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Noroff Case Studies

Sanity Case Study

Author: Krista Kaza

Sanity Case Study

Title Sanity Author: Krista Kaza

Introduction

Sanity is a modern headless CMS (Content Management System) designed to manage content in a structured manner, making it easy to reuse across various channels. It takes a flexible, composable approach, enabling businesses to integrate with diverse third-party technologies, data sources, and front-end frameworks.

With Sanity, content such as text, images, and other media can be managed via APIs. Additionally, it offers Sanity Studio, an open-source single-page application that can be customized to set up an editing environment quickly. Sanity is developer-friendly, providing an API-first approach and real-time collaborative editing, making it a powerful tool for content-driven applications.

Brief History

Sanity (also known as Sanity.io) was founded in 2018 by Even Westvang, Henri Gaskjenn, Magnus Kongsli Hillestad, Oyvind Rostad, and Simen Svale Skogsrud in Oslo, Norway. The platform was created to address the limitations of traditional CMS solutions, especially in managing and delivering structured content across multiple channels. Since its inception, Sanity has grown significantly, gaining popularity among developers and companies requiring flexible and scalable content management solutions. The company has raised several rounds of funding, enabling it to expand its features and community.

2018

  • Launch of Sanity.io: Officially launched Sanity.io, providing a headless CMS with real-time collaboration and structured content management.
  • Introduction of Sanity Studio: Released Sanity Studio, an open-source, customizable content editing interface built with React.
  • First Round of Funding: Raised $1.4 million in seed funding to support growth and product development.

2019

  • Sanity Studio Improvements: Continued enhancements to Sanity Studio, including better customization options and new plugins.
  • Content Lake API Enhancements: Upgrades to the Content Lake API improved scalability and performance for large-scale content projects.
  • Community Growth: Expanded the developer community and ecosystem with more plugins and third-party integrations.

2020

  • Series A Funding: Raised $9.3 million in Series A funding to accelerate product development and expand the team.
  • Enterprise Features: Introduced enterprise-level features, including advanced roles and permissions, SLA-backed service tiers, and enhanced security.
  • Real-Time Collaboration: Enhanced real-time collaboration tools, making it easier for teams to work simultaneously within Sanity Studio.

2021

  • Composable Content Cloud: Introduced the “Composable Content Cloud,” emphasizing Sanity’s ability to connect to any front-end framework, third-party technology, or data source.
  • Launch of Sanity Connect: Rolled out Sanity Connect, enabling seamless integration of Sanity with other services and platforms.
  • Increased API Capabilities: Expanded API capabilities further, allowing more sophisticated content management and delivery across multiple channels.

2022

  • Series B Funding: Secured $39 million in Series B funding to fuel further expansion and innovation.
  • New Features and Tools: Launched several new features, including enhanced Portable Text capabilities, improved developer tools, and more extensive integration options.
  • Community and Ecosystem Expansion: Continued to grow the community with more plugins, integrations, and developer resources, solidifying Sanity’s position as a leading headless CMS.

Beyond 2022

  • Ongoing Product Enhancements: Regular updates and improvements to Sanity Studio, APIs, and platform performance.
  • Expansion of Composable Architecture: Continued focus on composable architecture, helping businesses integrate their content with a wide range of technologies and platforms.

Main Features

Content Lake

Sanity’s Content Lake enhances content management by offering a cloud-based repository that efficiently stores and manages a wide range of content and assets. This system allows creators to focus on developing impactful experiences without the complexities of content storage and retrieval. The API provided by Sanity simplifies content management processes, enabling rapid development of robust digital experiences using client libraries or HTTP APIs.

Structured Content

Structured content operates like a well-organized set of building blocks, arranged to maximize understanding. By effectively categorizing these components, both machines and humans can extract valuable insights, thereby increasing efficiency and productivity. Sanity.io’s Portable Text further elevates structured content by enabling it to be transformed into various markup languages, including HTML, JSX, Vue, Markdown, SSML, and XML.

Sanity Studio

Sanity Studio is a React-based, open-source CMS designed to streamline content creation with its powerful toolkits and plugins. This single-page application supports a wide range of npm plugins and facilitates seamless integration into various applications, offering a workflow optimized to meet specific needs.

Developer Experience

Sanity enjoys strong support among developers, providing endless possibilities through its growing ecosystem of plugins. Developers have access to a diverse array of React components, allowing for the creation of custom inputs, widgets, and tools. Sanity’s developer community, encompassing both novices and experts, actively contributes to shaping the future of technology.

GROQ

GROQ (Graph-Relational Object Queries) is a sophisticated language designed to query collections of JSON documents without requiring explicit schemas. It offers advanced filtering capabilities and the ability to merge multiple documents into a single, cohesive response, facilitating the creation of tailored solutions for specific client applications.

