Why Teams Are Looking Beyond Sanity
Sanity is a capable platform with a strong developer community. But as teams grow, certain friction points become hard to ignore.
1. GROQ is a proprietary query language you have to learn (and maintain)
Sanity's query language, GROQ, is powerful. It is also something your team has to learn, something new developers have to ramp up on, and something that does not transfer to any other system. Every query, every projection, every filter is written in a language that exists only inside the Sanity ecosystem. When you leave, you leave that investment behind.
2. SSO costs $1,399/month extra on the Growth plan
Single Sign-On (SAML SSO) is a standard security requirement for most companies. On Sanity, it is a $1,399/month add-on for Growth plan users. That is not a typo. For teams that need SSO as a compliance requirement, the real cost of Sanity grows significantly from the advertised $15/seat/month.
3. Sanity Studio is a separate deployment
Sanity's editing interface, Sanity Studio, is a React application that you configure, customize, and deploy separately from your content backend. This gives developers a lot of flexibility. It also means every new team member needs to understand the Studio codebase, every schema change requires a deployment, and every editor needs a developer to set up their environment. For teams without dedicated developers, this creates real friction.
4. No code agents, computer use agents, or multi-agent workflows
Sanity has added an AI content agent with some automation features. But there are no code agents that connect to GitHub, no computer use agents that browse the web, and no multi-agent workflow system that chains autonomous tasks together. If you want your CMS to do more than store and deliver content, Sanity has limits.
What Cosmic Does Differently
Cosmic is an AI-native headless CMS built for teams that want to move fast, automate more, and spend less time managing infrastructure and learning proprietary systems.
AI Agents Built In (All Four Types)
- Content Agents: Research, write, generate images, optimize for SEO, and publish drafts. Run on a schedule or trigger on demand. No custom code required.
- Code Agents: Connect to your GitHub repo. Read your codebase, commit changes, create branches, and open pull requests. Your CMS can ship code.
- Computer Use Agents: Browse the web, click buttons, fill forms, and take screenshots. Use them for competitive research, automated QA, and site monitoring.
- Team Agents: Join Slack, WhatsApp, or Telegram. Your team manages content from the tools they already use.
Chain agents together in Workflows for fully automated, multi-step pipelines that run on your schedule.
REST API with No Proprietary Query Language
Cosmic uses a clean REST API and JavaScript SDK. Fetch content with a standard HTTP GET request. Filter, sort, and paginate with simple query parameters. There is no new query language to learn, no schema to memorize for querying, and no GROQ syntax to debug. Your team uses skills they already have.
No Studio to Deploy
Cosmic's editing interface is fully hosted and managed. There is nothing to configure, nothing to deploy, and no React application for your developers to maintain. Editors log in at app.cosmicjs.com and start working immediately. Schema changes are reflected instantly without a deployment.
imgix CDN Built In
Every uploaded image gets a CDN-backed imgix URL with on-the-fly resizing, cropping, format conversion, and quality optimization. No plugins, no third-party accounts. Resize and transform images with URL parameters.
AI Image and Video Generation
Generate original images and short videos directly inside the CMS. Content agents can create visuals as part of automated workflows, so your content pipeline produces everything it needs without switching tools.
MCP Server
Cosmic includes a Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for compatibility with AI development environments like Claude and Cursor. Connect your content layer directly to your AI development workflow.
SSO Included on Business Plan, Not a $1,399/Month Add-On
SSO on Cosmic is available on the Business plan at $499/month. No per-feature surcharges.
Cosmic vs. Sanity: Quick Comparison
| Cosmic | Sanity | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting price | Free ($0/mo) | Free ($0/mo) |
| Growth/paid tier | $49/month (Builder) | $15/seat/month (Growth) |
| SSO cost | Included on Business plan | $1,399/month add-on |
| Query language | REST API (standard HTTP) | GROQ (proprietary) |
| Editing interface | Fully hosted, no deployment needed | Sanity Studio (separate React app) |
| Code agents | Yes | No |
| Computer use agents | Yes | No |
| Multi-agent Workflows | Yes | No |
| Built-in imgix CDN | Yes | Image pipeline included |
| AI image generation | Yes | No |
| MCP Server | Yes | Yes |
What Real Teams Say
"Cosmic is: us never having to ask a developer to change anything on the backend of our website."
Maximilian Wuhr, Co-Founder at FINN
FINN uses Cosmic to give their content team full autonomy. Editors make changes, publish content, and manage the site without opening a support ticket or pinging a developer.
Cosmic is backed by Y Combinator (W19) and trusted by teams including Parque Explora, Plato, Vuetify, Tripwire Interactive, Cipher Sports, Eastman Music, Prairie Robotics, and Integral Privacy Technologies.
Pricing That Grows With You
- Free: $0/month. 1 Bucket, 2 Team members, 1,000 Objects.
- Builder: $49/month. 2 Buckets, 3 Team members, 5,000 Objects.
- Team: $299/month. 3 Buckets, 5 Team members, 20,000 Objects.
- Business: $499/month. 5 Buckets, 10 Team members, 50,000 Objects.
- Enterprise: Custom pricing for large teams and complex requirements.
Additional users are $29/user/month on all paid plans.
Ready to Make the Switch?
Migrating from Sanity to Cosmic is straightforward: recreate your content schema using Object types and metafields, then move your content over via the REST API. For a full walkthrough of the process, read our step-by-step migration guide.
Start for free, no credit card required →
For enterprise teams or migration questions, book a 30-minute intro with Tony, our CEO →
Questions? Explore the Cosmic docs or browse our templates to get started in minutes.
