CMS Orbit vs Contentful: how they compare
Contentful has a mature ecosystem and many SDKs. CMS Orbit builds in what Contentful keeps for Enterprise: SSO, custom roles, audit log, SEO, regions and campaigns.
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Contentful and CMS Orbit are both headless CMSs. Both let you model content in the browser, serve it to any website or app through REST and GraphQL, and give editors a live preview of the website.
Contentful is one of the best-known names in the field, with a large ecosystem. CMS Orbit is newer, and it includes things that Contentful keeps for its Enterprise plan, leaves to apps or leaves you to model: SEO, regions, campaigns, custom roles, an audit log and single sign-on. It also shares one sign-in, one set of people and one set of roles with every other Orbit tool you use.
Here's what Contentful does well, where CMS Orbit is stronger and how to choose.
Based on each product's public documentation in October 2026. Products change, so check the latest details.
What Contentful does well
- A mature ecosystem: An App Framework and a marketplace of apps and integrations, with years of use in large organisations.
- Many SDK languages: Official SDKs for JavaScript, PHP, Java, Swift, Python, Ruby and .NET, plus TypeScript type generation.
- Content modelling in the browser: A visual modeler for content types, with references, tags and taxonomy on every plan.
- Field-level localisation: Locales set field by field, with a chain of fallbacks.
- Releases and collaboration: Launch for releases, scheduled publishing, presence, comments and tasks from the Lite plan.
- Security credentials: ISO 27001 and SOC 2 Type 2.
It suits larger organisations with dedicated development teams, many channels and an established set of tools around their CMS.
Where CMS Orbit is stronger than Contentful
Content modelling with more built into the fields
Both products let you create content types in the browser, and both do it well. CMS Orbit adds more to each field. There are 21 field types, including approved claims and component slots with an allowed list. Fields can appear only when they're relevant, follow a regex rule with your own message, differ by region or protect a price or promotion. Each component shows where it's used, so you know what a change will touch.
Shared sections, edited in place
In Contentful, entries reuse content through references. Studio, where marketers assemble layouts from components that developers register, is on Enterprise only. In CMS Orbit, any block can become a shared section with no code. Place it on many pages, then edit it in place from any of them. It has its own draft, publishing and preview, it lists the pages that use it, and you can detach it to one page when that page needs to differ.
Click a block to edit it
Contentful's live preview needs front-end integration, and its click-to-edit inspector mode is on Premium and Enterprise. In CMS Orbit, the real website sits beside the editor at desktop, tablet and phone widths, and editors click a block to edit it on every plan. Shareable preview links work without an account.
Compare versions on the real website
Contentful's 'Compare with current version' shows two versions side by side, with an option to show only the differences, on the master environment. CMS Orbit renders the old version and your draft on the real website, with real blocks, and each side has its own desktop, tablet and phone switch. 'What changed' lists every field and block that was added, changed or removed, SEO text included. Restoring adds a new version, so nothing is lost. It's on every plan.
Reviews and approval steps on Growth
Contentful has no workflows on its Free plan and up to 5 on a Lite space, with custom workflows on Enterprise. CMS Orbit's review on every plan approves one exact version, and nobody can approve their own changes. On Growth and Enterprise, content types can require several named steps, such as Product safety, then Legal, then Brand. Each step is limited to a role, regions can have their own steps, and the record shows who approved, with which role and which version.
SEO built in
Contentful has no dedicated SEO module: you model SEO fields yourself, and AI Actions on Enterprise can write meta descriptions. CMS Orbit includes an SEO workspace on every plan. Each page gets a health score with a 90-day trend, checked on drafts before they go live. Quick wins are sorted by impact, and you can fix in place or assign a fix to a person. Redirects follow URL changes with an automatic 301, 404s are tracked with scanner noise filtered out, and broken links, structured data, hreflang and sitemaps are covered too.
Regions, not only locales
Contentful has locales, 2 on Free and 3 on Lite, but no separate concept of markets or regions. Machine translation is through AI Actions on Enterprise or marketplace apps. In CMS Orbit, a region has its own address prefix, time zone, currency and pages. Linked copies pull in later changes from the source while keeping regional prices, and DeepL suggestions are included in every plan.
Campaigns built in
Contentful builds landing pages through Studio on Enterprise, with no native banners or popups. CMS Orbit's Growth plan includes campaigns: landing pages with an end action for when the offer ends, banners with a countdown and follow-up chains, and popups with promo codes, audiences and snooze days.
Governance for content that must be right
Every CMS Orbit plan includes a library of approved claims. Edit the wording once and every page that uses it updates within a minute, without republishing. An emergency banner skips review when you need it, but asks for a reason and is fully audited. Publish blockers stop pages with missing alt text or image consent, and review-by dates on Growth remind owners before pages go out of date.
