CMS Orbit vs Sanity: how they compare
Sanity is a content platform developers shape in code. CMS Orbit is ready on day one, with content types, approvals, SEO and regions built in, no code needed.
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Sanity and CMS Orbit are both headless CMSs. Your content lives in the CMS and reaches your website or app through an API. Both build pages from components, show editors a visual preview of the website and give developers a typed JavaScript SDK.
The difference is in what comes ready. Sanity is a content platform that developers shape in code: the schema, the editing screens and any approval flow. CMS Orbit is a full-featured CMS where content types, shared sections, reviews, approval steps, SEO and regions work from day one, without code. 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 Sanity 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 Sanity does well
- Real-time collaboration: Several people can edit the same document at once, with presence built into Sanity Studio.
- An editing environment you build: Studio is configured in code, so developers can add their own inputs, views and tools.
- Flexible querying: GROQ, Sanity's own query language, sits alongside GraphQL, an HTTP API and a Live Content API.
- Visual Editing: The Presentation tool gives a live preview with click-to-edit, once the front end is integrated.
- Automation and AI: AI Assist, Agent Actions, Functions and an MCP server.
- Security credentials: Sanity holds a SOC 2 Type 2 report.
It suits product teams with developers who want to design the editing experience themselves and model content for many channels.
Where CMS Orbit is stronger than Sanity
Content types without code
In Sanity, schemas are written in JavaScript or TypeScript. Adding a content type or a field means a developer and a deploy. In CMS Orbit, you create content types, collections and components in the CMS. There are 21 field types, from rich text and references to taxonomies, approved claims and component slots. Fields can appear only when they're relevant, follow a regex rule with your own message, differ by region or protect a price. Each component lists where it's used. A developer maps each component to a React component once, and editors use it from then on.
Shared sections, edited in place
Sanity reuses content through references to a shared document, without a dedicated shared-block feature. In CMS Orbit, any block can become a shared section. Place it on as many pages as you like, then edit it in place from any of them. It has its own draft, publishing and preview, and it shows which pages use it. When one page needs to differ, detach the section to that page.
Compare versions on the real website
Sanity's compare view puts draft, published and release versions side by side. 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. Below, '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. See version history in the docs.
Reviews and approval steps without code
Sanity has no built-in approval screen. Its Workflows engine is in early access, and developers define it in TypeScript. In CMS Orbit, send for review is on every plan. The reviewer approves one exact version, nobody approves their own changes and approval can publish the page straight away. 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 different steps, and the record shows who approved, with which role and which version.
SEO built in
Sanity has nothing built in for SEO, and its official SEO pane plugin is deprecated. CMS Orbit includes an SEO workspace on every plan. Each page gets a health score with a 90-day trend, and checks run on drafts before they go live. Quick wins are sorted by impact: fix one in place, assign it to a person or mark it as intended. One list shows every page as a search result, with CSV export and import. 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 as well as languages
Localisation in Sanity comes from plugins, at field or document level, and we found no built-in concept of regions or markets. In CMS Orbit, a region has its own address prefix, time zone, currency and pages. Copy a page to another region and it stays linked: update it from the source later, and regional fields such as prices keep their values. DeepL translation suggestions are included in every plan.
Governance for content that must be right
Every plan also 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, tells approvers and is fully audited. Publish blockers stop pages with missing alt text or missing image consent. On Growth and Enterprise, review-by dates remind owners before pages go out of date.
Single sign-on included
SAML SSO is on Sanity's Enterprise plan. CMS Orbit includes Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace single sign-on on every plan at no extra cost. People, roles and regions live in Orbit and apply to every satellite you add. Remove someone once and their access goes everywhere. Orbit itself is free.
Audit log and roles on every plan
Sanity's audit log and custom roles are Enterprise only, and its Editor and Developer roles start on Growth. CMS Orbit has an audit log on every plan, with the window set by plan. Six built-in roles, from Viewer to Owner, can be adjusted on any plan, and custom roles come with Growth.
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.
Pricing that doesn't grow with every seat
Sanity charges per seat, plus usage quotas. CMS Orbit has a flat monthly price per organisation. Starter includes 5 members and Growth 15, and Orbit itself is free.
