Best Headless CMS for Gatsby in 2026: Top 7 Platforms Compared

Let's address the reality upfront: Gatsby occupies a unique and somewhat complicated position in 2026. Thousands of production sites depend on it, major enterprises still run it, and Netlify — which acquired Gatsby Inc. in February 2023 — shipped a React 19 and Node.js 24 compatibility update in January 2026 (Gatsby v5.16). The framework is alive, but development velocity has slowed considerably. Most original core contributors have moved on, Gatsby Cloud has been sunset, and the plugin ecosystem is showing signs of age.

So if you're maintaining a Gatsby-based project, your CMS choice matters more than ever. You need a headless CMS that integrates cleanly with Gatsby's GraphQL data layer today — and one that won't lock you into a single framework tomorrow, should you decide to migrate to Next.js or Astro. That's the dual challenge this guide addresses.

What follows is an independent, data-backed comparison of the seven best headless CMS platforms for Gatsby in 2026. Every platform reviewed here was evaluated on Gatsby source plugin quality, GraphQL compatibility, build performance, pricing, and — critically — migration readiness. We verified npm download data, last-published dates, and maintenance status for every plugin referenced. All seven platforms also support Next.js and/or Astro, giving you a built-in exit strategy if you need one.

What Makes a Headless CMS Work Well with Gatsby?

Gatsby is not like other React frameworks when it comes to CMS integration. Its architecture places specific demands on your content platform, and understanding these constraints is essential before comparing options.

GraphQL data layer. Gatsby unifies all data sources — Markdown files, APIs, CMS content — into a single GraphQL schema at build time. This means your headless CMS must either provide a dedicated gatsby-source-* plugin that feeds data into this layer, or expose a compatible GraphQL API that can be consumed via gatsby-source-graphql. A CMS without a functional Gatsby source plugin is, for practical purposes, unusable with Gatsby.

Source plugin quality and maintenance. This is the most critical factor in 2026. After the Netlify acquisition and the departure of core Gatsby contributors, community plugin maintenance has become uneven. Some CMS vendors actively maintain their Gatsby plugins. Others have shifted focus to Next.js and let their Gatsby plugins stagnate. The plugin health check later in this article provides specific data on each platform's plugin status — treat it as a key decision input.

Build performance. Gatsby's static site generation model means every content change triggers a rebuild. For content-heavy sites with hundreds or thousands of pages, rebuild times can stretch into minutes. CMS platforms that support webhook-triggered builds, incremental data fetching, or CDN-backed API responses can meaningfully reduce this friction. If your site has more than a few hundred pages, build performance should weigh heavily in your evaluation.

Preview support. Gatsby Cloud once provided a seamless preview experience, but that service is gone. Preview now depends on Netlify's infrastructure or custom setups. Not all CMS platforms have adapted equally well. If real-time content preview matters to your editorial team, pay attention to which platforms have invested in Gatsby-compatible preview solutions.

Content modeling flexibility. You need structured content with references, localization, and rich text that maps cleanly to Gatsby's GraphQL schema. CMS platforms with rigid content models or limited relational capabilities will create friction as your content architecture grows.

Multi-framework compatibility. This is arguably the most strategically important factor for a headless CMS gatsby integration in 2026. Given Gatsby's uncertain roadmap, a CMS that integrates cleanly with Next.js, Astro, or Remix provides migration insurance — your content investment survives regardless of what happens on the frontend.

Best Headless CMS for Gatsby at a Glance (2026)

gatsby-source-contentful

gatsby-source-sanity

gatsby-source-datocms

gatsby-source-graphcms

gatsby-source-strapi

gatsby-source-prismic

gatsby-source-storyblok

Compare these platforms side by side → Use our comparison tool

Platform Reviews

Contentful — The Enterprise Standard for Gatsby

Overview. Contentful is the most established headless CMS in the Gatsby ecosystem. It pioneered the API-first content platform model and serves major enterprises across media, retail, and technology. In 2026, Contentful continues to expand its platform with Contentful Studio for visual composition and AI-powered content suggestions.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-contentful plugin is maintained as part of the official gatsbyjs/gatsby monorepo, making it one of the only CMS plugins that receives updates alongside Gatsby itself. It was updated for the v5.16 release in January 2026 and is confirmed compatible with React 19. With approximately 34,000 weekly npm downloads, it remains the most widely used Gatsby source plugin by a significant margin.

