Contentful offers flexible CMS pricing, from free plans to premium solutions. Learn about its features, benefits, and tips for selecting the right plan.
Contentful is a cloud-based content management system (CMS) founded in Germany in 2013. Businesses mainly use it to control their digital presence and create a smooth online experience for customers. Rather than a traditional CMS, Contentful is better described as an "omnichannel content platform" that organizes and distributes content across multiple platforms and devices. A key benefit of Contentful is flexibility. Users can build a custom content model suited to their business needs, defining the types of content to be managed. The platform makes creating, managing and publishing content to any platform or device easy. This omnichannel approach provides complete freedom in reaching customers rather than being locked into specific channels.
Contentful’s pricing can range from $5,000 to $70,000 per year, depending on your company’s needs. The final cost depends on the size of your organization, the number of users, and the features you require. Contentful offers different pricing plans, starting with basic content management features and going up to more advanced options like integrations, custom roles, and additional support. For businesses that need more customization or larger teams, the price will increase as you add more users or require more advanced tools. If you need a specific price quote based on your unique requirements, it's best to contact Contentful directly. They will be able to provide a custom quote for your company’s needs, ensuring you get the right plan and features within your budget.
Plans Offered by Contentful:
Here are some tips for getting a better deal on Contentful:
Below are some of the Contentful core features that makes it stand out from others:
Content Delivery Network
Contentful has its own global content delivery network (CDN) designed to distribute content quickly and reliably to users worldwide. The CDN ensures published content loads fast regardless of your users' location. It also serves content on demand 24/7 with high availability, so there is no downtime or lag in content delivery.
Custom Content Models
One major advantage Contentful provides is the ability to create fully customized content models tailored to your business needs. There are no preset content templates you have to make do with. You can flexibly craft and manage content types like blog posts, products, images, videos, etc. in one centralized system. This powers the content across all platforms. The custom models let you add any content structures you require without relying on developer help.
Simple Interface
Contentful focuses on an intuitive web interface that simplifies content creation and management. The interface is designed to be user-friendly for non-technical users with no coding experience, making it easy to train staff or team members to manage content. The simplicity of the interface also leads to smooth content consumption experiences for your end users.
Multi-Platform Publishing
The headless CMS design allows integrated publishing across any platform from one content source. You can syndicate published content everywhere automatically with one click—whether on a website, mobile app, or other channels. There is no need to republish or duplicate content specifically for different platforms. You maintain content in one place, letting Contentful push it out across all endpoints.
Backup System
All content and data within Contentful is backed up across two separate servers to prevent data loss. It also allows recovery of deleted content for 25 days after initial deletion. So you have both redundancy and an over three-week window to reverse accidental content deletion, adding reliable protection.
Code-Free Content Management
The platform allows users to publish, edit, unpublish, and archive content directly without any need for developer help. Even non-developers can learn to operate the system smoothly for faster content publishing that doesn't rely on waiting for code changes. This makes your overall workflow more agile and efficient.
Here are some of the alternatives to Contentful:
Storyblok
Storyblok is a cloud-native headless CMS that allows your team to create next-generation content experiences. Because it is frontend agnostic, you can use whatever frontend, framework, or third-party solution you like. Because Storyblok is founded on the concepts of composable design, you may quickly assemble and modify its components to suit your specific requirements. This also indicates that it is quite flexible, allowing you to assemble a best-of-breed system by adding new parts without affecting the current structure.
Strapi
The best headless CMS available is Strapi. It is open-source and based on Node.js. Because of its intuitive interface, developers and content producers can use it. The platform's many customization options allow you to adapt it to your company's requirements.
Hygraph
Hygraph is another contentious option that emphasizes an easy-to-use interface. Headless GraphQL content platform Hygraph boasts a user-friendly interface, a reliable versioning system, and effective data retrieval. There might still be a learning curve for people unfamiliar with GraphQL, though. Pricing also varies; expenses may rise in tandem with changes in usage patterns and features.
Sanity
The adaptable, API-first Sanity headless CMS offers a robust content modeling tool. It can be tailored to meet different content needs because it lets you create unique content structures and relationships. Additionally, Sanity provides real-time collaboration tools that let several people work on content at once.
Spendflo can help you secure better deals on Contentful by leveraging its expertise in SaaS management and negotiations. By analyzing your usage data and requirements, Spendflo identifies areas where you can optimize costs and negotiates directly with Contentful to get the best possible cost. They ensure that you only pay for the features you need, avoid over-licensing, and can also assist with renewing contracts under more favorable terms. This saves both time and money while maximizing the value you get from Contentful's services.
How much does Contentful cost?
Contentful pricing ranges from $5,000 to $70,000 per year for enterprise-level customized plans. Pricing depends on the number of users, content volume, and specific features needed.
What factors determine how much Contentful costs?
The main factors affecting Contentful pricing are the number of users & editors, content volume, including API calls and CDN usage, the number of locales/languages supported, and additional features like custom roles, increased governance, and dedicated support.
What is included in Contentful's free plan?
The free plan includes 5 users, 2 locales, 1 million API calls per month, 1 introductory space for content, community support, and core developer tools. It's best for small teams trying out Contentful.
Does Contentful offer non-profit or education discounts?
Yes, Contentful offers discounts for registered non-profit organizations and educational institutions. You need to inquire about eligibility with their sales team.
Is there a way to get free trial credit on Contentful?
New users can get a free trial with usage credit to test out Contentful before subscribing. There may also be account credits or extended trials offered for specific situations.