Sanity vs Agility CMS

Sanity vs Agility CMS

Sanity and Agility CMS are both API-first headless content platforms. While the feature lists have real overlap, the differences show up in who can use the platform independently after launch and in the cost as the team grows.

Agility CMS

Agility CMS is a cloud-based headless CMS. Content lives in one place and is delivered via APIs, allowing teams to power any front-end across websites, mobile apps, kiosks, and other channels.

​Agility CMS provides marketing teams with a no-code editing environment via Web Studio and developers with a clean API layer via REST and GraphQL. Content is modeled visually, localized natively, and delivered from SOC 2 Type II- and ISO 27001-certified hosting on Azure, with Canadian or US data residency included in the standard contract.

​The platform ships with an integrated Page Management layer, an MCP server for AI workflows, and governance tools, including approval workflows, role-based permissions, and audit trails, all ready at go-live without developer configuration. Support runs directly through Agility's own team via phone, live chat, and a dedicated CSM.

Sanity

Sanity is a Norwegian-headquartered headless CMS built around the Content Lake. It offers a real-time hosted content database that stores structured content as queryable data. Sanity Studio, the editing environment, is an open-source React application that developers customize to fit their team's content model and editorial workflow. Content is queried via GROQ or GraphQL and delivered through a global CDN on Google Cloud Platform infrastructure.

​Sanity has built out a substantial AI layer on top of the core platform. Among them, Content Agent allows editors to run bulk edits, content audits, and gap analyses through conversation, pulling in web research where needed and staging changes for human review before anything publishes. Sanity also offers AI Assist, Canvas, and an MCP server. Sanity is SOC 2 Type II certified, GDPR and CCPA compliant, and hosted on Google Cloud Platform infrastructure that undergoes independent audits for ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.

Which One Fits?

Both platforms are credible for enterprise content management. The question is whether the organization is primarily developer-led or whether marketing teams need to operate independently after go-live.

​Sanity works well for developer-led teams that want maximum schema flexibility, real-time collaboration, a free starting point, and the ability to build highly customized editorial environments. It has a strong track record in media, publishing, and e-commerce, and with organizations that have dedicated engineering resources that want structured content as a data foundation. However, while Sanity is excellent for developers, the non-developer experience depends heavily on how well a developer has configured the Studio upfront.

​Agility CMS is built for organizations where both marketing and development teams need to move independently of each other. The Web Studio editing experience is ready for non-technical users without developer configuration. Governance tools, phone and live chat support, and a dedicated CSM are included across paid tiers.

The Editing Experience

This is the most consequential difference for non-technical teams evaluating both platforms and the one most consistently raised in enterprise reviews of Sanity.

​Sanity has invested heavily in the editor experience. Real-time multiplayer editing, live-as-you-type previews, inline comments and tasks, Content Releases for coordinated launches, Canvas for AI-assisted writing, and a Media Library for asset management are all genuinely strong editor-facing features.

​Organizations that have invested in proper Studio configuration report that their content editors have real ownership and creative freedom. However, the consistent pattern in enterprise reviews is that this experience depends on the quality of the developer setup. The Studio, without configuration, is a schema editor rather than a page builder, which can be challenging for marketing teams.

​Visual Editing requires connecting the Studio to the rendered front-end. Content Releases, which allow editors to bundle and launch changes without developer involvement, are an Enterprise feature. Page layout creation and new component work still require developer involvement, regardless of tier. For organizations where marketing teams need to build and modify page layouts without a developer, that dependency is structural.

​Agility's Web Studio gives marketing teams a visual page management interface from the start. Templates, modules, and drag-and-drop layout editing are available without developer configuration. Developers define the component library while editors build and manage pages from there. Multi-Site Management

Agility handles multi-site from a single instance. This includes shared content libraries, unified permissions, and one dashboard. Content written once gets published to multiple sites, and pricing does not change with the number of properties.

​Multi-site is achievable in Sanity, but it requires deliberate architectural planning and potentially additional costs. That’s because Sanity's architecture is project and dataset-based. Each project gets two datasets by default. Additional datasets cost $999 per month each. Managing multiple sites with shared content requires either careful content modeling within a single dataset or purchasing additional datasets.

Pricing and Total Cost of Ownership

Sanity's $ 15-per-seat-per-month Growth price looks manageable until team size and required features come into play. A 25-person team that needs SAML SSO is looking at $1,774 per month before API overages, because SSO is a $1,399 per month add-on on Growth.

