Sanity CMS is a modern, “headless” content management system (CMS) that has received much attention in development environments for its flexibility and scalability. With Sanity, you can structure, organize, and publish content across different platforms, regardless of the front-end solution you're using. In this article, we take a closer look at what makes Sanity an attractive choice for both developers and content producers.
What is Sanity CMS?
Sanity is a “headless” CMS, meaning it separates backend content management from front-end presentation. Sanity CMS requires separate solutions to build the front-end, allowing greater flexibility and customization options for developers. This gives you the freedom to use any front-end technology, like React, Vue, Angular, or even a static page generator like Gatsby or Next.js. Content is stored in a central database and retrieved via Sanity's APIs, so you can present your content on websites, apps, digital screens, or other platforms.
Sanity offers a robust and adaptable platform where the content structure can be designed to fit exactly your needs. This gives developers the freedom to build bespoke solutions, while content producers can work in an intuitive interface.
The story behind Sanity
Sanity was founded in 2017 by Øyvind Rostad, Simen Svale Skogsrud, Magnus Hillestad and Even Westvang from Bengler. With a vision to revolutionize the CMS world, they wanted to create a platform that offers an amazing editor experience for the end user. Since its inception, Sanity has grown to become an international success, with significant investments and offices in the United States, Europe and Norway. This growth reflects how well Sanity has been received in the market, and how it has managed to attract a global user base.
Key Features
Sanity Studio
Sanity Studio is the visual part of the CMS where editors and content producers work. It is a React-based interface that can be customized according to the specific needs of the organization. You can configure how your content forms look, what fields are available, and how the data is processed, making Sanity Studio extremely flexible and easy to integrate with other workflows.
Sanity Content Lake
The content you produce in Sanity is stored in what's known as the Sanity Content Lake, a database optimized for fast and secure content retrieval. Everything is versioned, which means you can track changes over time, restore previous versions, and collaborate with other users in real time without losing information. This makes Sanity a great choice for teams that need streamlined collaboration.
APIs and Real-Time Updates
Sanity uses GraphQL and REST APIs to retrieve content, making it easy for developers to build dynamic and interactive applications. Sanity CMS can structure and distribute content across multiple channels and platforms, highlighting the flexibility and functionality of the tool. Another great advantage of Sanity is real-time updates, which allow content to be updated instantly without the need for the page to be refreshed. This makes Sanity ideal for apps and websites that require real-time synchronization, such as news portals or social media.
User-defined types and “rich content”
Unlike many traditional CMSs, which often limit you to predefined content types, Sanity allows you to create user-defined content types. You can structure your content however you want, whether it's articles, products, blog posts, or anything else. Sanity also supports “rich content,” including multimedia and complex data structures, so you can build rich, interactive experiences.
Benefits of Sanity CMS
Flexibility
Sanity is suitable for both small and large projects and can be adapted to almost any application situation.
Developer Friendly
Sanity is built for developers and integrates seamlessly with modern development tools such as React, GraphQL, and serverless platforms.
Real-time collaboration
Content creators can work simultaneously across teams, with real-time synchronization and version control.
Headless architecture
Separates content management from frontend, giving you the freedom to build frontend with whatever technology you prefer.
Pricing model and costs
Sanity offers a flexible pricing model that can be customized according to needs and project size. For those who want to try the platform, there is a “Free Forever” plan that includes many of the most necessary features. For more advanced needs, Sanity offers several paid plans that provide additional functionality and support. Costs vary depending on the number of users and what features are needed. For larger projects, it is also possible to get a custom price, making Sanity an attractive choice for both small and large organizations.
Long-term cost-effectiveness and potential for enormous value creation
While building web pages with Sanity can have a higher initial cost compared to many other CMS, the platform's flexibility and ability to reuse content provides significant cost savings over time. Less time spent on manual updates, fewer bugs, faster publishing, and the ability to scale and customize the platform as needed make costs even out. This can result in a positive return on investment, making Sanity a cost-effective choice in the long term.
Ready for the future
One of the biggest advantages of Sanity is how forward-looking the platform is. By intelligently structuring your content, you can easily integrate new technologies such as AI and chatbots, as well as adapt to new marketing channels without having to start from scratch. Sanity is also open to new technologies and features, making it easy to stay up-to-date and relevant in a rapidly changing digital world. This makes Sanity a forward-looking choice for those who want to be at the forefront of technological trends.