Build performance with Gatsby. Contentful's CDN-backed Content Delivery API provides fast response times during builds. The plugin supports Contentful's Sync API for incremental data fetching, which can dramatically reduce rebuild times on content-heavy sites. Webhook support enables automatic builds on content publish events.

Strengths for technical managers. Enterprise-grade governance features, granular roles and permissions, 100+ marketplace integrations, SOC 2 compliance, and a mature content modeling system. Contentful is the safe bet that procurement teams and compliance officers rarely push back on.

Limitations. Pricing escalates quickly — the free tier is limited to 5 users, and the first paid plan starts at $300/month. Rich text customization is more constrained than some competitors. The visual editing experience (Contentful Studio) is a paid add-on rather than a core feature.

Migration readiness. Excellent. Contentful has first-class SDKs and integrations for Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, and Remix. Migrating your frontend away from Gatsby while keeping Contentful as your CMS is straightforward.

Pricing snapshot. Free (5 users, 25K records), Basic at $300/month (20 users), Premium custom pricing.

Verdict: The safest choice for enterprise Gatsby teams who value ecosystem maturity, plugin reliability, and a clear migration path.

Sanity — Best Developer Experience with Gatsby

Overview. Sanity is a developer-first CMS built around a real-time, structured content lake. Its open-source Sanity Studio (built with React) is highly customizable, and its proprietary GROQ query language provides powerful, flexible data retrieval. Sanity has grown rapidly, with strong adoption among developer teams and agencies.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-sanity plugin (v7.9.2) is maintained by the Sanity team. It streams all accessible documents via the project's export endpoint — meaning the entire site builds from just two API requests. In development mode, a real-time listener pushes content changes to Gatsby instantly, enabling live previewing of drafts without additional configuration. The plugin was last published approximately 3 months ago and has around 10,000–12,000 weekly npm downloads.

Build performance with Gatsby. Sanity's architecture is well-suited to Gatsby builds. The export-based data fetching is efficient for large datasets, and the real-time listener in development mode avoids the need for manual refreshes. Webhook-triggered builds are fully supported.

Strengths for technical managers. Unmatched customizability via Sanity Studio, real-time collaboration features (Google Docs–style editing), GROQ for complex queries, strong TypeScript support, and a generous free tier (20 user seats).

Limitations. GROQ has a learning curve for teams accustomed to GraphQL — though Sanity does offer a GraphQL API as well. The Gatsby plugin, while stable, has seen slower release cadence compared to Sanity's Next.js tooling. Pricing can scale steeply for large document volumes ($299/month add-on for additional 25K documents on the Growth plan).

Migration readiness. Excellent. Sanity's Next.js integration is arguably its strongest framework integration. Migrating from Gatsby to Next.js with Sanity is one of the smoothest possible transitions in the CMS ecosystem. Astro, Remix, and SvelteKit are also well-supported.

Pricing snapshot. Free (20 users, 10K documents), Growth at $15/seat/month (up to 25 seats), Enterprise custom pricing.

Verdict: The best pick for developer-led teams who prioritize DX, real-time collaboration, and flexibility — especially if a future Next.js migration is on the horizon.

DatoCMS — Deep Gatsby Integration, Excellent Media Pipeline

Overview. DatoCMS is a cloud-based headless CMS known for its developer-friendly API, excellent image handling pipeline, and tight integrations with static site generators. Its GraphQL API is native and purpose-built, making it a natural fit for Gatsby's data layer.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-datocms plugin (v5.1.5) was placed in explicit maintenance mode in June 2024. DatoCMS stated that no new features would be added, though critical bug fixes would still be accepted. They recommend that new DatoCMS projects use gatsby-source-graphql to consume their GraphQL API directly. Despite the maintenance-mode status, the plugin works and has about 5,000–7,000 weekly npm downloads. It was last published approximately a year ago.

Build performance with Gatsby. DatoCMS's image pipeline — powered by Imgix — is exceptional. It delivers responsive, optimized images via CDN without local processing, reducing build times significantly for image-heavy sites. The API is CDN-backed and responds quickly during Gatsby builds.

Strengths for technical managers. Best-in-class image transformation and optimization, clean GraphQL API, built-in localization, structured text fields with embedded records and links, real-time previews, and a generous free tier.

Limitations. The Gatsby source plugin is in maintenance mode, which means no new features and a risk of eventual incompatibility with future Gatsby releases. DatoCMS is clearly investing in Next.js as their primary framework. The free tier is limited to 2 users.

