Content modelling is simply the way your website content is structured behind the scenes. A good model makes it easy to create new pages, reuse content and keep everything organised as your site grows.

Both Contentful and Storyblok offer strong flexibility, but they take different approaches to how content is structured.

Contentful uses a field-and-reference approach where content types are built from individual fields, and entries are linked together to form pages or components.

This works well for developer-led teams, giving developers a high degree of control and allows for very detailed structures. It works well for complex models or organisations with strict governance, though it can become harder for non-technical editors to understand as it grows.

Whereas, Storyblok takes a component-based approach.

Content is organised into reusable blocks that can be combined to build pages or shared across markets. Each block contains its own fields, making the structure easy to follow. This approach keeps things cleaner and more intuitive, which helps teams keep content organised as the site grows. For many enterprise organisations, this leads to a smoother long-term content management experience.

A great website depends on great development, and the tools developers work with have a direct impact on the final product. When developers enjoy using a platform, everything from build quality to speed of delivery improves.

Both Contentful and Storyblok offer strong developer experiences that support different types of teams.

Contentful is known for its stable APIs, clear documentation and long-standing presence in the headless space.

Many developers have used it before, so onboarding is usually quick. Contentful stores most pieces of content as individual entries. This gives developers strong control over structure, although it can create long chains of references as sites grow.

Smaller elements, such as buttons or labels, can also become separate entries, which sometimes leads to deeper nesting and more screens to move between. Contentful integrates well with modern frameworks and has a mature ecosystem, which makes it a reliable choice for enterprise projects that need consistency and long term stability.

Storyblok offers a modern developer experience built around fast APIs, a clean component structure and strong support for frameworks like Astro, Next JS and Nuxt.

Its block based model keeps related content together, which can reduce nesting and make the overall structure easier to follow, helping teams build clear, reusable and scalable code.. Developers often find this approach clearer and more enjoyable to work with, especially on large or complex websites.

The visual editor works smoothly with local development, which reduces iteration time and encourages collaboration between designers, developers and content teams.

Framework and language support

Both platforms also work with other languages such as PHP, Python, Go and .NET through their APIs, so teams have full flexibility regardless of their tech stack.

Contentful provides strict structure through its entry based model. Storyblok focuses on component driven development which many developers find faster, clearer and more enjoyable.

Happier developers often deliver better results, which makes Storyblok a strong fit for teams that prefer a more visual, component based way of working rather than a strictly entry led model.

Managing images and media is a core part of running a modern website. In a modern CMS you should not need to worry about resizing images, compressing files or manually preparing every asset.

A good system should take care of optimisation automatically, and it should make it easy for global teams to organise files, apply metadata and reuse assets with confidence.

Both Contentful and Storyblok offer strong tools in this area, although they focus on slightly different priorities.

Contentful provides a central asset library where teams can upload images, PDFs and other media. Editors can add titles, alt text and metadata, and assets can be reused across entries.

Contentful also supports on the fly image transformations through its API. This helps developers deliver optimised images without relying on manual resizing, and is especially useful for high traffic websites. Larger organisations often rely on naming conventions and governance to keep the library organised as it grows.

Storyblok also includes a central asset library with tagging, folders and metadata fields. Editors can manage alt text and titles directly within the asset view, and Storyblok now offers AI assisted alt text suggestions, which can help keep accessibility standards consistent across large teams.

Storyblok provides on the fly image transformations too, so optimised images are delivered automatically based on device and size. The platform has also introduced new enterprise features that improve visibility and control when working with shared global libraries.

DAM Integrations

Many enterprise teams use external DAM systems to manage large volumes of brand assets. Both platforms integrate well with the most widely used DAM providers.

Handling Video

Both platforms support video uploads, although neither provides built in video compression or transcoding. For teams working with large or high resolution video, we normally recommend a dedicated service such as Cloudinary to handle optimisation and delivery.

So how do they compare? Both platforms provide strong asset management and help teams avoid the manual work that older CMSs required.

Contentful offers powerful image transformation tools and a reliable central library.

Storyblok focuses on clarity and ease of use, with editor friendly organisation and AI supported alt text to help maintain accessibility. For multi market teams, the choice often depends on governance needs and how assets are structured across regions.

AI is changing how content is created, understood and discovered. A Headless CMS is well suited to this shift because it stores content in a structured way that AI systems can read and use more effectively.

Teams now need a platform that supports clean, reusable content for AI driven search, integrates with new tools and adapts as digital channels evolve. A future ready CMS should help teams work faster today while giving them confidence that their content will continue to perform in an AI first world. Contentful and Storyblok both support this direction, although they focus on different areas.

Contentful provides a flexible content model that works well with structured content for AI systems. It integrates with third party AI tools through its marketplace and API, which allows teams to add translation, enrichment or content generation features into their workflows. It is well suited to organisations that want to build their own AI processes on top of a stable content platform. Its predictable structure helps AI systems interpret content consistently across different channels.

Storyblok has placed AI at the centre of several new features.

• Strata gives content deeper meaning and context, which helps AI systems understand how content relates across a website.
• OtterlyAI gives teams visibility into how AI interprets their content, making it easier to optimise pages for AI driven search.
• FlowMotion introduces automation into content workflows and helps teams connect AI tools into everyday publishing tasks.

Storyblok also includes an Ideation Room that helps teams brainstorm, plan and shape new content with AI support, which speeds up early stage content creation. The platform also provides AI assisted alt text and content suggestions to help teams maintain consistency. You can read more about these features in our article on the future of headless CMS.

Contentful and Storyblok are both strong enterprise CMS platforms, but they have grown up in different ways. Contentful has been part of the headless market for a long time and is well known for its stability and predictable structure. Storyblok is a newer platform, but it has matured quickly and now offers a rich set of features with a strong focus on the editor experience. This focus has made it popular with teams that want to create and manage content with confidence.

As an agency we have extensive experience with both platforms. We spent many years firmly in the Contentful camp. Our work with Quorn Foods and their global digital ecosystem is a good example, with the platform running successfully for more than nine years across multiple regions. In recent years we have seen more clients needing greater control and flexibility, particularly after the pandemic changed how teams work. This is where Storyblok has been a great fit. Our work with Amtico Flooring shows how well Storyblok supports multi market content, visual editing and reusable components that allow teams to update pages confidently and quickly. Developer support is still available when new features are needed, but day to day changes can be handled easily by the marketing team.

Both platforms sit in the premium headless space and both support high performance, strong security and AI ready content structures. The right choice depends on what your organisation values most. Contentful is ideal for complex architectures and teams with strong engineering resources. Storyblok is a great fit for organisations that want speed, flexibility and an editor experience that empowers teams to create and publish without friction.

Choosing the right platform is about understanding how your team works today and how you plan to grow. Both Contentful and Storyblok can support that growth, but they shine in different ways.

Why platform choice matters less than implementation

For most enterprise teams, the success of a new CMS is driven more by how it is planned and delivered than by the platform itself. Contentful and Storyblok are both capable of supporting complex websites, multi-market rollouts and long term growth. The real difference comes from getting the foundations right. Clear discovery, well structured content, agreed governance and thoughtful migration planning have a far greater impact on results than choosing one tool over another.

Adoption also plays a major role. When teams are trained properly, understand how the system works and have the right workflows in place, the CMS becomes an asset rather than a bottleneck. A platform that is implemented well will outperform a stronger tool that is implemented poorly. For most organisations, focusing on how the CMS is set up, rather than assuming the platform alone will solve problems, is what leads to long term success.

For guidance and to avoid common mistakes, get in touch with our specialist headless CMS team.