Webflow vs. Contentful: A 2025 Comparison

Let’s explore the differences between Webflow and Contentful, two powerful CMS platforms designed for distinct user needs. 

Webflow is an all-in-one website design and development platform that combines a visual interface with coding flexibility, making it ideal for businesses prioritizing ease of use and creative control. It supports marketers and designers by enabling rapid website creation and management with minimal technical expertise. 

Contentful is a flexible headless CMS that focuses on delivering scalable multi-channel content solutions tailored for enterprises with technical resources. Its API-first approach allows for flexibility and customization, albeit with higher complexity.

Key takeaways:

• Webflow excels as a user-friendly platform for marketers, designers and small-to-medium businesses, with integrated tools for SEO, hosting and design.
• Contentful shines in enterprise settings, providing advanced scalability, multi-channel content distribution and developer-led customizations.

What Is Webflow? 

Webflow is a popular website development platform that combines the flexibility of coding with the ease of a visual website builder. Known for its intuitive drag-and-drop interface, Webflow enables users to build responsive websites without needing to write a single line of code. It’s an all-in-one platform, offering hosting, CMS features and design tools tailored for creatives, business owners and developers alike. From small business websites to full-fledged e-commerce stores, Webflow is designed to cater to a variety of needs.

One of Webflow’s standout design features is its ability to provide pixel-perfect design control while still producing clean and efficient code in the background. Additionally, Webflow CMS tools empower users to manage dynamic content effortlessly, making it a great choice for blogs, B2B and data-driven websites. Whether you're a business owner seeking simplicity or a designer craving creative freedom, Webflow offers a robust ecosystem to bring your vision to life.

Today, over 300,000 companies, including industry leaders like The New York Times, Dropbox and Orangetheory Fitness, trust Webflow to power their websites. This transformation signals a new era in web development, where design, performance and scalability converge to meet the demands of the modern digital economy.

Webflow As A Website Experience Platform (WXP)

Webflow’s evolution into a Website Experience Platform (WXP) represents a significant shift in how modern marketing teams can build, manage and optimize digital experiences. This transformation is driven by three emerging trends in the digital landscape: the rise of AI, increased pressure on marketers to drive conversions and the challenges of integrating disconnected tools.

Here are the key features of Webflow’s Website Experience Platform illustrating its shift towards an all-encompassing and all-empowering web platform for marketers in these uncertain times:

• Build: Webflow’s visual builder empowers designers and marketers to create enterprise-grade websites without needing extensive coding expertise. By combining flexibility with speed, teams can launch projects in weeks rather than months.
• Manage: The composable CMS allows users to add and update content at scale, either visually or programmatically via APIs. Webflow’s AI Assistant further enhances efficiency by simplifying repetitive tasks.
• Optimize: With native tools for A/B testing, personalization and SEO, Webflow transforms websites into valuable marketing assets. These capabilities enable teams to engage diverse audiences effectively and achieve measurable outcomes.

Webflow’s WXP bridges the gap between ease of use and enterprise-level performance, making it a versatile solution for businesses of all sizes. By prioritizing user experience, scalability and integrated functionality, Webflow allows teams to focus on creating exceptional digital experiences without the usual complexities of traditional platforms.

The Pros and Cons of Webflow

Webflow has transformed website creation, making it accessible to designers and businesses of all sizes. It’s a powerful platform that combines design flexibility with robust functionality, but it’s not without its limitations. Here's a closer look at the pros and cons of Webflow to help you decide if Webflow is the right content management system for you.

On the positive side:

• Webflow offers an intuitive design and content management experience. Its visual design tool generates clean code in real-time, making it perfect for those who want professional-quality web pages without extensive coding knowledge. 
• The platform’s responsiveness ensures your site looks great on any device, boosting user engagement and SEO rankings. 
• Webflow minimizes reliance on plugins, reducing security risks and compatibility issues. 
• Built-in SEO tools, like easy meta tag editing and schema support, help optimize site visibility. 
• Its hosting platform is reliable, secure, and fast, with free SSL and automatic backups. 
• Flexible pricing plans cater to various needs, from individuals to large enterprises.
• Webflow’s extensive library of templates and simplified animation tools make it easier to create dynamic, visually appealing sites. 
• Lastly, its learning resources, including Webflow University, ensure that even beginners can get up to speed quickly.