Market Comparison: Sanity vs. Contentful

Sanity and Contentful are both leading headless Content Management Systems (CMS) that offer developers and content creators flexibility in managing and delivering content. While both platforms serve similar purposes, they differ significantly in terms of customization, user experience, and pricing. This comparison will explore the strengths and weaknesses of each platform to help determine which might be more suitable for different use cases.

Key Features Comparison

Content Management

  • Sanity: Sanity excels in content management through its structured content approach and Content Lake, which allows for seamless access and storage of various content types. The flexibility to create custom content models tailored to specific project needs sets Sanity apart, making it a strong choice for developers who require granular control over their content.
  • Contentful: Contentful is known for its robust content modeling capabilities and a user-friendly interface that caters to both developers and non-technical users. Its support for content localization is particularly strong, making it ideal for businesses that operate in multiple regions and languages.

Customization and Flexibility

  • Sanity: Sanity offers unparalleled customization through Sanity Studio, an open-source, React-based CMS that allows developers to create custom workflows and content structures. The platform’s flexibility is further enhanced by the ability to integrate various plugins and tools, providing a tailored content management experience.
  • Contentful: While Contentful also supports customization, it is generally more limited compared to Sanity. Contentful integrates smoothly with various third-party tools, but it lacks the deep customizability of Sanity. This makes Contentful easier to set up and use out of the box but may limit its flexibility for more complex projects.

API and Developer Experience

  • Sanity: Sanity’s powerful APIs, including GROQ, provide developers with extensive control over data queries and content delivery. The platform is highly developer-friendly, supported by a vibrant community and comprehensive documentation, making it an attractive choice for developers who need advanced features and customization.
  • Contentful: Contentful offers well-documented RESTful and GraphQL APIs that are known for their ease of use. While these APIs are highly capable, they might not offer the same level of flexibility as Sanity’s offerings. Contentful is often praised for its smooth developer experience, particularly for teams looking for straightforward implementation.

Pricing and Licensing

  • Sanity: Sanity operates on a flexible pricing model, including a free tier for small projects and a pay-as-you-go option for larger ones. This flexibility is ideal for developers and businesses that need scalable solutions without committing to high upfront costs. However, costs can increase with extensive usage, especially for large-scale projects.
  • Contentful: Contentful employs a tiered pricing structure, which may be more predictable for businesses but can become expensive at scale. While the pricing model is straightforward, larger teams or projects with heavy usage may find Contentful to be more costly compared to Sanity’s pay-as-you-go approach.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Sanity Advantages:

  • Highly customizable with the open-source Sanity Studio.
  • Excellent support for structured content and real-time collaboration.
  • Developer-friendly with powerful APIs, including GROQ.
  • Flexible pricing model suitable for a range of project sizes.

Sanity Disadvantages:

  • Steeper learning curve for non-developers.
  • Requires more setup and customization for complex use cases.
  • Potentially higher costs for extensive usage in large projects.

Contentful Advantages:

  • User-friendly interface, making it accessible to non-technical users.
  • Strong content localization features for multilingual projects.
  • Extensive third-party integrations and robust API support.
  • Predictable pricing model, although potentially more expensive at scale.

Contentful Disadvantages:

  • Limited customization options compared to Sanity.
  • Less flexibility in content modeling and workflow customization.
  • Higher costs for large-scale or high-usage projects.

Use Case Scenarios

  • Sanity: Best suited for projects requiring deep customization, complex content structures, and significant developer involvement. Its flexibility and scalability make it ideal for organizations needing bespoke content management systems, especially where specific workflows and integrations are critical.
  • Contentful: More appropriate for teams prioritizing ease of use and quick CMS implementation with minimal customization. It’s an excellent choice for businesses operating in multiple regions due to its strong content localization features. Contentful’s user-friendly interface benefits teams without a strong developer presence.

Getting Started

To start using Sanity CMS, create a free Sanity account at sanity.io. Initiate a new project by running the following command:

npm create sanity@latest

With other package managers:

yarn create sanity@latest pnpm create sanity@latest

Conclusion

Sanity is a powerful and flexible headless CMS, known for its high degree of customization, particularly through Sanity Studio, and its innovative support for structured content via the Content Lake. These features make it an excellent choice for projects requiring complex content management and real-time collaboration. However, its steep learning curve and potential cost escalation for larger projects can be significant drawbacks, especially for teams without extensive technical expertise. Despite these limitations, Sanity’s continuous development and strong developer focus suggest a promising future, particularly as demand for scalable, customizable CMS solutions continues to grow.

References