Claude CMS vs Sanity
Sanity is a flexible headless CMS — but your content lives in their Content Lake, you pay per user, and there's no server-side backend. Claude CMS is self-hosted, AI-managed, and £6.99/month flat.
Cloud content store vs self-hosted AI CMS
Sanity stores your content in their proprietary Content Lake — not in a database you control. Claude CMS stores everything in your own MySQL database on your own server. Claude manages the entire site through MCP tools; no Sanity Studio, no GROQ query language, no CDN costs.
Sanity
- ✗Content stored in Sanity’s Content Lake — a proprietary cloud store, not a standard database you can query directly.
- ✗Per-seat pricing on paid plans. Free tier limited to 3 users; Growth plan starts at $99/month.
- ✗Content-only CMS — no server-side PHP, no form handlers, no booking systems without a separate backend.
- ✗Requires learning GROQ — Sanity’s proprietary query language. Content can’t be accessed via standard SQL.
- ✗CDN bandwidth costs at scale — high-traffic image-heavy sites can face unexpected delivery charges.
Claude CMS
- ✓Content in your MySQL database on your server. Standard SQL. Portable. No proprietary store to migrate away from.
- ✓£6.99/month flat. Unlimited users, unlimited content. Claude is the editor — no per-seat cost.
- ✓Full PHP/MySQL backend. Claude builds forms, booking systems, payment handlers, and admin pages in the same session.
- ✓No query language to learn. Claude manages everything through natural language — no GROQ, no schema definitions to configure.
- ✓No CDN costs. Images live on your server. Bandwidth is whatever your hosting plan includes.
Feature comparison
| Feature | Claude CMS | Sanity |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | £6.99/month | Free → $99+/month |
| Self-hosted | ✅ Any LAMP host | ❌ SaaS + CDN |
| Content storage | ✅ Your MySQL | ❌ Sanity Content Lake |
| Per-user fees | ✅ None | ❌ Yes (Growth plan) |
| AI-managed via MCP | ✅ Claude does everything | ❌ No |
| PHP backend & server logic | ✅ Full PHP access | ❌ Content-only |
| Direct SQL access | ✅ Direct MySQL | ❌ GROQ only |
| CDN bandwidth costs | ✅ None | ⚠️ Usage-based |
| Content survives cancellation | ✅ Site keeps serving | ❌ Content in Sanity |
| Real-time collaborative editor | Via Claude chat | ✅ Sanity Studio |
| Proprietary query language | ✅ None needed | ❌ GROQ required |
Is Claude CMS the right Sanity alternative for you?
You’re hitting Sanity’s free-tier limits
Sanity’s free plan caps at 3 users and limited CDN bandwidth. Once you outgrow it, the Growth plan starts at $99/month. Claude CMS at £6.99/month is a self-hosted alternative with no tier ceilings or API rate limits.
You want standard SQL, not GROQ
Sanity uses GROQ — a proprietary query language only useful inside the Sanity ecosystem. Claude CMS uses MySQL. Your content is queryable with standard SQL and portable to any MySQL-compatible tool.
You need backend logic alongside content
Sanity is a pure content API — no PHP execution, no form handling. Claude CMS includes a full PHP/MySQL backend. Claude builds contact forms, booking systems, and payment handlers in the same conversation as your content.
✅ Choose Claude CMS if…
- You want your content in a standard MySQL database you control
- You need PHP backend logic alongside content management
- You’re a solo developer or small team without a per-seat budget
- You prefer managing via Claude chat over learning GROQ
- Predictable flat pricing matters more than enterprise CDN features
Consider Sanity if…
- Your team relies on Sanity Studio’s real-time collaborative editor
- You have a Next.js or React frontend consuming a structured content API
- You need GROQ’s flexible query syntax across deeply nested content types
- Enterprise-grade CDN delivery and global edge performance are critical
- Your workflow depends on Sanity’s large plugin and integration ecosystem
How to move from Sanity to Claude CMS
Export your content
Use the Sanity CLI (sanity dataset export) to export your dataset as NDJSON. Assets are downloaded to a separate folder.
Install Claude CMS
Deploy to any PHP/MySQL host. Run the setup, connect to Claude via the MCP connector. Takes about 10 minutes.
Rebuild with Claude
Share your exported content with Claude. It recreates your pages and data structures — with improved markup, SEO, and any custom backend logic you need.
Cancel Sanity
Point your domain to your new hosting. Cancel your Sanity plan. Your content is in your database, on your server — permanently.
Compare all headless CMS options → · Claude CMS vs Contentful → · Claude CMS vs Strapi →
The self-hosted alternative to Sanity
£6.99/month flat. Your content in your MySQL database. Managed entirely by Claude via MCP. First month free.