Contentful vs Acquia

Last Updated:

Our analysts compared Contentful vs Acquia based on data from our 400+ point analysis of CMS Software, user reviews and our own crowdsourced data from our free software selection platform.

Contentful Software Tool
Acquia Software Tool

Product Basics

Contentful is a cloud-native API-first platform that allows users to create, manage and distribute content to virtually any digital channel, all from a single hub. It stores and distributes a wide range of content that includes text, video, images, music, structured documents and more. Coupled with a headless architecture, native integrations apps and powerful webhooks make it flexible and extensible. Its web app allows creatives to create rich text content with headlines, quotes, lists, visual formatting and media.

Editors can create landing pages, fine-tune product descriptions, tweak forms and publish content all from a unified interface. Robust REST and GraphQL APIs enable content delivery to multiple channels like iOS, Android and Windows mobile apps, and websites. It provides separate workspaces and role-based permissions for data governance.
read more...
Acquia is a software-as-a-service that helps enterprises manage their digital assets through automated workflows and dynamic editing. Its Cloud IDE enables building websites through the low-code/no-code approach, with attributes for content authoring and omnichannel deployment. Creative professionals can upload and store assets in the centralized portal, with complete version control. Users can search for content through filters, metadata, tags and collection references, and edit content through its rich-text editor.

It enables comprehensive performance monitoring with a built-in global CDN to ensure content delivery at scale. Integrating with SSO, it provides multi-factor authentication and role-based access controls for data security. Its integration with New Relic APM Pro helps monitor app performance, health and resource utilization.
read more...
$300 Monthly, Freemium
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
$148 Monthly
Get a free price quote
Tailored to your specific needs
Small 
i
Medium 
i
Large 
i
Small 
i
Medium 
i
Large 
i
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Windows
Mac
Linux
Android
Chromebook
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile
Cloud
On-Premise
Mobile

Product Assistance

Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Documentation
In Person
Live Online
Videos
Webinars
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support
Email
Phone
Chat
FAQ
Forum
Knowledge Base
24/7 Live Support