Migration readiness. Strong. DatoCMS has excellent Next.js and Astro integrations, with Nuxt and SvelteKit also supported. Their GraphQL API is framework-agnostic, so migrating off Gatsby is straightforward.

Pricing snapshot. Free (2 users, 300 records), Professional from €199/month, Enterprise custom pricing.

Verdict: An excellent choice if your Gatsby site is media-heavy and you value image optimization. Just be aware that the Gatsby plugin is in maintenance mode — DatoCMS's future is clearly Next.js-first.

Hygraph — GraphQL-Native with Content Federation

Overview. Hygraph (formerly GraphCMS) is a GraphQL-native headless CMS designed for complex, multi-source content architectures. Its standout feature is Content Federation, which lets you combine content from multiple external APIs into a single GraphQL endpoint. This makes Hygraph particularly interesting for projects that need to aggregate data from multiple systems.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-graphcms plugin (v2.8.0) has not been updated in over three years. It was built during the GraphCMS era and is effectively stale. In practice, Gatsby teams using Hygraph today should use gatsby-source-graphql to consume Hygraph's native GraphQL API directly — which works, but loses some of the tight integration benefits of a purpose-built source plugin (like gatsby-plugin-image support and optimized data sourcing). Weekly npm downloads for the old plugin hover around 2,000–3,000.

Build performance with Gatsby. Hygraph's GraphQL API is fast and CDN-backed. However, without a maintained source plugin, you miss out on incremental data fetching optimizations. Using gatsby-source-graphql means full data fetching on each build, which can be slower for large content sets.

Strengths for technical managers. GraphQL-native API (including mutations), Content Federation for multi-source content, strong localization, staged content workflows, and an intuitive UI for non-technical editors.

Limitations. The dedicated Gatsby plugin is effectively abandoned. Integration requires using the generic gatsby-source-graphql plugin, which works but isn't optimized for Gatsby-specific features. This is a meaningful trade-off for Gatsby teams.

Migration readiness. Good. Hygraph supports Next.js, Nuxt, Astro, and Remix. The GraphQL API is fully framework-agnostic.

Pricing snapshot. Free (3 seats, 500K API calls), Professional from €199/month, Enterprise custom pricing.

Verdict: Best for teams that need GraphQL-native content federation and are willing to accept a less-optimized Gatsby integration via gatsby-source-graphql.

Strapi — Open-Source, Self-Hosted, Full Control

Overview. Strapi is the leading open-source headless CMS, offering full control over your data, hosting, and customization. It runs on Node.js and provides both REST and GraphQL APIs out of the box. For teams that need self-hosting — whether for compliance, cost control, or data sovereignty — Strapi is the de facto choice.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-strapi plugin (v5.0.4) is actively maintained by the Gatsby User Collective (gatsby-uc), a community organization that maintains Gatsby plugins abandoned by their original authors. The plugin was last published just 12 days ago (as of early February 2026), supports Strapi v5 and v4, and works with Gatsby's plugin-image pipeline. This is one of the most actively maintained Gatsby source plugins in the ecosystem.

Build performance with Gatsby. Strapi's build performance with Gatsby depends largely on your hosting infrastructure. The plugin supports parallel API requests (configurable via maxParallelRequests), webhook-triggered builds, and draft/publish workflow integration. Since you control the server, you can optimize API response times by colocating your Strapi instance with your build server.

Strengths for technical managers. Open-source (MIT license), fully self-hostable, complete data ownership, customizable admin panel with plugin system (350+ plugins), both REST and GraphQL APIs, and no per-seat pricing. The total cost of ownership can be dramatically lower than SaaS alternatives, especially at scale.

Limitations. Self-hosting means your team owns infrastructure, security, scaling, and maintenance. There is no built-in visual editor — Strapi's admin panel is functional but not designed for visual page composition. Advanced content approval workflows and native localization require additional configuration. Strapi Cloud exists as a managed option but starts at $15/month per project with limited features.

Migration readiness. Excellent. Strapi is framework-agnostic by design. It works equally well with Next.js, Astro, Nuxt, Remix, or any frontend that can consume REST or GraphQL APIs.

Pricing snapshot. Self-hosted: Free (open source). Strapi Cloud: Free tier, Pro at $99/month (5 seats), Team at $499/month (10 seats).

Verdict: The best choice for teams that need full control, self-hosting, and zero vendor lock-in — especially if you have the DevOps capacity to manage infrastructure.

