CMS Comparison
Sveltia CMS vs TinaCMS
Compare Sveltia CMS and TinaCMS side-by-side. Explore setup, editing experience, non-technical usability, collaboration, Git workflow, and pricing.
Sveltia CMS
Git-Based CMSSveltia CMS is a free, open-source, Git-based CMS built as a complete modern rewrite and successor to Netlify/Decap CMS. It runs as a single-page app served from a CDN, stores content directly in your GitHub, GitLab, or Gitea/Forgejo repository, and focuses on editor UX, digital asset management, and first-class internationalization. It is currently in beta, with version 1.0 (GA) scheduled for late 2026.
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TinaCMS
Git-Based CMSTinaCMS is an open-source, Git-backed headless CMS originally developed by Forestry.io and acquired by SSW (Superior Software for Windows). It provides a visual editing interface on top of Markdown, MDX, and JSON files stored in Git, giving developers full control over the content model while abstracting Git complexity for content editors.
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| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| CMS type | Git-Based (open-source, MIT-licensed). Currently in beta; version 1.0 (GA) scheduled for late 2026. | Git-Based (open-source, TinaCloud optional) |
| SSG support | Astro, Eleventy, Hugo, Jekyll, Next.js, Nuxt, SvelteKit, VitePress, Docusaurus, Middleman, Zola + framework-agnostic support for vanilla JavaScript sites | Astro, Next.js, Hugo, Jekyll, Gatsby, Remix, 11ty, SvelteKit + other frameworks |
| Pricing entry point | Free forever. MIT-licensed and free for personal and commercial use. No paid tier. | $24/mo (monthly) or $290/yr (annual) — Team plan. No lifetime option. |
| Free plan | ✅ Yes — The entire CMS is free and open source. No user, project, or feature limits. | ⚠️ Yes but — Free forever, limited to 2 users and 1 project. |
| Free trial (without credit card) | ✅ Not needed — the CMS is permanently free. | ❌ No — No time-limited trial. The permanent free plan (2 users, 1 project) serves this role. |
| Content security | ✅ Yes — Highly secured. No database and no CMS server; the app runs client-side and content is stored as static files in your own Git repository. | ✅ Yes — Highly secured. No database; files stored in Git. SOC 2 framework alignment, AWS-hosted infrastructure, encryption at rest and in transit. |
| Native language support | ✅ Yes — The admin UI is localized in Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, English (US/UK/CA), Greek, Japanese, Portuguese (Brazil), Russian, and Ukrainian. It auto-detects the browser language and can be switched in settings. | ❌ No — English only for the CMS interface. |
| Mobile friendly | ✅ Yes — Fully responsive with dedicated mobile and tablet support, QR code login, and installable as a progressive web app (PWA). | ✅ Yes — Mobile and tablet optimized as of TinaCMS v2.0 (iOS and Android supported). |
Setup & Configuration
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Non-technical setup | ❌ No — A developer must add two files to the project (admin/index.html and config.yml) and register an OAuth application with the Git provider before the CMS is usable. | ❌ No — A developer must configure the /tina folder and schema before editors can use the CMS. |
| Starter templates | ⚠️ Yes but — The docs link to community templates for Astro, Eleventy, HonoX, Hugo, Jekyll, and Zola. These are third-party resources not reviewed by the Sveltia CMS team. | ⚠️ Yes but — A small set of official CLI starters (Next.js, Astro). Some community starters exist, no large library. |
| Edit schema modifier | ❌ No — Collections and fields are defined in the config file (YAML, TOML, or JSON). No visual schema editor, though JSON Schema validation and IDE auto-completion are provided. | ❌ No — Schema is defined in code via TypeScript/JavaScript config files. No visual in-app schema editor. |
Editing Experience
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Editor | Rich text (Lexical-based WYSIWYG) + Markdown + Code. Content is written out as Markdown, YAML, JSON, or TOML. | Visual (contextual/inline) editor + Rich Text (Plate-based) + Markdown + Code. |
