- Contentful: mature permissions, environments, apps and enterprise support. Good for larger organizations with many editors and brands.
- Strapi: open-source, self-hosted or on Strapi Cloud, with an admin UI for building content types. Good when the CMS should serve several front ends and stay separate from any one app.
If your marketing site and product share one domain, where the CMS lives affects routing too. Our guide to splitting your marketing site from your app covers the options. If you're fixing an app-style site that search engines can't read, start with React SPA to SEO-friendly website.
What should editors expect from each CMS?
Editors get the most familiar experience from Contentful's polished web app, the most tailored one from Sanity's Studio, a clean form-based admin from Payload and a similar admin from Strapi. What matters most for a marketing team is page building and preview, not the field editor.
Ask three questions in every demo: can an editor build a new landing page from existing sections without a developer, can they preview it before publishing, and can they schedule it. Each CMS answers differently depending on how the developer sets it up, so ask to see your kind of page, not a demo blog. Our guide to CMS setup for marketing websites explains how to give editors that freedom, and content modeling 101 shows how to structure the collections behind it.
Which CMS should you choose?
Choose by who edits, who runs infrastructure and which pricing axis your growth will cross. For a startup marketing site in Next.js with a small team, that usually points to Payload or Sanity.
