# Contentful, what it is and how websites use it.

A headless CMS as a service: content is managed in Contentful and the website fetches it through an API. Images and videos are served from images.ctfassets.net.

- **Status:** Modern. Actively developed, one of the most widely used headless CMSs.
- **Category:** [CMS and site builders](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms)
- **First release:** 2013
- **License:** Proprietary (SaaS)
- **Official website:** https://www.contentful.com
- **Documentation:** https://www.contentful.com/developers/docs/
- **Page:** https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/contentful

## Contentful on audited websites

67 of the 16,845 websites audited by be1st run Contentful (<1%). That ranks it #14 of the 21 technologies in CMS and site builders we have seen in audits.

### Websites running Contentful vs all websites

- **Web score:** 74 (all websites 72)
- **SEO:** 83 (all websites 79)
- **Security:** 63 (all websites 59)
- **Performance:** 62 (all websites 72)
- **AI Readiness:** 33 (all websites 31)

### Most used in CMS and site builders

1. [WordPress](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/wordpress): 8.4% (1,417)
2. [Lovable](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/lovable): 1.8% (310)
3. [Framer](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/framer): 1.6% (266)
4. [Webflow](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/webflow): 1.5% (260)
5. [Wix](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/wix): 1.4% (232)
6. [Sanity](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/sanity): 1.2% (197)
7. [Joomla](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/joomla): 1.2% (196)
8. [Squarespace](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/squarespace): 1.2% (196)
9. [Webnode](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/webnode): 1.0% (171)
10. [Drupal](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/drupal): 1.0% (170)

## Google searches for “contentful”

About 49,500 searches a month worldwide (Google Ads estimate). The bars show the 12 months from Oct 2025 to Sep 2026.

- 2025-10: 60,500
- 2025-11: 60,500
- 2025-12: 49,500
- 2026-01: 60,500
- 2026-02: 49,500
- 2026-03: 60,500
- 2026-04: 49,500
- 2026-05: 49,500
- 2026-06: 74,000
- 2026-07: 49,500
- 2026-08: 40,500
- 2026-09: 49,500

Open in search trends: https://be1st.ai/analytics/trends?kw=contentful&direction=all

## Other technologies in CMS and site builders

- [TYPO3](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/typo3): <1% of websites
- [Contao](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/contao): <1% of websites
- [Storyblok](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/storyblok): <1% of websites
- [Base44](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/base44): <1% of websites
- [HubSpot CMS](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/hubspot-cms): <1% of websites
- [Ghost](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/ghost): <1% of websites
- [Blogger](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/blogger): <1% of websites
- [Payload CMS](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/payload-cms): <1% of websites
- [Directus](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/directus): <1% of websites
- [Bolt](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/bolt): <1% of websites
- [Replit](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/replit): not seen yet
- [Strapi](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms/strapi)

[All 24 in CMS and site builders](https://be1st.ai/technologies/cms)

## Questions about Contentful

### What is Contentful?

A headless CMS as a service: content is managed in Contentful and the website fetches it through an API. Images and videos are served from images.ctfassets.net. The be1st catalog lists Contentful under CMS and site builders. License of Contentful: Proprietary (SaaS).

### How many websites use Contentful?

67 of the 16,845 websites audited by be1st run Contentful (<1%), as of 8 Nov 2026.

### When was Contentful first released?

Contentful was first released in 2013.

### Is Contentful still a modern choice?

Yes. Contentful counts as a modern technology. Actively developed, one of the most widely used headless CMSs.

### What are the alternatives to Contentful?

Technologies that do the same job as Contentful include Sanity, Storyblok, Directus, and Strapi.

Numbers: latest audit of each of 16,845 websites audited by be1st, as of 8 Nov 2026.