Where Storyblok's free tier stops
Storyblok Storyblok's free Starter plan gives you 1 space, 1 included user seat, up to 2 user seats total, 100GB of traffic per month, 100,000 API requests per month, 2 locales, and 25,000 AI credits. That is enough for a small project, but the plan stops as soon as you need more room for collaboration, more languages, or a higher delivery load. Since the cap is on the workspace itself as well as usage, teams that expect to scale content operations will need another option.
Switch table
| Storyblok | Contentful | Hygraph | Prismic | Squidex | Cosmic | Webflow | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| spaces or projects | 1 space | 1 Starter Space | 1 environment | 1 repository | 1 starter account | 1 project | 2 free staging sites |
| user seats | 1 included seat, up to 2 total | 10 users | 3 seats | 1 user account | 2 contributors | 2 team members | 1 full seat |
| locales | 2 locales | 2 locales | 2 locales | 2 locales | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| api calls per month | 100,000 API requests | 100K API calls/month | 500,000 API calls | 4 million API calls/month | 20,000 API calls/month | 10k non-cached API requests/month | Unknown |
| traffic or bandwidth | 100GB traffic/month | 50 GB CDN bandwidth/month | 100 GB asset traffic | 100 GB CDN bandwidth/month | 2 GB traffic | 1GB API bandwidth/month | 1 GB bandwidth |
| content or item capacity | 25,000 AI credits | Structured content included | 1,000 entries | Unlimited documents | 500 MB storage | 1,000 objects | 50 CMS items |
| Card required | - | Yes | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| First paid tier | - | Lite, $300/month | Growth, from $199/month | Starter, $10/month per repository, paid annually | Basic, €19,00 per month / €190,00 per year | Builder, $49/month | Basic, $15/mo billed yearly |
The alternatives
Contentful
FTV 64 / 100Contentful's free plan includes 1 Starter Space, access for 10 users, 2 roles, 2 locales, 100K API calls per month, and 50 GB of CDN bandwidth per month. It also includes structured content, developer tools, and editorial experience, so the core headless CMS workflow is intact. Compared with Storyblok, the free plan is more generous on team access and roles, but lighter on traffic and not as roomy on bandwidth. Switch here if collaboration depth matters more than delivery volume, and you want a familiar headless CMS setup without paying early.
- Beats Storyblok: 10 users and 2 roles
- Falls short: 50 GB CDN bandwidth per month
- Who should switch: Switch if you need more collaborators on a free plan and can live with lower bandwidth.
Hygraph
FTV 80 / 100Hygraph's free Hobby plan includes 2 locales, 3 seats, 2 standard roles, 10 components, unlimited asset storage, a 50 MB maximum asset upload size, live preview, commenting and assignment workflow, 1,000 entries, 500,000 API calls, 100 GB asset traffic, 5 uncached requests per second, 1 environment, 5 webhooks, 3 API tokens, 100,000 AI tokens, 2 content stages, and 2 models. It is built for teams that want more API capacity and broader content modeling on the free tier. Compared with Storyblok, it offers much more API headroom, but its seat count and locale count are still modest. Switch if API throughput and content structure matter most.
- Beats Storyblok: 500,000 API calls and broad content-modeling limits
- Falls short: Only 3 seats
- Who should switch: Switch if you are hitting API limits before you are hitting collaboration limits.
Prismic
FTV 61 / 100Prismic's free plan includes 1 user account, 4 million API calls per month with no overages, 100 GB of built-in CDN bandwidth per month with no overages, 2 locales, Visual Page Builder access, unlimited documents, unlimited types, unlimited assets, image optimization and processing, and Migration API access. It is especially free on content volume, since documents, types, and assets are unlimited. Against Storyblok, it wins on raw API headroom and content freedom, but it is much more restrictive for collaboration because it starts at a single user account. Switch here if you are a solo builder or small editorial setup that needs lots of published content without paying.
- Beats Storyblok: 4 million API calls and unlimited documents
- Falls short: 1 user account
- Who should switch: Switch if you are solo or lightly staffed and want the most room for content growth.
