Looking for a Contentful alternative? Read this first

If you’re looking for a Contentful alternative, you’re not alone. Every headless CMS comes with its own upsides and downsides, and understanding those downsides may be the most important part of the selection process. Let’s take a look at a few reasons why you might want to search for a Contentful alternative.

1. The power of a next-gen Visual Editor

Contentful does not offer a visual editor with a real-time preview by default. This makes the creation process more difficult for everyone: it’s easy to get lost in a form view of endless content types, and you may not always know where to make your edits if it’s just a list rather than an interactive interface.

You can get lost if you don’t know what you’re doing.- Nick W., Capterra Reviewer

In addition to this lack of true WYSIWYG editing experience, previewing content prior to publication is limited with Contentful. One user even said that “it sometimes takes a quarter of an hour for changes you made to appear on the preview pages, which is just painful."

A Contentful alternative like Storyblok turns all of that on its head. Storyblok offers a next-gen Visual Editor, which offers an intuitive way to create powerful content using drag-and-drop functionality. With this feature, users can easily make changes and see what those changes will look like as they’re making them.

Storyblok as a Contentful alternative stands out with its next-generation Visual Editor, which provides an intuitive way to create content. With this feature, users are looking at a real-time reflection of the changes they’re making as they occur. The drag-and-drop editing interface empowers teams so they’re never forced to guess what the final product is going to look like.

All developers have to do to provide this experience is create reusable component blocks. The basic structure of these blocks will be the same. However, the content inside will be fully customizable without any technical expertise. Thanks to this, editors can work independently from developers, streamlining the process and making it feel as natural as possible.

Nevertheless, the Visual Editor isn’t the only option. Whether developers want to create stories without their own frontend representation layer or simply prefer to work without visuals, they can switch to the form-only editor.

2. Collaborating easier, faster, and better

One reason that some seek out a Contentful alternative is the CMS’s relatively basic collaboration tools. For example, Contentful offers custom roles - those that dictate how certain users can interact with the space - but this feature is only included in the most expensive Premium plan tier.

By the same token, Contentful also offers customizable workflows, but only for the Premium plan tier. Additionally, it’s not native to the program. Users must integrate a third-party app to secure this functionality.

As a Contentful alternative, Storyblok offers robust collaboration tools designed to help teams work together seamlessly starting at the lowest Entry price plan. When compared to Contentful’s Premium tier requirement, the cost is far less.

Take custom roles, for example. With this feature, Storyblok customers can decide who’s able to create, delete, access, and update elements on any given site. This provides an opportunity to precisely supervise who’s allowed to make changes, meaning administrators can fully control their sites.

Custom workflows are also a highlight of this Contentful alternative. Users begin with four default workflows: Undefined, Drafting, Reviewing, and Ready to publish. They can use these stages to keep content creation organized.

Users who choose the Teams plan or above can also customize how these operate and create new stages with adjustable aspects including:

• Which user roles are granted access to workflow tasks

• Who is allowed to approve changes

• Who is allowed to move content along the pipeline

Storyblok makes collaboration even easier with an in-engine commenting tool. Users can add comments directly on the content - for each specific field. It’s an intuitive process very similar to the commenting systems used by Figma or Google Docs. This cuts down on time spent jumping between third-party tools significantly while also making it clear exactly which components are being discussed.

3. Predictable pricing: Creating content without limitations

Pricing is an essential part of any software a company uses, especially when it’s an investment as significant as the CMS. Understanding the final costs is crucial to the budgeting process.

Contentful pricing is based on consumption. Elements such as content types, records, APIs, bandwidth, and locales all contribute to the final bill. So while a plan starts off offering an attractive number of users, expanding the project quickly becomes a very expensive undertaking - and a hard-to-predict one, too.

The pricing model is complex to the point that the reason we chose Contentful (Cheap and Easy) was no longer valid - as Contentful prices escalate quickly for multiple spaces and usage. - Jacqueline N., Validated G2 Reviewer

With Storyblok as a Contentful alternative, there’s no need to worry about growth being constricted by surprise charges. There will never be unexplained costs and pricing will always be transparent. Users can also start with a free 14-day trial to see everything that Storyblok has to offer before they invest.

Storyblok has provided me with a cost-effective, consistent platform to handle all the content management needs. - Validated G2 Reviewer

Beyond pricing, Storyblok also enables users to expand their horizons with robust localization features. They can create content experiences tailored for different languages, locations, markets, and particular audience segments. 

It’s easy to use field or folder-level translations to serve content in multiple languages. Storyblok offers all of this while maintaining the ease of the Visual Editor: instead of a long list of languages taking up the interface, teams can simply switch between localizations with the click of a button.

Moreover, scaling up doesn’t have to require excessive time and energy. This Contentful alternative allows for instant content duplication, meaning expanding is as simple as selecting the necessary assets and making copies. The content within all transfers over. Users only need to customize it to fit their new needs.

Storyblok: One CMS, endless possibilities

It’s no wonder how Storyblok has attracted over 100,000 users across 130 countries: with powerful features that are dedicated to empowering a new generation of digital experiences, Storyblok enables teams to reach new heights every day.

As a headless CMS, Storyblok offers users a fully future-proofed system. This API-driven approach means that new programs can be added seamlessly at any time, making for a safe and agile setup. With the freedom to change, teams will always be able to reach any audience through any channel

The Visual Editor is another essential part of the Storyblok toolkit. Users can drag and drop elements in a what-you-see-is-what-you-get interface. The result is an easy-to-use system that provides an accurate reflection of content before it’s published. No more trial-and-error before the big launch - all teams have to do is look at the interface to understand the changes they’re making.

Storyblok also makes internationalization a breeze – and it doesn’t cost any extra. Users can opt for field or folder-level translations to craft globalized projects according to their content structure needs. It all goes smoothly thanks to collaboration tools like streamlined content workflows and in-engine commenting. Teams can scale easier, publish faster, and reach more audiences than ever before.

In addition to transparent, predictable pricing, Storyblok also offers proven results when it comes to return on investment: According to a recent Forrester Total Economic Impact Study, Storyblok produced an ROI of 582% in three years - the highest ROI for CMSs as determined by Forrester to date.

Users can get all of these benefits with peace of mind thanks to Storyblok’s ISO 27001 certification. This certification is earned through rigorous adherence to the highest level of international security standards. Teams can grow operations in every direction without having to hesitate about their content and data safety.

In addition to the recognition from TEI and ISO 27001, Storyblok currently ranks as the leading option on the trending G2 Grid® for Headless CMS, showing that the high rates of user satisfaction, employee growth, and digital presence place it ahead of the competition.

Ready to try the most powerful Contentful alternative on the market?

Storyblok as a Contentful alternative is an intuitive, collaborative system with all the functionality needed to create endless user experience possibilities. With unique features like the Visual Editor, precise in-engine commenting, and predictable pricing, it’s no wonder that it's the #1 CMS for creating incredible customer experiences across any digital channel.

You can learn more about Storyblok by reaching out to our team today.

Or, to kick things off with a 14-day free trial, sign up here.