CMS Comparison
Sitepins vs Decap CMS
Compare Sitepins and Decap CMS side-by-side. Explore setup, editing experience, non-technical usability, collaboration, Git workflow, and pricing.
Sitepins
Git-Based CMSSitepins is a Git-based headless CMS built for teams who want full content control without the technical overhead. It connects directly to your repository and lets anyone—whether they're a developer or not—manage content, collaborate in real time and deploy without touching code. Sitepins is designed for simplicity, speed, and non-technical accessibility.
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Decap CMS
Git-Based CMSDecap CMS (formerly Netlify CMS) is a free, open-source, Git-based CMS independently maintained in the EU. It acts as a React-based wrapper around the Git workflow, storing content directly in your repository alongside your code. Originally created by Netlify and rebranded in February 2023, Decap CMS is designed for developers and content editors working with static site generators.
Visit Decap CMSOverview
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| CMS type | Git-Based | Git-Based (open-source, MIT-licensed) |
| SSG support | Astro, Next.js, Hugo, 11ty, Jekyll, SvelteKit, Nuxt + more | Hugo, Next.js, Gatsby, Jekyll, 11ty, Astro, Remix, SvelteKit + any SSG that stores content in Git |
| Pricing entry point | $12/mo (monthly) or $10/mo (annual); $199 one-time lifetime | Free forever (core CMS). Decap Turbo paid extension starts at $37/mo (Starter) or $112/mo (Team). |
| Free plan | ✅ Yes — Free forever, with limitations (Hobby plan) | ✅ Yes — Core Decap CMS is free forever and fully open source. No user or project limits on the free tier. |
| Free trial (without credit card) | ✅ Yes — 15 days (no card required) | ✅ Yes — No trial needed. The core CMS is permanently free. Decap Turbo early access includes a free trial on launch. |
| Content security | ✅ Yes — Highly secured. No database to hack; files are static and stored in Git | ✅ Yes — Highly secured. No database to hack; all content is stored as static files in your own Git repository. |
| Native language support | ✅ Yes — 12 languages natively (en, zh, ja, de, fr, es, pt, ru, ko, id, vi, bn) for a consistent and localized experience | ⚠️ Yes but — The admin UI defaults to English. Other languages (de, fr, es, pt, and others) must be manually registered by a developer using the decap-cms-locales package. No out-of-the-box language switcher for editors. |
| Mobile friendly | ✅ Yes — Fully mobile and tablet optimized | ❌ No — The CMS admin interface is not natively optimized for mobile. Partial header and dropdown responsiveness was added in recent releases, but full mobile support requires a community CSS workaround. |
Setup & Configuration
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Non-technical setup | ✅ Yes — Zero configuration. Register, connect your repo and get started without any code or config. | ❌ No — Requires developer setup. A developer must add two files to the project (index.html and config.yml), configure the content model, and set up authentication before the CMS is usable. |
| Starter templates | ✅ Yes — 100+ Astro, Hugo, and Next.js ready-made project templates to launch faster | ⚠️ Yes but — Official starter templates exist for Hugo, Next.js, Gatsby, and Jekyll via the Decap docs. No large curated library, and templates require developer configuration to activate. |
| Edit schema modifier | ✅ Yes — Visual schema editor within the CMS. Adjust content field types and settings directly inside the CMS. | ❌ No — Schema (collections, fields, widgets) is defined entirely in a YAML config file. There is no visual schema editor inside the CMS. All changes require editing config.yml directly. |
Editing Experience
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Editor | Visual editor + Markdown + Code | Rich text (Plate-based, replaces deprecated markdown widget) + Markdown + Code. Supports 16 built-in widgets and custom widgets. |
| Live preview system | ✅ Yes — Sandbox live preview. See how your content looks on the site before publishing. | ⚠️ Yes but — Real-time preview is supported and customizable using React-based preview templates. Requires developer setup to wire the preview to match the site’s frontend. |
| AI assistant integration | ✅ Yes — Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) supporting OpenAI, Gemini, Claude, and Grok to generate or rewrite content inside the editor. | ❌ No — No built-in AI assistant or content generation tool in either the free CMS or Decap Turbo plans. |
| Collaborative editing | ✅ Yes — Allows multiple users to edit content simultaneously. | ❌ No — No simultaneous multi-user editing. Decap Turbo Team plan adds real-time editing visibility (a presence indicator showing who is active), but does not support concurrent editing of the same entry. |
| iFrame embed preview | ✅ Yes — Render embedded content like videos or charts live inside the editor. | ❌ No — Not a native feature. iFrame or embed rendering inside the editor is not documented and not available out of the box. |
| Shortcode support | ✅ Yes — Manage shortcodes and custom content blocks for powerful content structuring. | ✅ Yes — Supports custom editor components and custom widgets, which serve as shortcodes and reusable content blocks. Configured by developers in the CMS setup. |
| SEO tools | ✅ Yes — Built-in tools to optimize and preview content for search engines, content analysis, slug editing, and SERP preview. | ⚠️ Yes but — Slug generation and custom file path configuration are supported. No built-in SEO analysis, SERP preview, or content scoring. SEO-related fields must be configured manually in the content schema. |
| Dark mode | ✅ Yes — Supports full platform dark mode, switchable between Dark and Light. | ❌ No — No native dark mode in the CMS admin interface. A community-contributed dark mode CSS (shared via GitHub Discussions) exists as a manual override but is not an official or built-in feature. |
