Free Headless CMS Platforms
Which headless CMS platforms a startup can run its site and app content on for free today, how many seats, documents and API calls the free plan covers, whether it can be self-hosted, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, read from each platform's own page.
Free allowances read on each provider's own pages, all checked on or after . Headless CMS platforms change their free plans from time to time: confirm the terms on the platform's page before you move your content there.
Headless CMS platforms a startup can use for free today include Sanity (Free forever: 20 seats, 10k documents), Strapi (Free to self-host (MIT license)), Contentful (Free forever: 10 users, 1 Starter Space), Payload (Open source, you own and deploy it), and Hygraph (Free forever (Hobby plan)). Each of the 12 free plans below links to the platform's page that states it, with its main limit, whether it can be self-hosted, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs.
A headless CMS lets the marketing team edit pages, blog posts and product copy while the developers keep full control of the front end. The leading hosted platforms all have a free plan, and several open-source ones are free to run yourself.
The headline rarely tells you how far it goes. A free plan can cap seats, documents or records, API calls or locales, and some hosted plans are meant for small or non-commercial projects. Each platform below shows what is free, its main limit, whether it can be self-hosted, whether a card is needed and what the first paid plan costs, quoted from the platform's own page with the date we read it.
Which platforms we picked and the order they appear in are our editorial choices; the terms are the platforms'. Some of these platforms pay us a referral commission when someone signs up through our link: those links are labeled, and they play no part in which platforms are listed or where.
Hosted headless CMS with a free plan
Content APIs and editors in the cloud, with a free plan to start.
- 1
Sanity
Teams that want a free content studio with 20 seats
Sanity's Free plan is free forever for up to 20 seats and 2 public datasets. The first paid plan is Growth at $15 per seat a month.
- First paid plan
- Growth: $15 per seat a month (source: sanity.io)
Start free at SanityTerms read on sanity.io on Sanity: the free allowance and how to start Sanity Startup Program: what startups get - 2
Contentful
Learning the platform, then a single small site
The Contentful Free plan costs $0 forever with 10 users and 100,000 API calls a month. The first paid plan is Lite at $300 a month.
- First paid plan
- Lite: $300 a month, one project (source: contentful.com)
Start free at ContentfulTerms read on contentful.com on Contentful: the free allowance and how to start - 3
Hygraph
Personal projects and validating an idea
Hobby is free forever for personal projects, with 3 seats and 2 locales, and needs no card to sign up. The first paid plan is Growth at $199 a month.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: hygraph.com)
- First paid plan
- Growth: $199 a month (source: hygraph.com)
- 4
Storyblok
Testing and personal projects with one seat
The Starter plan is free for testing and personal projects, with one seat (up to 2), and needs no credit card. Growth is $99 a month billed monthly.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: storyblok.com)
- First paid plan
- Growth: $99 a month, billed monthly (source: storyblok.com)
Start free at StoryblokTerms read on storyblok.com on Storyblok: the free allowance and how to start - 5
Prismic
Personal sites and a proof of concept
The Free plan is $0 a month per repository, for developers building personal websites or a PoC, with 1 user and 4 million API calls a month. Starter is $10 a month per repository.
- First paid plan
- Starter: $10 a month per repository (source: prismic.io)
- 6
Contentstack
A first site, with 3 users
The Free plan is $0 a month, forever, with no credit card and 3 users. The first paid plan is Build at $29 a month.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: contentstack.com)
- First paid plan
- Build: $29 a month, own domain (source: contentstack.com)
Start free at ContentstackTerms read on contentstack.com on Contentstack: the free allowance and how to start - 7
DatoCMS
Small sites with up to 300 records
The Free plan is free forever with 300 records, 10GB of traffic and 100k API calls a month, and no credit card is needed to sign up.
- Payment card
- No card needed (source: datocms.com)
Open-source headless CMS you can self-host
Free to run on your own servers, some with a free cloud tier.
- 1
Strapi
Running the open-source code on your own servers
Strapi's code is MIT-licensed and can be self-hosted free with the Community edition. Its Cloud Starter hosting is paid, at $35 a month per project.
- First paid plan
- Cloud Starter: $35 a month per project (source: strapi.io)
- 2
Payload
A TypeScript team that wants to own the code
Payload is an open-source TypeScript codebase that you own and deploy anywhere. The pages read do not state a hosted free plan or a self-serve price.
- 3
Decap CMS
Git-based sites built with a static generator
Decap CMS is MIT-licensed and free today, open source and self-hosted, for static sites with any of the major Git providers.
- 4
TinaCMS
Visual editing for a small team
The Free plan is $0 forever for trying TinaCMS, with 2 users and 100 GB of bandwidth a month. Team is $24 per project a month for growing teams.
- What's free
- Free forever, 2 users (source: tina.io)
- First paid plan
- Team: $24 a month per project (source: tina.io)
- 5
KeystoneJS
Developers who want an open-source backend
Keystone is open source, and you can deploy it to managed services like Digital Ocean, Heroku and Render, or your own infrastructure. The pages read do not state a hosted price.
Start free at KeystoneJSTerms read on keystonejs.com on KeystoneJS: the free allowance and how to start
CMS startup programs
Programs from CMS companies that give startups free months or credits on paid plans.
Also useful for founders
Referral links, picked for fit and ordered by fit (70%) and what a signup earns us (30%), at no cost to you. They never change this page's ranking.
Blink.newAI app builder that turns a prompt into a live app with database and sign-in5 free credits a dayReferral link
ScraperAPIScraping API that handles proxies, browsers and CAPTCHAs for you1,000 API creditsReferral link
Parallel AIAutonomous AI agents for sales, marketing and support50 free credits, no cardReferral linkCompare the top options
How this comparison is built
The list covers headless CMS platforms a founder can use for free today without applying to a program. The order and the "best for" notes are our editorial reading of each platform's terms. Every term comes from the platform's own pricing or help page on the date shown, never from a third-party list; follow each link for the full conditions. A cap on seats, documents or API requests can matter more than the headline, so the comparison quotes them wherever the platform states them. Some of these platforms pay StartupPerks a referral commission, and their links are labeled as referral links; that decides neither whether nor where a platform appears, and no platform pays for a placement on this page.
Read the full methodologyCommon questions
What is the best free headless CMS?
It depends on your team and content. By the terms each platform states, Sanity's free plan covers 20 seats and 10k documents, Contentful's 10 users and 100K API calls a month, and Hygraph's 3 seats, while Strapi, Payload, Decap CMS and KeystoneJS are free to self-host.
Is Sanity free?
Yes. Sanity's free plan is free forever with 20 seats, 10k documents and 2 public datasets. Growth costs $15 per seat a month.
Is Contentful free?
Yes. Contentful's free plan covers 10 users, 1 Starter Space and 100K API calls a month. Lite costs $300 a month for one project.
Which open-source headless CMS is free?
Strapi's Community edition is free to self-host under the MIT license, Payload is open source and deploys wherever you choose, and Decap CMS and KeystoneJS are free and self-hosted. TinaCMS's free plan covers 2 users with its open-source CMS running in your Git repository.
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