dotCMS vs. Storyblok
Why choose dotCMS over Storyblok
Storyblok is a headless CMS focused on developers building static websites and content-driven applications. It offers an intuitive visual editor and a clean API-first approach, but its limited functionality outside the content layer makes it harder for marketing and enterprise teams to scale with confidence.
dotCMS goes beyond headless to deliver both marketer-friendly tools and developer-first extensibility. With enterprise-grade security, advanced workflows, built-in personalization, and composability, dotCMS goes beyond pure headless to support universal, scalable digital transformation initiatives.
dotCMS highlights
Here’s the TL;DR of why companies choose dotCMS over Storyblok
Go Beyond Headless
Storyblok is built for pure headless delivery, with strong developer tools and content APIs. It has no native delivery tier, so it must be paired with external front-end technologies and delivery pipelines. Storyblok is complex for enterprises with multi-brand, multi-region needs.
dotCMS combines headless APIs with a robust page building and editing experience, enabling hybrid deployment options. It’s ideal for businesses that want flexibility without sacrificing usability or governance.
Empower Your Marketers
Storyblok’s visual editor helps non-technical users structure content blocks. However, complex workflows, approvals, and advanced personalization must be custom-built or handled outside the platform. The platform has limited inline editing or site management capabilities without dev involvement.
dotCMS enables true low-code content authoring with drag-and-drop block editors and real-time previews. Features like the Universal Visual Editor and push publishing allow content teams to launch, iterate, and retire content without developer dependencies. It’s designed to give marketers autonomy, even in headless environments.
Scalability & Enterprise Readiness
Storyblok is geared toward startups, agencies, and mid-market developers. It has limited support for multi-site, multi-language, or enterprise governance structures and lacks a native workflow engine or deep role-based permissions.
dotCMS is built to power multi-tenant, multilingual, and multi-brand ecosystems. It offers enterprise-grade workflow management, granular permissions, audit logs, and user governance. Built with security first, dotCMS is used by global brands to streamline digital experiences across all channels and offers the best headless capabilities and visual editing and page buiulding.
Fully Composable With Reduced Integrations
Storyblok is highly composable with front-end frameworks like Nuxt, Next, and React. However, developers must stitch together multiple services for personalization, analytics, workflows, CDN, and A/B testing. It’s vendor-agnostic but has a high integration overhead.
dotCMS is fully composable and supports any tech stack or channel — including React, Next.js, Angular, PHP, Laravel, and Symfony — while providing more built-in functionality to reduce integration debt. Features like native personalization, workflows, CDN (dotCDN), and multi-channel delivery help reduce time to value.
Low TCO
Storyblok offers free and low-tier plans that are attractive for smaller teams. However, true enterprise features require custom build-outs and integrations. Costs increase rapidly as you scale, especially when factoring in third-party tools.
dotCMS offers transparent pricing with no hidden fees for core features like content types, users, domains, or API calls. Self-hosted or cloud-native options allow for flexible deployment and cost-effective scaling. We offer a free Business Source License Community Edition for full testing and proof-of-concept work. dotCMS is designed to scale predictably, with fewer moving parts and a more substantial long-term ROI.
FAQs
But I have a few questions…
I’m already using Storyblok, is it easy to switch to dotCMS?
Definitely. We’ve done many migrations from Storyblok to dotCMS. You’ll work hand-in-hand with our implementation team or a dotCMS certified partner to scope out the project and ensure a smooth transition to dotCMS. Through our Business Source License (BSL) offering, dotCMS is easy to test before purchasing.
Honestly, are there areas where Storyblok is better than dotCMS?
Storyblok is designed for organizations who are looking to create component based content where development teams are prevalent and vast component libraries are needed.
Are there specific feature differences to highlight between dotCMS and Storyblok?
When you’re doing your evaluation, it’s important to consider how features are built and how well they fit into your existing tech stack. Both dotCMS and Storyblok have extensive feature lists to fit your unique use case.
Explore how dotCMS stacks up against Storyblok
| Features | dotCMS | Storyblok | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Architecture & Approach | dotCMS is a modern, API-first headless CMS, universally developable across frameworks and channels, with GraphQL and REST support, ElasticSearch, and advanced caching for high performance. | Storyblok is a pure headless CMS, which limits its flexibility and creates developer dependency and complexity for non-technical users. | ||
| User Friendliness | dotCMS is built with both technical and non-technical users in mind, has an intuitive UI with expert tooling, and our Universal Visual Editor allows anyone to create and manage pages. | Storyblok offers a component-based visual editor that often leads to complex nesting and developer dependency. | ||
| Scalability | dotCMS is built with both technical and non-technical users in mind, has an intuitive UI with expert tooling, and our Universal Visual Editor allows anyone to create and manage pages. | Storyblok offers a component-based visual editor that often leads to complex nesting and developer dependency. | ||
| Scalability | Perfect for mid-market and enterprise companies, dotCMS’ multi-tenant architecture and core functionality can be deployed headlessly and scale across teams and projects without the overhead and costs of Storyblok. | Storyblok is good for static sites and SPAs, but complex for enterprises with multi-brand, multi-region needs. | ||
| Cost | dotCMS has clear and predictable pricing and keeps your total ownership cost low. | Storyblok offers free and low-tier plans that are good for smaller teams, but true enterprise features require custom build-outs and integrations that can lead to costs that increase rapidly as you scale. | ||
| Deployment Options | dotCMS gives you the freedom to deploy dotCMS based on your business and security needs – whether that’s in our Cloud or yours. | Storyblok does not offer on-prem cloud hosting, requiring third-party vendors for cloud deployment. |
Case Studies
You're in Good Company
From Fortune 500 brands, government agencies, to higher education, our powerful and flexible CMS delivers proven business results across a wide range of industries and organizations.
A global leader in HVAC markets decreases operational costs and increases marketing effectiveness by replatforming multiple brands to dotCMS
A global leader in air conditioning and refrigeration markets partnered with Nebbiu to launch all their brands' websites on dotCMS under one multi-tenant content management solution.
Before dotCMS, our client was wasting a lot of money struggling to maintain numerous technologies that hosted each of their companies under different environments. Implementing dotCMS has given them the freedom to focus more on their bottom line rather than juggling outdated software and constant bug fixes. dotCMS was the perfect solution to simplifying their complex needs.
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