However, Webflow isn’t without drawbacks:

• The platform’s proprietary nature can limit flexibility; dynamic content isn’t exportable, tying you to Webflow’s hosting services. 
• While its integration options are growing, they don’t match the extensive plugin ecosystems of competitors like WordPress. 
• For teams, collaboration features require higher-tier plans, which can be costly for small businesses. 
• Webflow’s reliance on an internet connection can hinder productivity in areas with unreliable access. 
• Finally, while its interface is user-friendly, mastering advanced features may still require a learning curve, particularly for complex projects.

Webflow is an excellent choice for those who value design freedom, integrated features and secure hosting. However, businesses with specific hosting needs, advanced e-commerce requirements, or a heavy reliance on third-party integrations may need to weigh these considerations carefully. Ultimately, whether Webflow is right for you depends on your technical skills, project complexity and long-term goals.

What Is Contentful?

Contentful is a headless content management system designed to give businesses flexibility in managing and delivering content across various digital channels. Unlike traditional CMS platforms that combine content creation and presentation, Contentful focuses on content storage and delivery. It serves as a backend that integrates seamlessly with custom frontend applications, making it ideal for developers and businesses with unique needs.

By using Contentful, you can centralize your content in a single repository and deliver it to websites, mobile apps or any digital interface via APIs. This platform excels in scalability, making it a preferred choice for enterprises and organizations with complex multi-channel content strategies.

The Pros and Cons of Contentful

If you’re a consumer-oriented enterprise operating your content across multiple channels, Contentful excels in providing unparalleled flexibility.

Unlike traditional CMS platforms that tightly couple content management with design and delivery, Contentful takes a decoupled approach. This means your content is stored separately from how it’s displayed, giving you the freedom to deliver it across multiple channels such as websites, mobile apps, digital kiosks and wearable devices. For businesses aiming to maintain a consistent brand presence across diverse touchpoints, this level of adaptability is invaluable.

Contentful is also developer-friendly. Its API-first structure allows your technical team to integrate it seamlessly with other tools and services. This technical adaptability makes it particularly appealing to enterprises and teams with in-house development resources.

Additionally, Contentful offers a collaborative environment that supports team-based content creation and management. Its interface is intuitive, making it accessible for non-technical users while still offering advanced features for developers. 

Scalability is another significant strength. Contentful is built to grow with your business, handling large amounts of content and high traffic volumes with ease. This makes it a go-to option for businesses with ambitions to expand or for enterprises managing complex content structures across multiple regions or markets.

Contentful has its fair share of limitations, too. 

One challenge clients often face is the cost. While Contentful’s pricing scales with your business, it can become expensive, particularly for smaller organizations or startups that may not yet have the budget for enterprise-level tools. As you add more content, users and integrations, costs can rise substantially, making it a solution better suited for businesses with the resources to support it.

Contentful’s flexibility comes at the price of complexity. While it provides powerful tools, these require a certain level of advanced technical skills to set up and maintain. For non-technical teams, this can mean relying heavily on developers, which might delay implementation and increase dependency on external or in-house technical support.

Additionally, because Contentful is a headless CMS, businesses used to more traditional platforms might miss having out-of-the-box templates and design tools. Contentful focuses on content management and delivery, leaving the web design and frontend development entirely up to your team. While this approach offers freedom, it also requires more effort to build and maintain the frontend experience.

Another potential drawback is the reliance on APIs. While APIs are a powerful way to connect systems, they can introduce complexity. If an API breaks or isn’t configured correctly, it can disrupt your content delivery, requiring swift developer intervention. For businesses without a strong technical team, this could pose significant risks.

