Sanity CMS vs Contentful for Next.js projects: an honest comparison
May 10, 2026 · 6 min read
Comparing Sanity CMS vs Contentful for Next.js teams: GROQ vs GraphQL, pricing, Studio DX, and where each platform wins on real projects.
Nayan Kyada
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Available for work
Next.js + Sanity CMS Developer
I build fast, editable websites for startups & agencies.
I partner with startups and agencies to design, build, and ship production-grade web apps — from greenfield MVPs to headless CMS rebuilds. Clean code, fast delivery, and a staging URL from day one.
5+
Years experience
20+
Projects shipped
10+
Clients
Projects
View all →
Plano Sports Authority
Youth Sports, Camps, and Skills Clinics in Plano, TX
Long-running youth sports nonprofit in Plano, Texas — runs leagues, tournaments, camps, and skills clinics, plus volunteer pipelines for coaches, officials, and counselors.
Next.jsTypeScriptTailwind CSSSanity CMS
Ditto Jobs
Global Job Marketplace and Recruiter Platform
Global job marketplace connecting candidates with employers across 40+ countries — paired with Nova, a programmatic job-advertising and applicant-tracking suite for recruiters.
Next.jsReactTypeScriptRedux
Marlin
Scalable Coprocessors for Decentralized Compute
TEE-based serverless coprocessors that let Web3 apps run verifiable off-chain compute — Oyster powers AI model deployment, DeFi liquidations, MEV tooling, and oracles across Arbitrum, Polygon, and Injective.
SvelteKitTypeScriptWeb3AWS
SuperLemon
WhatsApp Marketing Platform for Shopify Merchants
WhatsApp marketing platform serving 20,000+ Shopify merchants across 150+ countries — drives $1M+ in monthly recovered revenue and sends 7M+ messages a month with 12% cart-recovery and 90%+ open rates.
ReactTypeScriptChrome ExtensionsShopify Polaris
Blog
View all →How I reduced Sanity webhook fanout by batching revalidation tags in a single route handler
May 09, 2026 · 5 min read
A pattern for consolidating dozens of per-document Next.js revalidations into one tagged endpoint, cutting webhook noise and deploy times by 70%.
How I Eliminated Sanity Image Hot-Spot Reflows by Pre-Calculating Focal Crops
May 08, 2026 · 5 min read
How I pre-calculate Sanity image hot-spot crops at build time to eliminate layout shift and guarantee stable LCP under 2.5s on editorial pages.
How I replaced Sanity's default slug generator with a custom validation hook to catch duplicate slugs before publish
May 07, 2026 · 4 min read
A pattern for enforcing unique slugs across Sanity document types using a custom validation function and GROQ query, preventing duplicate URL conflicts at schema level.
How I Handle Sanity Content Versioning Without Breaking Client Pages
May 05, 2026 · 5 min read
A production pattern for rolling schema changes in Sanity without throwing runtime errors or requiring a full site rebuild.
How I audit and prune unused Sanity document types to reclaim Studio performance
May 04, 2026 · 5 min read
A step-by-step approach to identifying orphaned schemas, measuring Studio bundle impact, and safely removing dead document types without breaking production.
Stack
Tools I reach forFrontend
ReactNext.jsTypeScriptJavaScriptTailwind CSSStyled ComponentsReduxSvelteKitGatsbyHTMLCSS
Backend
Node.jsREST APIsPostgreSQLPrisma
CMS
Sanity CMSPrismicPortable Text
UI & Animation
Radix UIshadcn/uiFramer MotionGSAPEmbla CarouselAnt DesignMUIShopify Polarisnext-intl
Media
MuxHLS.jsreact-pdf
Services
AlgoliaSendGridStripeHubSpot FormsWhatsApp Business APIShopify
Tools
GitVercelAWSDockerChrome ExtensionsJestStorybooknext-sitemapAxiosGraphQLWeb3Vercel AI SDKEmail Templates
Data & ML
Pythonpandasscikit-learnTensorFlowKerasMatplotlib
Specialisms
SSR / SSG / ISRCore Web VitalsTechnical SEOPerformance Optimisation
FAQ
View all →What kind of projects do you take on?
Production-grade Next.js + Sanity CMS websites for startups and agencies — marketing sites, headless rebuilds, content platforms, internal dashboards, and greenfield MVPs. I've shipped across SaaS, Web3, recruitment, e-commerce, real estate, and education.
How long does a typical project take?
A polished marketing site with 6–10 pages and Sanity Studio is usually 3–5 weeks from kickoff to launch. Larger headless rebuilds and product surfaces typically run 6–12 weeks. I share a staging URL from day one so progress is visible every working day.
Do you work with clients outside India?
Yes — most of my work is for US, UK, Ireland, and Middle East clients. I'm based in Surat, India (IST, UTC+5:30) which gives a healthy overlap with EU mornings and US East-coast mornings. Communication is on Slack, Discord, or Notion plus a weekly call.
What's your stack?
Next.js (App Router), React, TypeScript, Tailwind CSS, and Sanity CMS for the front of house. Node.js, REST APIs, PostgreSQL/Prisma where backend is needed. Vercel for hosting, Algolia for search, SendGrid for transactional email, GSAP/Framer Motion for interactions.
How do you handle SEO and performance?
Every site I ship targets 95+ Lighthouse scores and green Core Web Vitals on key pages. I bake in JSON-LD structured data, Next.js Metadata API for canonicals/OG, automated sitemaps, image optimisation via Sanity CDN, and edge caching from the first commit — not bolted on at the end.
Can you take over an existing codebase?
Yes — I've shipped onto projects ranging from solo-founder Sanity sites to platform codebases used by 40+ countries of users. I start with an audit week to map architecture, dependencies, and risk, then ship incrementally. Same deal whether it's a Next.js, Gatsby, or SvelteKit codebase.
How do we get started?
Easiest is a 30-minute call via cal.com/nayankyada to scope the work, talk timeline and budget, and decide if we're a fit. After that I send a written proposal with milestones and a fixed price or weekly rate, depending on the shape of the project.