Product Insights

  • Streamlined Content Management: Contentful simplifies the process of creating, managing, and distributing content across multiple platforms, enabling teams to publish content faster and more efficiently than traditional CMS platforms.
  • Enhanced Collaboration: With its cloud-based architecture, Contentful allows team members to collaborate in real-time, regardless of their location. This ensures that content updates and approvals can happen swiftly, keeping projects on track.
  • Flexible Integration: Contentful offers robust APIs that enable seamless integration with various tools and systems, such as analytics, marketing, and e-commerce platforms. This flexibility allows businesses to tailor their tech stack to their specific needs.
  • Scalability: Designed to handle the demands of both small projects and large-scale operations, Contentful can scale alongside your business. This means you won't have to migrate to another platform as your content needs grow.
  • Improved Content Delivery: Contentful utilizes a content delivery network (CDN) to ensure that your content is delivered quickly and reliably to users around the world, enhancing the user experience and engagement.
  • Content Model Flexibility: Unlike traditional CMS platforms that often force content into predefined templates, Contentful allows users to define their own content models. This flexibility supports a more structured and efficient approach to content management, catering to diverse content types and structures.
  • Enhanced Security: Contentful prioritizes security with features like two-factor authentication, role-based access control, and regular security audits. This helps protect your content and user data from unauthorized access and potential breaches.
  • Cost Efficiency: By streamlining content operations and reducing the need for custom development, Contentful can help businesses save on operational and development costs. Its cloud-based nature also eliminates the need for expensive server maintenance.
  • Future-Proof Technology: Contentful is built on modern technology standards and is continuously updated, ensuring that your content management system remains cutting-edge. This helps safeguard your investment and keeps you ahead of digital trends.
  • Global Reach: With its CDN and multilingual content management capabilities, Contentful enables businesses to easily reach and engage global audiences, breaking down geographical and language barriers.
  • Personalized User Experiences: Contentful supports dynamic content personalization, allowing businesses to tailor content based on user behavior and preferences. This leads to more engaging and relevant user experiences, boosting conversion rates and customer loyalty.
  • Comprehensive Analytics: Integration with analytics tools allows Contentful users to track content performance and user engagement in real-time. This data-driven approach enables continuous optimization of content strategies for better results.
read more...
  • Enhanced Security: Acquia provides robust security measures that protect your digital experiences from potential threats, ensuring your data and customer information remain safe.
  • Scalability: With Acquia, your digital presence can grow seamlessly alongside your business. It effortlessly handles traffic spikes and expands as your content and user base increase.
  • Content Management Simplified: Acquia's intuitive content management system (CMS) allows for easy content creation, management, and deployment, enabling non-technical users to keep your site fresh and engaging.
  • Personalized Customer Experiences: Acquia enables the delivery of personalized content and experiences to users, improving engagement and conversion rates by catering to individual user preferences and behaviors.
  • Multi-Site Management: Manage multiple websites from a single platform with Acquia, streamlining operations and ensuring consistency across your digital ecosystem.
  • Cloud-Based Flexibility: Being cloud-based, Acquia offers flexibility and accessibility, allowing teams to work and collaborate from anywhere, at any time, without the need for on-premise infrastructure.
  • Comprehensive Analytics: Acquia provides detailed analytics and insights, helping you understand user behavior, measure performance, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your digital strategy.
  • Community and Support: Access to a vibrant community of developers and a robust support network ensures you can leverage collective knowledge and receive assistance when needed, maximizing your platform's potential.
  • Integration Capabilities: Acquia's platform is designed for easy integration with a wide range of marketing tools and applications, enabling a cohesive and efficient digital marketing ecosystem.
  • Future-Proof Technology: Acquia stays at the forefront of digital experience technology, ensuring your platform remains relevant and effective in the rapidly evolving digital landscape.
read more...
  • API: JSON payloads provide complete programmatic control over CMS features such as assets, translations and more. Delivers API payloads in the sub-100 ms range utilizing caching strategies and external CDNs. 
  • Toolbox: Customizable UX allows editors to easily create content of all forms, such as rich text, locations, JSON snippets and more. Choose and add fields to customizable content types. Publish in multiple languages and time zones to ensure viewers across the world can view content at the same time. Safeguard content with roles and permissions tools. 
  • Recordkeep: The ISO 27001-compliant cloud platform creates a safe space for all data and information to be held while being monitored 24/7, ensuring 99.99% uptime. 
  • Security: Keep information secure with SAML 2.0, 2FA and SCIM integration allowing for SSO (Single Sign-on). The vendor's security program is monitored by the Information Systems Management System (ISMS) which is continuously up-to-date with the ISO 27001:2013 international standards. 
  • Editing: Includes built-in real-time markdown editing. An embedded media library prevents broken public links. 
  • Customize: Prototype easily with SDKs available in multiple languages. Integrate with any API service by utilizing natively joined apps and third-party software. Personalize how content is created, managed and consumed through open source field editors, the Forma 360 design system and UI extensions. 
  • Mobile Apps: Update content across platforms with flexible APIs and interfaces. Developers can manage multiple digital interfaces using a single content backend. Selective sync, image auto-compression and support for offline persistence delivers a seamless mobile device experience. 
  • Open Source Libraries: Forma 360 design software and field editors allow editors to create an interface that implements custom behaviors, without having to recreate components. 
read more...
  • Boost Engagement: Analyze and sift through data to generate insights for better engagement.  
  • Unified Data: Unify data into a single record, making it easier to access. Access the data via UI (User Interface) and API (Application Programming Interface) 
  • Accessible Data: Give teams access to unified CDP data, making it easier for members to switch between reports and queries. The CDP (Customer Data Platforms) can manage any amount of traffic hassle-free. 
  • Immediate Insights: Identify valuable patterns as soon as the unified and accurate data flows into the platform. 
  • Customer-centric Design: Use specialized tools to understand customer habits with the Campaign Studio. Empower designers to uphold consistency throughout the various design elements. 
  • Asset Library: Ensure that everything is organized with a centralized asset library. Save time spent on searching for resources in emails, hard drives and network drives. 
  • Shared Workspace: Help teams work together in an office space and remotely, cutting down on miscommunications and enhancing productivity. 
  • Cumulative Analysis: Give users a holistic view of how a company’s business performs at the global level in terms of content and campaigns with the Campaign Factory. 
read more...

Product Ranking

#29

among all
CMS Software

#41

among all
CMS Software

Find out who the leaders are

User Sentiment Summary

Great User Sentiment 283 reviews
Great User Sentiment 153 reviews
87%
of users recommend this product

Contentful has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 87% when considering 283 user reviews from 6 recognized software review sites.

83%
of users recommend this product

Acquia has a 'great' User Satisfaction Rating of 83% when considering 153 user reviews from 5 recognized software review sites.

4.3 (15)
4.3 (14)
4.3 (98)
4.1 (47)
4.42 (52)
n/a
4.5 (42)
4.6 (5)
4.4 (71)
4.3 (60)
3.9 (5)
3.8 (27)