Prismic — Slice-Based Modeling for Marketing Teams

Overview. Prismic is a cloud-based headless CMS that centers on "Slices" — reusable, composable content sections that map naturally to component-based frontends. Its Slice Machine development workflow enables tight collaboration between developers (who define slice schemas) and marketers (who assemble pages from those slices). Prismic has historically been a strong Gatsby partner, though their strategic focus has shifted to Next.js.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-prismic plugin (v6.0.3) was last published approximately 4 months ago and has around 5,900 weekly npm downloads. Prismic publicly stated in 2023 that Gatsby + Prismic v6 would be the last major version they officially support, and they encouraged the community to maintain the plugin going forward. They now recommend Next.js for new React-based projects. The plugin still functions and supports Gatsby 5, but don't expect new features.

Build performance with Gatsby. Prismic's image optimization via Imgix provides CDN-backed image delivery during Gatsby builds. The plugin supports incremental builds through Prismic's API, and the Slice-based content model keeps data structures clean and predictable.

Strengths for technical managers. Slice Machine provides an excellent developer-marketer collaboration workflow. Content scheduling, version control, and localization are built in. The UI is intuitive for non-technical editors.

Limitations. Official Gatsby support has ended — the plugin is community-maintained. Prismic's free tier is limited to 1 user. Prismic's API is primarily REST-based, which means it works with Gatsby through the source plugin rather than natively aligning with Gatsby's GraphQL layer. Users have reported being auto-upgraded to enterprise plans without adequate notice when exceeding quotas.

Migration readiness. Good for Next.js and Nuxt (these are Prismic's primary supported frameworks). Astro support exists but is less mature.

Pricing snapshot. Free (1 user, unlimited documents), Small from $20/month (3 users), Medium from $100/month (unlimited users).

Verdict: A strong option if your team values the Slice-based content modeling workflow and your marketing team needs an intuitive editing experience — but plan for a Next.js migration, as Prismic's Gatsby investment is winding down.

Storyblok — Visual Editing for Component-Driven Sites

Overview. Storyblok is a component-driven headless CMS built around a powerful visual editor that lets content creators see their changes in real-time. It is popular among marketing-led organizations and agencies that need non-technical team members to build and modify pages independently.

Gatsby integration. The gatsby-source-storyblok plugin (v7.1.1) has been explicitly marked as deprecated on the Gatsby plugin registry. Storyblok's own documentation recommends Next.js or Remix as alternatives. The plugin was last published approximately 8 months ago and has around 5,600 weekly npm downloads — largely from existing Gatsby sites that haven't yet migrated. Storyblok's Gatsby documentation warns that the plugin is no longer maintained.

Build performance with Gatsby. When functional, the plugin supports Storyblok's CDN-based API and local asset downloading. However, given the deprecated status, performance optimizations specific to Gatsby are unlikely to receive further attention.

Strengths for technical managers. The visual editor is Storyblok's killer feature — it's the strongest real-time visual editing experience in the headless CMS market. Component-based content modeling, localization, and asset management are all solid. The platform supports both REST and GraphQL APIs (though GraphQL is only available on Premium and higher plans).

Limitations. The Gatsby plugin is deprecated. GraphQL API access requires a paid plan (Premium or above, custom pricing). Pricing can escalate: the Growth plan is €99/month, and Growth Plus jumps to €349/month. For simple content needs, Storyblok can be more complex than necessary.

Migration readiness. Strong. Storyblok has excellent Next.js, Nuxt, and Astro integrations, all actively maintained.

Pricing snapshot. Free (1 space, limited features), Growth at €99/month (5 users), Growth Plus at €349/month (15 users), Premium and Elite custom pricing.

Verdict: Only recommended for existing Gatsby + Storyblok sites. For new Gatsby projects, the deprecated plugin makes Storyblok a risky choice. However, if you're planning to migrate to Next.js or Nuxt, Storyblok's visual editor is a compelling destination CMS.

Gatsby Source Plugin Status Check (February 2026)

This is where the rubber meets the road. Gatsby's plugin ecosystem is only as strong as the individual source plugins your CMS depends on. Here is the verified status of every plugin reviewed in this article.

gatsby-source-contentful

gatsby-source-sanity

gatsby-source-datocms

gatsby-source-graphcms

gatsby-source-strapi

gatsby-source-prismic

gatsby-source-storyblok

Key takeaway: Only two Gatsby CMS plugins — Contentful's and Strapi's — received updates in 2026. Sanity's and Prismic's plugins are stable but aging. DatoCMS's is in declared maintenance mode. Hygraph's and Storyblok's should be considered at risk for future compatibility issues.