Related: A Guide to Contentful to Webflow Migration

Contentful vs. Webflow: Pricing

Webflow and Contentful cater to different audiences, which is reflected in their pricing structures.

Webflow’s pricing starts with a free plan for individuals exploring the platform, but most business users will need a paid plan. Webflow’s all-in-one nature means hosting, CMS and design tools are bundled, simplifying cost considerations.

• The Site Plans range from $14 (Basic Plan) to $39 (Business Plan) per month (billed annually), depending on the site’s features and traffic requirements. 
• For advanced needs like e-commerce, Webflow offers specialized plans starting at $29 per month. 
• The Workspace Plans are additional to Site Plans and are designed for flexible team-based user seat allocation for collaboration within the Webflow space.
• The Enterprise plan is the highest tier and comes at a custom price. 

Contentful, on the other hand, offers a more modular approach. Its pricing starts with a free plan for small projects but scales up rapidly for professional use. 

• Paid plans begin at $300 per month for the Lite tier, which supports collaborative workflows and advanced features. However, Contentful’s enterprise-level solutions can climb significantly higher, depending on the scale of usage and API calls.
• The Premium tier is an enterprise-grade plan and comes at a custom price as well, so you’ll need to contact sales for your personalized quote. 
• Contentful Studio is the latest addition to the platform’s family of tools. It offers a visual drag-and-drop canvas for collaborative content editing and is billed on a custom basis depending on your needs and scale.

For small-to-medium businesses seeking simplicity and an all-in-one solution, Webflow’s pricing is likely more accessible. Conversely, Contentful’s higher cost aligns with its target audience: larger organizations requiring robust multi-channel content solutions.

Webflow vs. Contentful: Ease-of-Use

When evaluating the ease of use between Webflow and Contentful, it's essential to consider the user experience each platform offers, especially for companies that might have no extensive developer resources in-house.

Webflow: User-Friendly Design Interface

Webflow is renowned for its intuitive, visual design interface that allows users to build and manage websites without extensive coding knowledge. Its drag-and-drop editor enables real-time design adjustments, making it accessible for designers and marketers alike. This user-centric approach empowers marketing teams to create and update website content swiftly, reducing reliance on development resources. 

Contentful: Developer-Centric Flexibility

While a visual drag-and-drop interface is the staple of Webflow available in all plans, Contentful only makes visual on-page editing available as a paid add-on, with the price depending on your scale of content operations. 

Contentful’s headless nature caters to developers rather than everyday users. Setting up and managing a Contentful project requires coding knowledge and familiarity with API integrations. While the backend is clean and user-friendly for content editors, creating the frontend experience necessitates technical expertise. 

Considerations for Marketing Teams

For marketing teams aiming to manage website content independently, Webflow's integrated CMS and user-friendly design tools provide a more straightforward experience. The platform's all-in-one nature streamlines workflows, enabling quicker implementation of marketing strategies without technical bottlenecks. 

On the other hand, Contentful's robust API capabilities are advantageous for organizations with complex, multi-channel content distribution needs, provided they have the necessary technical resources.

Who wins: Webflow is the better choice for business owners who want to build and manage a website without heavy reliance on developers. Contentful’s strengths shine when integrated into developer-led projects.

Related: Webflow vs Squarespace

Contentful vs. Webflow: CMS Capabilities

When it comes to managing content, both Contentful and Webflow have unique strengths. Let’s break it down in simple terms so you can decide which one’s right for your needs.

Webflow: Everything in One Place

Webflow’s CMS is like having a Swiss Army knife for your website. You can design, edit and manage content all in one platform. Need to update a blog post, tweak product details or adjust SEO settings? It’s all right there. Plus, Webflow’s CMS is built with marketers in mind. Once your CMS items are up and running, no further coding is required, and you can see changes live as you make them. It's perfect for teams who want control over their content without waiting on developers.

