Updated November 2026

Best headless CMS

The best headless CMS compared: Payload, Strapi, Sanity, Directus, Contentful and Ghost. Free plans, price, license and self-hosting, from each official page.

The short answer · November 15, 2026

Payload is the best headless CMS for developers in 2026: MIT-licensed, free to self-host and it runs inside your Next.js app. Pick Sanity for the most generous hosted free plan, Strapi for the largest open-source plugin ecosystem, and Contentful only if an enterprise budget is already approved.

Best overall for developersPayload
Best open-source ecosystemStrapi
Best hosted free planSanity
Best on an existing SQL databaseDirectus
Best for large enterprisesContentful
Best for blogs and newslettersGhost

Comparison

checked 2026-11-15

Tool	Best for	Free plan	Paid from	Open source	Self-host
Payload	Best overall for developers	Free, self-hosted	Enterprise only (sales)	MIT	Yes
Strapi	Best open-source ecosystem	Free, self-hosted	$35/mo per project (Cloud)	MIT core (open-core)	Yes
Sanity	Best hosted free plan	20 seats, 10k documents	$15 per seat/mo	Studio only (MIT)	No (content is hosted)
Directus	Best on an existing SQL database	Self-host free under $5M revenue	$99/mo ($89 yearly)	Source-available (MSCL)	Yes
Contentful	Best for large enterprises	10 users, 100k API calls/mo	$300/mo	No	No
Ghost	Best for blogs and newsletters	Free, self-hosted	$18/mo (Ghost(Pro), yearly)	MIT	Yes

1.Payload· Best overall for developers

Open-source Next.js-native headless CMS

Code-first TypeScript CMS that installs inside your Next.js app, with the admin panel and API in the same codebase. There is no self-serve hosted plan any more: you host it yourself or talk to sales.

Payload on DevHunt →Alternatives Official pricing

2.Strapi· Best open-source ecosystem

Open-source headless CMS

The most popular open-source Node.js CMS (73k+ GitHub stars) with a large plugin marketplace. Strapi Cloud has no free plan, and its Starter projects sleep when idle.

Strapi on DevHunt →Alternatives Official pricing

3.Sanity· Best hosted free plan

Content platform with a customizable headless CMS

Real-time collaborative editing and the most generous hosted free tier here. The Studio is open source, but your content lives only in Sanity’s cloud.

Sanity on DevHunt →Alternatives Official pricing

4.Directus· Best on an existing SQL database

Headless CMS and data platform on top of any SQL database

Points at any SQL database and gives you an API and admin app instantly. The license makes self-hosting free only for organisations under $5M revenue and 50 staff.

Directus on DevHunt →Alternatives Official pricing

5.Contentful· Best for large enterprises

Headless content platform for digital teams

The mature enterprise choice with roles, locales and SLAs. The step from the free plan to $300 a month is the steepest in this list.

Contentful on DevHunt →Alternatives Official pricing

6.Ghost· Best for blogs and newsletters

Open-source publishing and newsletter platform

A publishing platform with members and newsletters that you can also use headless through its Content API. The cheapest hosted plan leaves out the Admin API and webhooks.

Ghost on DevHunt →Alternatives Official pricing

How we picked

Every tool here is listed on DevHunt. We compared them on the points below and read each price, free plan and license on the tool's own pricing page and GitHub repository on November 15, 2026. Prices change: follow the official pricing link before you decide.

Free plan or free self-hosting
Price of the first paid plan
License (open source or not)
Self-hosting and where content lives

All CMS tools on DevHunt Free alternatives to Contentful

FAQ

What is the best headless CMS?+

For developers, Payload: MIT-licensed, free to self-host and built into Next.js. Sanity has the best hosted free plan, Strapi the biggest open-source ecosystem, and Contentful suits enterprises that need SLAs and fine-grained roles.

What is the best free headless CMS?+

Payload, Strapi and Ghost are free to self-host under the MIT license. If you don’t want to host anything, Sanity’s free plan (up to 20 seats and 10,000 documents) and Contentful’s free plan (10 users, 100,000 API calls a month) are the most generous hosted options.

Which headless CMS is best for Next.js?+

Payload, because it installs inside the Next.js app itself: one codebase, one deployment, and the admin panel at /admin. Sanity and Contentful also have official Next.js starters if you prefer a hosted backend.

Is Directus open source?+

Not any more in the OSI sense. Directus uses the Monospace Sustainable Core License: the code is public and self-hosting is free for organisations under $5M in revenue and 50 employees; bigger companies need a paid license.