Synopsis of User Ratings and Reviews

Structured Content: Contentful's structured content approach separates content from its presentation, offering flexibility and reusability across various platforms and channels. This means content can be easily adapted for different devices and applications without the need to recreate it from scratch.
API-first Approach: Contentful's API-first design allows for seamless integration with other tools and services, enabling developers to build custom workflows and automate content delivery. This can streamline content management processes and improve efficiency.
Collaboration Features: Contentful provides features that facilitate collaboration among team members, such as roles and permissions, version history, and content scheduling. These features can help teams work together more effectively and ensure content consistency.
Scalability and Performance: Contentful is designed to handle large volumes of content and traffic, making it suitable for businesses of all sizes. Its cloud-based infrastructure ensures high availability and performance, even during peak usage periods.
Show more
Scalability and Performance: Acquia's cloud platform is built to handle large and complex Drupal websites, ensuring optimal performance and scalability as your business grows. Its content delivery network (CDN) further enhances speed and reliability for global audiences.
Security and Compliance: Acquia prioritizes security with features like web application firewalls, intrusion detection, and regular security updates. It also helps businesses meet compliance requirements with industry-specific certifications and data encryption.
Developer Tools and Support: Acquia provides developers with a comprehensive set of tools and resources, including Acquia Cloud IDE and Cloud API, to streamline development workflows. Additionally, Acquia offers expert support and training to assist with any challenges.
Marketing and Personalization: Acquia's marketing cloud tools, such as Acquia Lift and Journey, enable businesses to personalize customer experiences and optimize marketing campaigns. These tools leverage customer data and insights to deliver targeted content and improve engagement.
Show more
Content Modeling Challenges: Contentful's content modeling can be complex and time-consuming, especially for users accustomed to traditional CMS platforms. The learning curve can be steep, requiring users to invest significant effort in understanding and implementing content types and relationships effectively.
Preview Limitations: The platform's preview functionality may not always accurately reflect the final published content, leading to potential discrepancies and requiring additional verification steps before publishing.
Search Function Shortcomings: Contentful's search capabilities have been reported as less than optimal, making it challenging for users to efficiently locate specific content within their projects, especially as the content library grows.
Show more
Cost: Acquia's pricing structure can be prohibitive, especially for smaller organizations or those with limited budgets. The subscription fees and additional costs for features and support can quickly add up, making it a less attractive option compared to other CMS platforms with more transparent or affordable pricing models.
Complexity: Acquia's interface and features can have a steep learning curve, requiring significant time and effort to master. This complexity can be a barrier for users who are accustomed to more intuitive and user-friendly CMS platforms, potentially leading to frustration and decreased productivity.
Performance: Some users have reported performance issues with Acquia, such as slow loading times or occasional downtime. These performance concerns can negatively impact user experience and website effectiveness, especially for organizations that rely on their online presence for critical business functions.
Show more

Feeling a little content-less? Contentful might just be the CMS remedy you need Contentful has garnered a reputation for its user-friendly interface, making it a breeze for folks without a tech background to navigate the platform. The extensive range of templates empowers users to craft visually appealing and engaging content, while seamless integration with popular marketing tools streamlines content management across various platforms. However, some users have expressed concerns about the pricing structure, which may pose a challenge for smaller businesses or those with tighter budgets. Additionally, the absence of certain features could be a dealbreaker for businesses with specific requirements. What truly sets Contentful apart is its headless architecture, providing unparalleled flexibility and customization compared to traditional CMS platforms. This means businesses can tailor the platform to their exact needs, integrating it with any front-end technology or framework. This adaptability makes Contentful an excellent choice for businesses with diverse content requirements or those seeking to deliver content across multiple channels, such as websites, mobile apps, and smart devices. In a nutshell, Contentful is best suited for businesses that prioritize flexibility, scalability, and a user-friendly experience. It's particularly well-suited for organizations with complex content needs or those looking to deliver content across multiple platforms. However, businesses with budget constraints or requiring specific features may need to explore alternative options. Keep in mind that the software landscape is constantly evolving, so it's always a good idea to check for the latest updates and user reviews before making a decision.

Show more

Making a splash in the CMS world, Acquia has been making waves with its user-friendly platform and robust features. Known for its scalability and security, Acquia has garnered positive reviews, particularly from enterprise-level businesses seeking a reliable CMS solution. Users frequently highlight Acquia's seamless integration with Drupal, a popular open-source platform, as a major advantage, allowing for greater flexibility and customization compared to competitors like WordPress or Joomla. Acquia's cloud-based infrastructure receives praise for its ability to handle high traffic volumes and deliver optimal performance, making it suitable for businesses with demanding website needs. However, some users note that Acquia's extensive features and functionalities can present a steeper learning curve for beginners. Additionally, the platform's pricing structure, which is often customized based on individual requirements, may be a concern for smaller businesses or those with budget constraints. Despite these drawbacks, Acquia's strengths in scalability, security, and Drupal integration make it a compelling choice for larger organizations or those with complex web development projects. Its ability to handle high traffic, provide a secure environment, and offer extensive customization options positions Acquia as a top contender in the CMS market, particularly for businesses seeking a robust and scalable solution to manage their online presence.

Show more

Screenshots

Top Alternatives in CMS Software


Alfresco

Box

Confluence

DocuShare

DocuWare

Egnyte

Epicor ECM

Laserfiche

M-Files

Nuxeo

OmniDocs

OnBase

OpenText ECM

Oracle WebCenter Content

Revver

Related Categories

WE DISTILL IT INTO REAL REQUIREMENTS, COMPARISON REPORTS, PRICE GUIDES and more...

Compare products
Comparison Report
Just drag this link to the bookmark bar.
?
Table settings