Contentful: The Flexible Powerhouse

Contentful is a headless CMS, which means it focuses on delivering content wherever you need it — your website, mobile app or even digital signage. It’s built for organizations with more complex setups, like managing content for multiple channels. However, the flip side is that you’ll need a developer to set it up and keep things running smoothly. If you’re managing content across multiple platforms, though, Contentful’s flexibility is hard to beat.

Understanding a Composable CMS

Both Webflow and Contentful offer a composable CMS as a content management system designed with flexibility at its core. Unlike traditional, one-size-fits-all platforms, a composable CMS allows you to select and integrate the best tools for your specific needs. This modular approach means you can easily add or replace components as your business evolves, ensuring your digital presence remains agile and responsive.

Webflow offers a visual-first, composable CMS that empowers teams to manage content directly on a visual canvas. This setup enables real-time design adjustments without the need for extensive coding knowledge. Marketers and designers can create, edit and publish content seamlessly, streamlining workflows and reducing dependence on development resources.

Contentful provides a composable content platform that breaks down content into modular components. This structure allows teams to build content once and reuse it across multiple brands, channels and regions. By connecting various content sources and integrating with other tools, Contentful supports the creation of personalized and consistent digital experiences at scale.

When selecting a composable CMS, consider your organization's specific needs:

• For visual design and ease of use: Webflow's integrated design and content management tools are ideal for teams seeking a user-friendly platform that facilitates rapid content updates and CMS data management without coding.
• For advanced integration and scalability: Contentful's robust API capabilities and modular content structure make it suitable for organizations requiring extensive customization and multi-channel content distribution.

If you’re a marketing team looking to take charge of your website without dealing with technical hurdles, Webflow is your go-to. It keeps things simple and empowers you to manage your site easily. On the other hand, if you’re running a large-scale operation with advanced content needs and you’ve got developers on hand, Contentful can offer the customization and scalability you’re looking for.

Who wins: Webflow is all about making life easier for non-technical teams, while Contentful shines when you need more power and flexibility across different platforms. It’s less about which one is better and more about what fits your goals best. 

Contentful vs. Webflow: Security

When choosing between Contentful and Webflow, security is a critical factor, especially for businesses managing sensitive data or adhering to compliance regulations. Here’s a comparative look at the security features and approaches of the two platforms:

Webflow Security Features

Webflow provides robust security measures offering peace of mind to users without requiring external configurations:

• SSL certificates: Webflow automatically provides SSL for all websites, encrypting data transfers between users and the website.
• DDoS protection: Webflow’s hosting, powered by AWS and Fastly, includes built-in protections against Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks.
• ISO 27018 compliance: Webflow aligns with international standards for cloud privacy and data protection.
• SOC 2 Type II compliance: Webflow is officially SOC 2 Type II compliant, which further reinforces the credibility of its enterprise-grade security controls.
• Automatic backups: Regular and automatic backups ensure data is recoverable in case of unexpected issues.
• Two-factor authentication (2FA): Available for securing user accounts within the Webflow dashboard.

Webflow’s security features are ideal for businesses seeking a secure, managed hosting solution with minimal configuration required. Its integrated approach is particularly beneficial for teams without dedicated IT or security staff.

Contentful Security Features

Contentful’s headless CMS model focuses on flexibility, allowing developers to integrate third-party tools for hosting and delivery. This gives organizations more control but also places more responsibility on their technical teams to implement and maintain security measures.

• Customizable access controls: Fine-grained user permissions let admins control access to content and functionality.
• Single sign-on (SSO): Supports enterprise-grade authentication for improved security and streamlined user management.
• Data encryption: All data is encrypted at rest and in transit, protecting it from interception or unauthorized access.
• API security: API tokens and webhooks are secured using industry standards, ensuring safe content delivery.
• Enterprise security add-ons: Advanced features like audit logs and content governance tools are available for enterprise customers.
• SOC 2 certification: Contentful meets rigorous standards for data security and operational processes.

