Sanity vs Contentful vs Payload vs Directus vs WordPress Headless — CMS Comparison
A head-to-head look at five CMS options for content-driven product teams — editing experience, developer control, and cost shape.
1 min readSalt Index
Choosing a CMS is less about features checklists and more about who suffers daily: editors or engineers.
Sanity
Structured content as code-friendly documents, real-time collaboration, strong for design systems. Pricing scales with seats and API usage.
Contentful
Enterprise content platform with mature governance. Excellent when many brands and roles need guardrails; can feel heavy for small teams.
Payload
Open-source, TypeScript-native, code-first CMS you host. Maximum control; you own ops.
Directus
Turns SQL databases into a readable admin app + API. Fantastic when content is relational data.
WordPress (headless)
Unmatched plugin ecosystem and editor familiarity. Headless WP works; you inherit WP’s security and hosting folklore.
Who should pick what
- Design-system content models → Sanity
- Enterprise governance → Contentful
- App-shaped CMS in your repo → Payload
- Database as source of truth → Directus
- Editorial muscle memory + plugins → WordPress
Salt Index does not crown a universal winner. We ask whether the CMS matches your editing workflow and your deploy story.
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