​Custom roles, dedicated engineering support, and Content Releases for coordinated publishing all require Enterprise, which means a custom quote. API requests beyond the CDN quota are charged at $1 per 25,000 non-CDN requests.

​Agility publishes three tiers: Starter at $1,425 per month, Pro at $2,850 per month, and Enterprise starting at $5,000 per month, all billed annually. Unlimited API requests, unlimited locales, and unlimited content models are included at every tier. SSO is available from Pro.

​There are no per-seat charges, no metered API overages, and no add-on fees for governance features. For organizations modeling total cost across a growing content team, Agility's pricing is easier to forecast and manage as you scale.

Support

Sanity's Growth tier support runs through community resources and email. Their Enterprise support is a different level entirely: a named engineering team, a dedicated Slack channel, and architects with hands-on experience migrating from platforms like AEM and Contentful. It is a genuinely strong offering. The limitation is that nothing close to it exists below Enterprise.

Agility's support is tiered but direct at every level. Phone and live chat are included across paid plans. Onboarding support is available from Starter through Enterprise and is handled by Agility's own team rather than handed off to documentation. A dedicated CSM comes with the Enterprise plan, and when something breaks in production, that CSM can pull engineering in directly rather than routing you through a ticket queue.

Security and Compliance

Both Agility and Sanity are SOC 2 Type II-certified and GDPR-compliant. Sanity is hosted on Google Cloud Platform infrastructure that undergoes independent audits for ISO 27001, HIPAA, and PCI DSS. Agility holds direct ISO 27001 certification and is hosted on Azure.

Data Residency

Agility is a Canadian company. Canadian data residency is included in the standard contract, with hosted services on Azure Canada Central and backups stored within Canadian Azure regions.

​Sanity is headquartered in Oslo, Norway. Like Agility, it is not subject to the US CLOUD Act. However, Sanity does not publish customer-selectable data residency options as a standard feature of any tier.

​For Canadian enterprises in regulated industries where legal and procurement teams need Canadian data residency confirmed in writing before an assessment begins, Agility's contractual position is cleaner.

Where Agility CMS Takes the Lead

Marketer-ready without developer configuration. Agility's Web Studio gives marketing teams a visual page management interface that works without developer setup. Sanity Studio requires developer configuration before non-technical editors can work productively, and page layout creation and component work require developer involvement regardless of how well the Studio has been built.

Flat pricing that stays predictable. Agility charges a flat rate per tier. Sanity's per-seat model scales with team size, and features that enterprise teams typically require include SAML SSO ($1,399/month add-on on Growth), custom roles (Enterprise only), dedicated support (Enterprise only), and Content Releases (Enterprise only). All of these can add up fast outside the base seat cost.

​SAML SSO and coordinated publishing without a tier gate. Agility includes SSO and coordinated multi-document publishing across enterprise tiers. On Sanity Growth, SAML SSO is a $ 1,399-per-month add-on, and Content Releases require Enterprise.

​Canadian data residency in the standard contract. Agility is a Canadian company hosted on Azure Canada Central by default. Canadian data residency is in the standard contract. Sanity does not publish customer-selectable data residency as a standard feature of any tier.

​Multi-site without per-dataset costs. Agility handles multi-site from a single instance with shared content libraries and flat pricing. Sanity's additional datasets cost $999 per month each, and multi-site architectures require deliberate planning to work within dataset constraints.

Multi-Site Management

Sanity's project-and-dataset model means each additional site either needs to share a dataset—which requires careful content architecture—or pay $999 per month for an additional dataset. For organizations managing multiple properties with shared content needs, the cost structure and architectural constraints are worth understanding before implementation begins.

Agility handles multi-site from a single instance. This includes shared content libraries, unified permissions, and one dashboard. Once content is created, it can be published to multiple sites with different URL structures. When the legal department updates a privacy policy, it updates it once, and pricing does not change based on the number of properties.

For enterprise teams managing more than one property with plans to grow, the difference in how multi-site is priced and architected compounds over time.

Customer Support

Sanity's Growth tier support runs through community resources, documentation, and email. Their Enterprise offering is a different level entirely: a named engineering team, a dedicated Slack or Teams channel, and architects with hands-on migration experience. It is a genuinely strong model, but nothing close to it exists below Enterprise, and dedicated support for Growth requires a $ 799-per-month add-on.

Agility's support is direct at every tier. Phone and live chat are included across paid plans, and onboarding is handled by Agility's own team from day one. A dedicated CSM and White Glove access are included with the Enterprise plan, designed for teams managing multiple properties or working under tight launch windows.