Contentful’s security capabilities are ideal for enterprises with complex requirements and the technical resources to configure and maintain additional security layers. It’s particularly suited to organizations with a DevOps team managing multi-channel content delivery.

Who wins: For simplicity and built-in protections, Webflow is a solid choice. For scalable and highly customizable security in a multi-channel setup, Contentful leads the way.

Contentful vs. Webflow: SEO and Marketing 

When it comes to SEO and marketing, both Contentful and Webflow have strong offerings as part of their core CMS functionalities. Yet, their approaches cater to different types of users and organizational needs. Here's how they compare.

Webflow is designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind, making it a great option for marketing teams that want to take control of their websites without relying on developers. Everything you need for Webflow SEO is integrated right into the platform:

• You can easily edit meta titles, descriptions, alt text and structured data directly within Webflow’s visual editor. There’s no need to jump between tools or write any code. 
• Webflow automatically generates sitemaps, which ensures search engines can crawl your site effectively. 
• The platform allows you to optimize websites for fast load times and responsive design, two critical factors for SEO performance. 
• With seamless integrations for marketing tools like HubSpot, Google Analytics and Facebook Pixel, tracking and analyzing campaigns is straightforward, making Webflow an excellent choice for small to mid-sized businesses.

Contentful, on the other hand, is geared towards organizations with more complex content and marketing needs. As a headless CMS, it gives you the flexibility to build custom SEO setups, but this often requires developer involvement. 

• Contentful’s structured customizable content models help search engines better understand your site’s content, which is ideal for advanced SEO strategies. 
• Its API-driven approach is especially powerful for delivering consistent, optimized content across multiple channels such as websites, mobile apps and digital signage. 
• Contentful is a standout for global companies managing content in multiple languages and regions, offering robust localization tools to support international SEO. 
• While Contentful doesn’t have built-in SEO tools like Webflow, it integrates seamlessly with platforms like SEMrush, Ahrefs and Google Search Console, allowing for in-depth analysis and reporting.

Who wins: Webflow is perfect for small to mid-sized businesses and marketing teams that want to take control of their website’s SEO and campaigns without needing developers or IT teams. Contentful is ideal for enterprise-level organizations with complex SEO and marketing needs, especially those with in-house development teams to configure custom workflows and integrations. 

Webflow vs. Contentful: Design Capabilities

When it comes to design capabilities, Webflow and Contentful cater to different types of users and design processes. 

Webflow: A Visual-First Design Platform

Webflow is renowned for its visual-first approach, making it a favorite among designers and marketers alike. The platform provides a drag-and-drop interface that allows users to design responsive websites visually while still offering the power to dive into custom code if needed. Webflow bridges the gap between design and development by automatically generating clean, production-ready code as you build.

With Webflow, you can craft complex, visually stunning designs without the need for third-party design tools. It offers complete creative freedom, from custom animations and interactive elements to detailed styling, enabling users to bring unique brand visions to life. Moreover, changes can be previewed in real-time, ensuring a seamless design experience that empowers non-technical users to actively participate in the creative process.

Contentful: Flexible Design via Integrations

Contentful, on the other hand, is a headless CMS that separates content management from the presentation layer. While this provides unparalleled flexibility, it doesn’t include built-in design tools. Instead, Contentful relies on integrations with frontend frameworks or design platforms to shape the user experience.

Design in Contentful is highly customizable but requires a development team to implement it effectively. Developers can use their preferred frameworks (like React, Vue or Angular) to build unique interfaces that fetch content via Contentful’s APIs. This approach allows for limitless possibilities in design but comes with a steeper learning curve and more setup time compared to Webflow’s integrated solution.

Who wins: Webflow is the ideal choice for teams seeking a unified platform to design, develop and launch websites quickly. Contentful shines for enterprise-level projects where flexibility and scalability are paramount.

Contentful vs. Webflow: Support and Education 

Support and educational resources play a key role when choosing between Contentful and Webflow, influencing ease of adoption and platform mastery.