| Live preview system | ⚠️ Yes but — A preview pane is included, and custom preview templates and styles can be registered through the JavaScript API. Matching the preview to your site’s frontend requires developer setup. | ⚠️ Yes but — Contextual, on-page visual editing with real-time inline preview. Requires developer setup to wire to the frontend. |
| AI assistant integration | ⚠️ Yes but — One-click AI translation via Anthropic, OpenAI, and Google Cloud Translation using your own API key. There is no general-purpose AI writing or rewriting assistant. | ❌ No — Listed as “Coming Soon” on paid plans. TinaGPT is a support chatbot only, not an in-editor content generation tool. |
| Collaborative editing | ❌ No — No simultaneous multi-user editing. Collaboration happens through Git commits, and multi-user support with edge-function-based user management is planned for v2.0. | ❌ No — TinaCMS is single-user per document. Simultaneous multi-user editing is not supported. |
| iFrame embed preview | ❌ No — Not documented or available out of the box. | ⚠️ Yes but — Not native. iFrame/embed support depends on custom MDX component configuration by a developer. |
| Shortcode support | ✅ Yes — Custom editor components can be registered through the JavaScript API to create reusable block-level components, alongside the built-in code-block and image components. | ✅ Yes — Custom Markdown shortcodes via the rich-text field’s custom MDX syntax configuration. |
| SEO tools | ❌ No — No built-in SEO analysis, SERP preview, or content scoring. SEO fields must be modeled manually in the configuration. | ⚠️ Yes but — SEO fields are developer-configurable. No built-in SEO analysis, SERP preview, or content scoring. |
| Dark mode | ✅ Yes — Built-in light and dark themes. Follows the system preference by default and can be switched in app settings. | ❌ No — Not confirmed as a switchable CMS setting (dark mode exists in the separate TinaDocs product only). |
Non-Technical User Experience
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Designed for non-technicals | ⚠️ Yes but — The UI is modern, accessible, and editor-friendly once configured, but setup, schema changes, and authentication require a developer, and every editor needs a Git account. | ⚠️ Yes but — Editors can use it once set up, but initial configuration and schema changes always require a developer. |
| Version rollback | ⚠️ Yes but — Entries are automatically backed up to browser storage while editing and can be restored as drafts. Full version history lives in Git, with no in-CMS Git rollback UI. | ⚠️ Yes but — Content is Git-backed so rollback is possible. No dedicated non-technical rollback UI. |
| Initial setup by non-dev | ❌ No — A developer must create the admin files, write the config, and register an OAuth app first. | ❌ No — A developer must install the package, configure the schema, and deploy the admin route first. |
Media Management
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Media management | ✅ Yes — Built-in digital asset management with drag-and-drop uploads, folder structures, search and filtering, configurable file size limits, and automatic image optimization (WebP conversion, resizing, SVG minification). | ⚠️ Yes but — Upload, view, and delete via the Media Manager. External providers (Cloudinary, S3, Digital Ocean Spaces). No file renaming. |
| External image URL support | ✅ Yes — Multiple external storage providers can be used at the same time: Cloudinary, Uploadcare, Amazon S3 and S3-compatible services (Cloudflare R2, Backblaze B2, DigitalOcean Spaces, Scaleway, Supabase Storage), plus stock photos from Pexels, Pixabay, and Unsplash. | ⚠️ Yes but — Handled via external media provider plugins. No direct inline external URL support. |
Collaboration & Teams
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| User access | ❌ No — Every editor needs their own Git account with write access to the repository, signing in via OAuth or a personal access token. Git Gateway and Netlify Identity are not supported. | ✅ Yes — Invite via TinaCloud. Editors need only a TinaCloud account, no GitHub account required. |