Single sign-on, roles and audit log without Enterprise
Contentful's SSO, custom roles and near-real-time audit logs are on Enterprise. Lite has 3 fixed roles. CMS Orbit includes Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace single sign-on on every plan at no extra cost. It has an audit log on every plan, six built-in roles you can adjust on any plan, and custom roles on Growth.
EU hosting by default
Contentful's EU data residency is a paid add-on on its top plans. CMS Orbit runs in the EU by default: servers and database in Spain, and files and backups in Ireland. The sub-processors page lists every provider.
AI agents with hard limits
Both products have an MCP server. CMS Orbit's has no tools to publish, schedule or delete other people's work, and none to change prices, people, settings or schemas. Everything an agent writes is marked Drafted by AI and needs another person's approval.
Simple pricing
Contentful's Lite plan is priced by seats and spaces, with usage overages. CMS Orbit has a flat monthly price per organisation. Starter includes 5 members and Growth 15, every plan has a 14-day trial with no card, and Orbit itself is free.
Side by side
| Feature | CMS Orbit | Contentful |
|---|---|---|
| Create content types and components | In the CMS, no code. 21 field types, conditional fields and regex rules | In the browser, no code, with the visual modeler |
| Reusable sections across pages | Shared sections, edited in place on any page, with their own draft and a list of pages that use them | References between entries. Studio layouts on Enterprise only |
| Visual preview of the real site | Live preview beside the editor at desktop, tablet and phone widths. Click a block to edit it | Live preview with front-end integration. Click-to-edit on Premium and Enterprise |
| Compare versions | Yes, all plans. Both versions rendered on the real website, plus a field-by-field list of changes | Compare with current version, on the master environment only |
| Scheduled publishing | Yes, all plans, in each region's time zone | Lite and up |
| Reviews before publishing | Yes, all plans. Approves one exact version, and nobody approves their own changes | Workflows from Lite. None on Free |
| Multi-step approvals | Growth and Enterprise. Named steps by role and by region, set up without code | Up to 5 workflows on Lite. Custom on Enterprise |
| SEO checks and score | Yes, all plans. Score per page, quick wins and fixes assigned to people | No built-in SEO module. You model the fields |
| Regions with currency and prefix | Address prefix, time zone, currency and linked copies. 1, 5 or unlimited regions by plan | Locales only, no regions concept. 2 on Free, 3 on Lite |
| Machine translation | DeepL suggestions included: 50,000 or 500,000 characters by plan | AI Actions on Enterprise, or marketplace apps |
| Landing pages, banners and popups | Growth and Enterprise. Timed landing pages, banners with follow-ups, popups with promo codes | Landing pages through Studio on Enterprise. No native banners or popups |
| Single sign-on | Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace, included on every plan | Enterprise only |
| Audit log | Yes, all plans. How far back it goes depends on the plan | Near-real-time audit logs on Enterprise |
| Custom roles | Six built-in roles you can adjust on every plan. Custom roles on Growth and Enterprise | 2 roles on Free, 3 fixed on Lite. Custom roles on Enterprise |
| AI agents over MCP | Yes. No tools to publish, delete or change prices, and a person approves every change | Yes, hosted and open-source MCP servers |
| EU hosting | By default: servers in Spain, files and backups in Ireland | EU data residency as a paid add-on on top plans |
| SDKs | JavaScript and TypeScript with React and Next.js, PHP, Swift and Kotlin, with type generation for each, plus REST and GraphQL | JavaScript, PHP, Java, Swift, Python, Ruby and .NET |
| Plugins and integrations | APIs, signed webhooks and MCP. No plugin marketplace | App Framework and a marketplace of apps |
| Pricing model | A flat monthly price, not per seat. Starter includes 5 members, Growth 15. Orbit is free | Seats and spaces on Lite, with usage overages |
When to choose CMS Orbit
- Your team should be productive from the first afternoon, with a visual editor and live preview.
- You reuse sections across many pages and want editors to change them in place.
- You need reviews, approval steps, custom roles and an audit log without an Enterprise contract.
- Search matters, and you want SEO scores, redirects and 404 tracking in the CMS.
- You serve several countries with different prices, claims or rules.
- You want single sign-on and EU hosting included, not added on.
When Contentful may suit you better
- You need a large ecosystem of apps and partners.
- Your developers want an official SDK in Java, Python, Ruby or .NET. CMS Orbit has SDKs for JavaScript, PHP, Swift and Kotlin; other languages read the REST and GraphQL APIs.
- You already run Contentful at scale, and switching would cost more than it saves.
- You need ISO 27001 or SOC 2 Type 2 from your CMS provider, or prefer a long track record. CMS Orbit is newer.
The short version
Contentful is a mature choice for large teams with many integrations and developers in several languages. CMS Orbit is the stronger fit when you want shared sections, version compare, approvals, SEO, regions, campaigns, single sign-on and EU hosting built into every plan or into Growth, not saved for Enterprise.
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