Contentful’s Learning & Support Resources

Contentful offers detailed documentation, forums and ticket-based support. Enterprise users gain dedicated success managers and 24/7 premium support.

In addition, there are such educational resources as a developer portal, Learning Center with structured courses for all levels, and webinars. Contentful’s resources cater mostly to technical teams needing a developer-focused CMS.

Webflow’s Learning & Support Resources

Webflow provides email support, a detailed Help Center and priority support for Enterprise users. It focuses on marketers and designers with fast, tailored assistance.

Its educational resources include the following:

• Webflow University: Tutorials and courses on design, development and SEO.
• Community and experts: Forums and vetted professionals for specialized help.
• Workshops: Interactive sessions and templates for easy onboarding.

Webflow empowers non-technical teams to manage websites independently.

Who wins: Choose Contentful for development-heavy teams managing complex projects. Choose Webflow to empower marketing and design teams with intuitive tools.

Contentful vs. Webflow: Who Wins

Webflow is the superior choice for small-to-medium businesses, marketing teams and design-forward organizations looking for a streamlined, all-in-one platform to manage their website with minimal reliance on developers. Its intuitive interface, integrated CMS and focus on speed and simplicity make it the go-to option for creating high-performing, visually engaging websites.

Contentful is best suited for enterprise-level companies with complex content needs. Its API-driven, headless architecture provides flexibility and scalability to manage content across multiple channels and regions. However, its reliance on developer expertise and higher cost structure may deter smaller teams or organizations without robust technical resources.

In summary:

• Choose Webflow for simplicity, integrated tools and empowering marketing teams to manage websites independently.
• Opt for Contentful if you need enterprise-grade flexibility, advanced multi-channel content distribution, and are equipped with a strong technical team.

Both platforms are excellent in their respective domains, and your choice should align with your organization’s size, technical resources and strategic goals.

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FAQ: Choosing Between Webflow and Contentful

1. What is the key difference between Webflow and Contentful?

Webflow is an all-in-one platform combining design, hosting and CMS tools with a user-friendly interface. It’s perfect for marketers and designers who want to create and manage websites without technical expertise. Contentful, on the other hand, is a headless CMS designed for enterprises managing complex multi-channel content. It focuses on content delivery via APIs and requires developers for frontend development, setup and maintenance.

2. Can Contentful be used without a developer?

While Contentful has an intuitive interface for managing content, setting up and integrating the platform requires developer expertise. If you don’t have access to technical resources, you may find it challenging to use Contentful effectively.

3. Is Webflow SEO-friendly?

Yes, Webflow is highly SEO-friendly. It includes built-in tools for editing meta tags, structured data and alt text. It also generates sitemaps automatically and ensures fast load times and responsive design, which are all critical factors for improving search engine rankings.

4. Which platform is more cost-effective, Webflow or Contentful?

Webflow generally offers more cost-effective plans for small-to-medium businesses, as its pricing includes hosting, CMS and design tools in one package. Contentful’s pricing scales significantly for enterprise-level development features and is better suited for large organizations with complex needs and bigger budgets.

5. Can I migrate my website from Contentful to Webflow or vice versa?

Migration is possible but may require effort depending on the complexity of your website. Webflow’s visual design and CMS structure make it straightforward to manage once set up, while migrating content into Contentful might require developer assistance to configure APIs and ensure smooth delivery.

6. Which platform is better for multi-channel content distribution, Webflow or Contentful?

Contentful excels in multi-channel content distribution. Its headless CMS approach allows content to be reused across websites, mobile apps, digital kiosks, and more. If this level of flexibility isn’t a priority, Webflow’s integrated CMS is sufficient for most business websites.

7. Does Webflow offer e-commerce functionality?

Yes, Webflow offers e-commerce plans with features like customizable product pages, secure checkout and seamless payment integration. It’s ideal for small-to-medium online stores looking for a visually stunning and easy-to-manage platform.