Squidex
FTV 54 / 100Squidex's free Starter plan includes 20,000 API calls per month, 2 GB traffic, 500 MB storage, 2 contributors, Contents CDN, Assets CDN, and a powered-by label requirement on each website page or mobile application. It is a straightforward free headless CMS option with low commitment and a self-hostable ecosystem nearby if you later outgrow the cloud plan. Compared with Storyblok, it falls short on traffic, API volume, and collaboration, but it can still be a practical choice for tiny deployments or internal tools. Switch if you want a simpler, lower-scale free starter and do not need Storyblok's larger monthly quotas.
- Beats Storyblok: Self-hostable open-source path and lower commitment
- Falls short: 20,000 API calls and 2 GB traffic
- Who should switch: Switch if you want an open-source CMS path and your usage will stay small.
Cosmic
FTV 61 / 100Cosmic's free plan includes 1 bucket, 2 team members, 1,000 objects, 1 agent and 1 workflow, 1 project, 50 object types, 300k AI tokens for input and output per month, 10k non-cached API requests per month, 100k cached API requests per month, 1GB API bandwidth, 1,000 media files, 1GB media storage, 1M media requests per month, 1GB media bandwidth per month, 100K Cosmic Insights events per month, and 30 days of insights retention. It gives you a lot of surface area for content, media, and automation on a free plan. Compared with Storyblok, it is stronger on AI and media-specific allowances, but weaker on API request volume and overall CMS throughput. Switch if your project is media-heavy and automation-friendly.
- Beats Storyblok: AI tokens, media allowances, and automation features
- Falls short: 10k non-cached API requests per month
- Who should switch: Switch if your free use case is centered on media, AI, and workflow automation.
Webflow
FTV 42 / 100Webflow's free Starter site plan includes Webflow.io publishing, 2 pages per free Starter site, 20 CMS Collections, 50 CMS items, Webflow AI on Starter sites, 50 lifetime form submissions, 1 GB bandwidth, web app hosting, 2 free webflow.io staging sites in the free Workspace, 1 full seat, agency or freelancer guest access up to 2 guest teams with 5 guests each, Webflow University training, and Help Center and Support Portal access. It is better for teams that want a visual site-building workflow more than a pure headless CMS. Compared with Storyblok, it is much weaker on content API scale and locales, but it is a closer fit for building and publishing sites visually. Switch if you want the site builder first and CMS second.
- Beats Storyblok: Visual site-building and hosting workflow
- Falls short: 50 CMS items and 2 pages only
- Who should switch: Switch if your main need is building and publishing a site rather than driving structured content delivery.
Two quick picks
Prismic
Prismic is the closest drop-in for a headless content workflow because it keeps the same core shape: API delivery, visual editing, locales, and structured content. Its free tier also has generous content and API limits, making migration feel like a platform swap rather than a redesign of how content is modeled.
Prismic
Prismic gives the most free headroom because its free plan allows unlimited documents, types, and assets, plus 4 million API calls and 100 GB CDN bandwidth. That combination leaves the most room before a team has to pay.
Frequently asked questions
Which alternative is best if I am mostly worried about API limits?
Prismic is the strongest fit for API-heavy free usage, with 4 million API calls per month. Hygraph is also strong at 500,000 API calls, while Storyblok's free plan stops at 100,000 API requests.
Which alternative gives the best free collaboration room?
Contentful is the most generous on free user access, with 10 users and 2 roles. Hygraph also gives 3 seats, while Prismic starts with just 1 user account.
Which alternative is closest if I want a visual editing workflow?
Prismic is the closest match because it includes Visual Page Builder access along with API delivery and locales. Webflow is more visual for site building, but it is less like a headless CMS.
Which alternative is best for a tiny project with low traffic?
Squidex can work well for very small projects because it includes 20,000 API calls, 2 GB traffic, and 500 MB storage on the free plan. It is smaller than Storyblok on throughput, but it may be enough for a simple app or internal tool.
Bottom line
For most builders looking beyond Storyblok's free tier, Prismic is the best alternative. It preserves the headless CMS workflow, keeps a visual editing layer, and gives the most room to grow with unlimited documents, unlimited types, unlimited assets, and 4 million API calls per month. If your main problem is Storyblok's 100,000-request ceiling or its limits on content volume, Prismic is the cleanest next step without changing your workflow too much.
Read the full listing for Storyblok. Scores use the FTV methodology at /ftv. Browse more alternatives on /alternatives, or head-to-head comparisons on /compare.