How to Choose the Best Headless CMS for Your Gatsby Project

The right choice depends on your specific situation. Here's a practical decision framework:

If you're maintaining a large, stable Gatsby site and just need a reliable CMS that won't break: choose Contentful or DatoCMS. Both have mature, battle-tested plugins and proven track records with large Gatsby deployments.

If developer experience is your top priority and you want maximum flexibility in how content is structured and queried: choose Sanity. Its customizable Studio, real-time collaboration, and GROQ query language give development teams unmatched control.

If your marketing team needs visual editing and the ability to compose pages without developer involvement: consider Storyblok (but only if you're planning a near-term migration off Gatsby) or Prismic (whose Slice Machine offers a lighter-weight visual composition workflow).

If you need GraphQL-native content with content federation capabilities: choose Hygraph (via gatsby-source-graphql) or DatoCMS. Both have purpose-built GraphQL APIs, though DatoCMS has the better Gatsby-specific plugin.

If you want full control and self-hosting: choose Strapi. It's the only option on this list that gives you complete data ownership, zero per-seat costs, and deployment flexibility — all backed by an actively maintained Gatsby plugin.

If you're planning a future migration away from Gatsby: prioritize Sanity, Contentful, or Strapi. All three have strong, actively maintained integrations with Next.js, Astro, and other modern frameworks. Your content investment will transfer cleanly.

If budget is the primary constraint: Strapi (free self-hosted) and Sanity (20 free user seats) offer the most generous free tiers. DatoCMS and Prismic also have functional free plans for smaller projects.

The Bigger Question — Should You Stay on Gatsby?

Any honest discussion of the best headless CMS gatsby integration has to address this: should you even be building on Gatsby in 2026?

Reasons to stay. Your existing Gatsby site works. Your team knows the framework. React 19 support landed in January 2026, confirming that Netlify hasn't abandoned the project entirely. Gatsby's GraphQL data layer remains elegant and powerful. Production sites don't need framework updates to keep running — a stable Gatsby site will continue serving pages reliably regardless of what happens upstream. If your site is generating revenue and your team is productive, a migration carries real cost and risk for potentially marginal gains.

Reasons to consider migrating. Development velocity has slowed to a trickle. The plugin ecosystem is contracting as vendors shift resources to Next.js and Astro. Gatsby Cloud is gone, which means you've lost the integrated build and preview infrastructure that once made Gatsby compelling for teams. Next.js (with its App Router and server components) and Astro (with its island architecture and content-first philosophy) offer more active ecosystems, better hiring pools, and faster innovation cycles. If you're starting a new project, the balance of evidence favors these alternatives.

The CMS as migration insurance. This is the strongest argument for choosing a framework-agnostic headless CMS with your Gatsby project in 2026. When your content lives in a CMS accessible via API, your content layer survives regardless of which frontend framework you use. A migration from Gatsby to Next.js or Astro becomes a frontend rebuild — not a content migration. That distinction can save months of work and eliminate the riskiest part of any re-platforming effort.

Choose your CMS for your content strategy, not for your current framework. The framework may change. Your content investment should not.

Final Verdict: Best Headless CMS for Gatsby in 2026

After evaluating all seven platforms across plugin reliability, integration quality, build performance, pricing, and migration readiness, here are our recommendations:

Best overall for Gatsby → Contentful. The most mature ecosystem integration, the most reliably maintained plugin (part of the Gatsby monorepo), and enterprise-grade features that scale. If you need one recommendation you can defend to leadership, this is it.

Best for developer teams → Sanity. Unmatched developer experience, real-time collaboration, highly customizable Studio, and an efficient data-fetching architecture. The strongest choice for teams where engineering drives the CMS decision.

Best for future-proofing → Strapi. Open-source, self-hosted, framework-agnostic, and backed by an actively maintained Gatsby plugin. Zero vendor lock-in and complete data ownership. The best hedge against an uncertain framework landscape.

Best for GraphQL-first teams → Hygraph or DatoCMS. Hygraph for content federation and a native GraphQL API with mutations. DatoCMS for a tighter Gatsby integration (via its purpose-built plugin) and an exceptional image pipeline.

The CMS you choose should outlast your framework. Pick for your content strategy — not your current build tool.