Side by side
| Feature | CMS Orbit | Sanity |
|---|---|---|
| Create content types and components | In the CMS, no code. 21 field types, conditional fields and regex rules | In code, as JavaScript or TypeScript schemas |
| 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 to a shared document. No dedicated shared-block feature |
| Visual preview of the real site | Live preview beside the editor at desktop, tablet and phone widths. Click a block to edit it | Visual Editing with click-to-edit. Needs front-end integration |
| Compare versions | Yes, all plans. Both versions rendered on the real website, plus a field-by-field list of changes | Draft, published and release versions side by side |
| Version history kept | 30 days on Starter, 365 days on Growth, all history on Enterprise | 3 days on Free, 90 on Growth, 365 on Enterprise |
| Scheduled publishing | Yes, all plans, in each region's time zone | Scheduled drafts on Growth and up |
| Reviews before publishing | Yes, all plans. Approves one exact version, and nobody approves their own changes | No built-in approval screen |
| Multi-step approvals | Growth and Enterprise. Named steps by role and by region, set up without code | Workflows in early access, defined in TypeScript |
| SEO checks and score | Yes, all plans. Score per page, quick wins and fixes assigned to people | Not built in. The official SEO pane plugin is deprecated |
| Regions with currency and prefix | Address prefix, time zone, currency and linked copies. 1, 5 or unlimited regions by plan | No regions concept. Localisation through plugins |
| Machine translation | DeepL suggestions included: 50,000 or 500,000 characters by plan | AI Assist on Growth and up, or Agent Actions in code |
| Landing pages, banners and popups | Growth and Enterprise. Timed landing pages, banners with follow-ups, popups with promo codes | Not built in. Developers model them |
| Single sign-on | Microsoft Entra ID and Google Workspace, included on every plan | SAML SSO on Enterprise only |
| Audit log | Yes, all plans. How far back it goes depends on the plan | Enterprise only |
| Custom roles | Six built-in roles you can adjust on every plan. Custom roles on Growth and Enterprise | Custom roles on Enterprise only |
| AI agents over MCP | Yes. No tools to publish, delete or change prices, and a person approves every change | Yes, an MCP server |
| EU hosting | By default: servers in Spain, files and backups in Ireland | Google Cloud, single EU region in Belgium |
| SDKs | JavaScript and TypeScript with React and Next.js, PHP, Swift and Kotlin, with type generation for each, plus REST and GraphQL | JavaScript and TypeScript, plus GROQ, GraphQL and HTTP APIs |
| Real-time co-editing | One editor at a time, with presence and handover | Yes, real-time, with presence |
| Pricing model | A flat monthly price, not per seat. Starter includes 5 members, Growth 15. Orbit is free | Per seat, plus usage quotas |
Both keep content in the EU by default. CMS Orbit names every provider on its sub-processors page.
When to choose CMS Orbit
- Editors should add content types, components and fields without waiting for a developer.
- You reuse sections across many pages and want to edit them where they appear.
- Content needs sign-off, and you want reviews, approval steps and an audit log without writing code.
- Search matters, and you want scores, redirects and 404 tracking in the CMS rather than in separate tools.
- You run one website across several countries, with different prices and languages.
- You want single sign-on and one set of people across your tools, without an Enterprise contract.
- You'd like AI agents to draft, with a person deciding what goes live.
When Sanity may suit you better
- Several editors need to work in the same document at the same time. CMS Orbit has one editor at a time, with a handover.
- You want to build your editing environment in code, with custom inputs and tools.
- Your developers prefer GROQ, or rely on Sanity's plugins and community. CMS Orbit is newer, with a smaller community.
- Your content serves many channels beyond websites, and you want to model it in code.
The short version
Choose Sanity if your priority is a content platform your developers shape in every detail, with real-time co-editing. Choose CMS Orbit if you want a full-featured CMS that is ready on day one: content types without code, shared sections, visual version compare, SEO, approvals and regions built in, on one sign-in with the rest of your tools.
The best way to decide is to try it with your own content. Explore CMS Orbit, compare plans, or talk to us.