Raytha vs Contentful: a self-hosted, open source alternative
Contentful is a managed, API-first headless CMS: nothing to host, a global CDN, REST and GraphQL APIs, and enterprise features such as localization, apps and personalization, priced by plan with usage limits. Raytha is a free, open source CMS you host yourself on .NET 10 and PostgreSQL, with a REST API, Liquid templates that can render the whole site, and members and single sign-on included. Choose Contentful to avoid running infrastructure; choose Raytha to own the stack and avoid per-seat and per-call pricing.
Last reviewed October 2026 against Raytha 2.0.1 and Contentful's current Free, Lite and Premium plans.
Raytha vs Contentful at a glance
| Raytha | Contentful | |
|---|---|---|
| Model | Open source software you host | Proprietary SaaS |
| License and price | MIT, free | Free plan (non-commercial use), paid Lite plan, Premium by quote |
| Usage limits | Your own infrastructure | Free: 100,000 API calls and 50 GB asset bandwidth per month; Lite: 1,000,000 calls and 100 GB, with overages |
| Users | Unlimited | Free: up to 10; Lite: up to 20 |
| Hosting | Docker or Railway, anywhere you choose | Contentful's cloud and CDN |
| APIs | REST API v1, API keys | REST (delivery, preview, management) and GraphQL |
| Rendering | Headless, or a full site with Liquid templates and a page builder | Headless; you build and host the front end |
| Localization | Not built in | Built in |
| Members and SSO | Public users, user groups, SAML and JWT SSO | SAML SSO for editors on Premium plans; no site-visitor membership |
| Data location | Your database | Contentful's infrastructure |
What Contentful does well
Contentful pioneered the API-first content platform. There is nothing to patch or scale, content is delivered from a CDN, and the APIs, SDKs and webhooks are mature. Larger plans add localization at scale, workflows, an app framework and marketplace, Contentful Studio for visual editing, personalization and AI features, with vendor support and compliance documentation. For a multi-brand, multi-channel organization with front-end teams, it is a strong choice.
The trade-offs
Contentful's Free plan may only be used to test and learn, not for commercial use. Paid usage is metered: the Lite plan includes 1 million API calls and 100 GB of asset bandwidth per month, with extra calls billed at $5 per million and bandwidth at $0.15 per GB. User counts are capped per plan. You always need a separate front end, and your content lives on Contentful's infrastructure.
Where Raytha fits
- Self-hosted and free. MIT-licensed. Run it in a Docker container with PostgreSQL on your own cloud or a one-click Railway template. No per-seat, per-call or per-space pricing.
- Headless or full site. A REST API for every content type, or Liquid templates, themes and a widget page builder so Raytha serves the site itself.
- Members and SSO. Public users, user groups, emailed one-time codes, SAML and JWT single sign-on for administrators and site visitors.
- Content modelling in the admin. Custom content types with 13 field types, list views, revisions and CSV import and export.
- Your data, your database. Content sits in your PostgreSQL database and media on your own disk, Azure Blob or S3-compatible storage.
When to choose Contentful
- You do not want to run servers, databases or backups.
- You need a global CDN, localization at scale and enterprise governance.
- You have front-end teams building several channels from one content hub.
- You want vendor support, SLAs and compliance certifications.
When to choose Raytha
- You want to own your content and infrastructure, or have data residency requirements.
- You want predictable costs without per-seat or per-call pricing.
- You want the CMS to render your website, not only serve an API.
- You need logged-in members and SSO for site visitors.
- Your team runs .NET.
Before you switch
With Raytha you are responsible for hosting, scaling, backups and updates, and for putting a CDN in front if you need one. Raytha has no GraphQL API, no built-in localization and no app marketplace. Content migration is a script that reads Contentful's APIs and writes to Raytha's REST API, CLI or CSV import.
FAQ
Is there a self-hosted alternative to Contentful?
Yes. Raytha is an open source CMS you host yourself, with a REST API for headless use. Strapi, Directus and Payload are other self-hostable headless options outside .NET.
Can I use Contentful's free plan for a production site?
Contentful's usage policy says the Free plan may only be used to test and learn about the product, not for commercial use cases.
Does Raytha have API call limits?
No. Raytha is software you run, so throughput depends on your own hosting. Raytha does apply configurable rate limits to protect sign-in and other endpoints.
Does Raytha support GraphQL like Contentful?
No. Raytha offers a REST API (v1) with API keys.
Related comparisons
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- Raytha vs Kentico: an open source .NET alternative to Xperience by Kentico
- All Raytha comparisons
Try Raytha
Raytha is free and MIT-licensed. Deploy it in a few minutes with the Railway template or Docker, following the quickstart. The platform overview lists what is in the box, and the source and release notes are on GitHub.