Non-Technical User Experience
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for non-technicals | ✅ Yes — Core product mission. | ⚠️ Yes but — Once set up by a developer, non-technical editors can create and manage content through the web UI. However, initial setup, schema changes, and authentication configuration always require a developer. |
| Version rollback | ✅ Yes — Undo changes and restore a previous version without touching Git, directly within the CMS. | ⚠️ Yes but — Full version history is available through Git. There is no dedicated version rollback UI inside the CMS. Reverting changes requires Git knowledge or developer involvement. |
| Initial setup by non-dev | ✅ Yes — Zero configuration. Can be set up easily without developer involvement. | ❌ No — A developer must configure the config.yml and authentication backend before the CMS is usable by anyone. |
Media Management
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Media management | ✅ Yes — Upload, organize, drag and drop, rename files and folders, replace images and delete directly from the CMS. | ⚠️ Yes but — Built-in media library supports upload, view, and delete via drag-and-drop. External providers (Cloudinary, Uploadcare) available via plugins. File renaming is not supported natively in the media library. |
| External image URL support | ✅ Yes — Use images hosted on external CDNs or third-party services directly in the editor. | ⚠️ Yes but — External media is supported via Cloudinary and Uploadcare plugins. Direct inline external URL input depends on field widget configuration by the developer. |
Collaboration & Teams
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| User access | ✅ Yes — Invite editors by email. Possible without requiring a Git account. | ⚠️ Yes but — Git Gateway (via Netlify Identity) allows non-Git users to log in via email. On non-Netlify hosts, setting up external OAuth for editors requires a developer-configured OAuth client. |
| Custom roles | ✅ Yes — Define specific permission levels for different types of users. E.g. Owner, Admin, Editor. | ⚠️ Yes but — Custom roles and permissions are a Decap Turbo feature, available on Team plan ($37/mo) and above. The free core CMS has no centralized role management. |
| Organization management | ✅ Yes — Manage multiple teams and projects under one account. | ⚠️ Yes but — Multi-project management is a Decap Turbo feature. The free CMS is per-site and has no centralized multi-project dashboard. |
| Branch workflows | ✅ Yes — Manage branches, create PRs, and merge directly from Sitepins. | ⚠️ Yes but — Editorial Workflow mode supports draft, review, and publish statuses using Git branches. Available in the free CMS. Creating and merging PRs is done via the Git provider, not inside Decap CMS itself. |
Git & Deployment
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Git providers | GitHub (all plans), GitLab (Team plan) | GitHub, GitLab, Gitea, Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, and Git Gateway (Netlify). Broad multi-provider support out of the box. |
| Vendor lock-in | ✅ No — No vendor lock-in. Content is stored in your own repo. | ✅ No — No vendor lock-in. Content lives in your own Git repository. Self-hosted and fully open source. |
| Deployment | ✅ Yes — One-click Vercel deployment built-in. | Content commits trigger builds on any connected CI/CD platform. Works with Netlify, Vercel, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, and any Git-integrated host. |
Accessibilities
| Feature | Sitepins | Decap CMS |
|---|---|---|
| Global search | ✅ Yes — Cmd/Ctrl+K to search for files stored anywhere in the CMS. | ⚠️ Yes but — Search across content entries (by title, slug, and configured summary fields) is supported. Search is enabled by default but can exhaust API rate limits on large repositories, and can be disabled in the config. |
| Edit configs as code | ✅ Yes — Direct access to configuration files. | ✅ Yes — Configuration is done entirely via the config.yml file. Editing config as code is the primary and only method for schema and CMS settings. |
| Mermaid diagram preview | ✅ Yes — Render Mermaid diagrams live while writing without leaving the CMS. | ❌ No — Mermaid diagram preview is not a built-in or documented feature in Decap CMS. |
Note: If you found any wrong information here, please contact us and we will fix it.
Which one is right for you?
A quick summary to help you choose the right Git-based CMS.
Choose Sitepins if:
- You want to get started without writing a single line of config
- Your team includes non-technical editors or clients who need to manage content independently
- You want built-in AI assistance, collaborative editing, and live previews out of the box
- You need a free plan or a one-time lifetime deal with no recurring costs
- You want your CMS interface in your team's native language
Choose Decap CMS if:
- You want a completely free, open-source, self-hosted CMS with no subscription costs
- Your team has a developer comfortable with YAML configuration and Git-based workflows
- You need broad Git provider support out of the box (GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, Gitea, Azure)
- You want maximum control and extensibility through custom widgets, plugins, and open-source contributions
- You are already in the Netlify ecosystem and want seamless Git Gateway authentication
Migration Support
Already using another CMS?
Whether you are coming from WordPress, Contentful, Sanity, or any other platform, our team is ready to help you migrate your content, structure, and workflows with zero downtime. Migration support is available for all users on the Team plan or the Lifetime deal. We handle the boring, tedious tasks so you can focus on launching as soon as possible.
Get Started with Sitepins
Get started for free today and discover easy, flexible, and full control over your content.