| Custom roles | ❌ No — No role management inside the CMS. Permissions are inherited from the Git provider’s repository access. Roles are planned for v2.0. | ⚠️ Yes but — Two roles (Admin, Editor) on Free, Team, and Team Plus. Three roles on Business (beta). Custom roles on Enterprise only. |
| Organization management | ❌ No — Each site gets its own admin instance. There is no centralized multi-project or multi-team dashboard. | ✅ Yes — Organizations are supported in TinaCloud to manage multiple projects. |
| Branch workflows | ⚠️ Yes but — A simple workflow (commit straight to a branch) and Open Authoring (external contributors submit pull requests) are supported. The Editorial Workflow is documented as “not yet supported in Sveltia CMS” and is planned before the 1.0 release. | ⚠️ Yes but — Branch creation, protected branches, PR review, and preview links — available on the Team Plus plan and above only. |
Git & Deployment
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Git providers | GitHub, GitLab, and Gitea/Forgejo, plus a test backend and a local repository workflow. Bitbucket, Azure DevOps, and Git Gateway are explicitly not supported. | GitHub only via TinaCloud (including GitHub Enterprise on the Enterprise plan). GitLab not supported natively. |
| Vendor lock-in | ✅ No — No vendor lock-in. Content lives in your own Git repository. Self-hosted and fully open source under the MIT license. | ✅ No — No vendor lock-in. Content stored as Markdown/MDX/JSON in your own GitHub repository. TinaCloud is optional; self-hosting is available. |
| Deployment | Content commits trigger builds on any connected CI/CD platform — Vercel, Netlify, Cloudflare Pages, GitHub Pages, and more. No built-in one-click deployment. | Pushes content changes to your Git repo, triggering builds on Vercel, Netlify, GitHub Pages, Cloudflare Pages, Cloudflare Workers, and Alibaba Cloud. |
Accessibilities
| Feature | Sveltia CMS | TinaCMS |
|---|---|---|
| Global search | ✅ Yes — Instant full-text search across all collections, entries, and assets with Cmd/Ctrl+F, plus keyboard shortcuts for the content library (Alt+1), asset library (Alt+2), and new entries (Cmd/Ctrl+E). | ⚠️ Yes but — Built-in via TinaCloud with indexer token configuration. Not available in self-hosted mode. |
| Edit configs as code | ✅ Yes — Configuration is written as code in YAML, TOML, or JSON, with JSON Schema validation, IDE auto-completion, TypeScript types, and a JavaScript API for customization. | ✅ Yes — All configuration is done in code via /tina/config.ts. Direct editing of config files is the primary method. |
| Mermaid diagram preview | ❌ No — Not a built-in or documented feature in Sveltia CMS. | ✅ Yes — Mermaid diagram rendering is supported in the rich-text editor using the Mermaid npm package. |
Worth Knowing
There's a third option: Sitepins
Sveltia CMS is free but still in beta and requires every editor to hold a Git account, while TinaCMS charges $24/mo once you pass 2 users and 1 project. Sitepins gives you a visual editor, an AI writing assistant, real-time collaboration, custom roles, and email invites for editors with zero config to get started — on a free forever plan or a $199 one-time lifetime deal. Like Sveltia, Sitepins is open source (AGPL-3.0, on GitHub) and can be self-hosted.
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 Sveltia CMS if:
- You want a completely free, MIT-licensed CMS with no paid cloud tier and no user or project caps
- You need GitLab or Gitea/Forgejo, which TinaCloud does not support
- You publish multilingual content and want first-class i18n with a localized admin UI
- You want built-in image optimization and external storage (S3, Cloudinary, Uploadcare) without extra plugins
- You want instant full-text search across every collection, entry, and asset
Choose TinaCMS if:
- You're building with Next.js or Astro and want deep, contextual on-page visual editing
- You want editors to log in without a Git account, via TinaCloud
- You need Mermaid diagram support directly in the content editor
- You need role-based access and organization management for multiple projects
- You're fine paying for a managed cloud (SOC 2-aligned, AWS-hosted) instead of self-hosting
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.