Sanity vs WordPress.com (2026): which should you pick?

Pick Sanity if

• Fits if you have developers and want content kept apart from the site
• Works for a free project with up to 20 seats

Look elsewhere if

• Skip it if you want a site you can build without code, as the front end is separate
• Watch out: past the included usage, API requests, bandwidth and assets are billed on top
• Pricey if you want support or datasets: dedicated support is $799 a month and extra datasets $999 each
• Tight if you need SSO, custom roles or the Media Library, which are Enterprise only

Pick WordPress.com if

• Fits if you blog a lot and want WordPress without looking after a server
• Works for developers who want SSH, WP-CLI and Git on managed hosting, on Business at $25

Look elsewhere if

• Pricey if you pay monthly, since Personal is $9 a month against $4 billed yearly, with no free domain
• Pricey if you want real-time backups and developer access, which start on Business at $25 a month
• Tight if you're staying free, as visitors see ads, plugins are locked and storage is 1 GB
• Watch out: payment buttons need Premium at $8, and a full store needs Commerce at $45 a month billed yearly
• Watch out: the desktop app, WordPress Studio, only builds sites locally; managing on the go means the separate Jetpack app

Sanity

• It is a content backend and editing studio, so the front end of a site has to be built separately.
• Past the included usage, extra API requests, bandwidth and assets are billed on top of the plan.
• Growth add-ons include dedicated support at $799 a month and extra datasets at $999 each per month.
• SAML single sign-on, custom roles and the Media Library add-on are limited to Enterprise.

WordPress.com

• The free plan shows WordPress.com ads to visitors and cannot use a custom domain or plugins.
• Monthly billing costs more than double the yearly rate on Personal and Premium and does not include the free first-year domain.
• Backups, developer tools and priority support start on Business at $25 a month billed yearly.
• The desktop app, WordPress Studio, is for building sites locally; site management on the go uses the Jetpack mobile app.

Sanity

Sanity Studio

A customizable editing interface, with free hosting included on every plan, live previews and visual editing tools.

Hosted real-time content database

Content is stored as structured documents in a hosted database, with unlimited content types and locales on every plan.

Comments, tasks and scheduling

Growth adds comments and tasks for editors, and scheduled drafts so content can be queued ahead of publishing.

AI features

Content Agent and Agent Actions are on the Free plan, and Growth adds AI Assist.

Roles and security

Free has 2 permission roles and Growth 5. Enterprise adds custom roles, user attributes and SAML single sign-on.

WordPress.com

Themes and the block editor

Sites are built from free and premium themes in the WordPress block editor, with unlimited pages, posts and users on every plan.

Plugins on every paid plan

Personal and above can install any of more than 60,000 plugins from the marketplace or upload one directly. The free plan cannot.

AI site builder and assistant

A guided builder creates a site through a chat, within usage limits. Business and Commerce add the WordPress AI Assistant for content, design and site management.

Managed hosting and security

Every plan includes a global CDN, SSL, a firewall, malware removal and managed updates. Real-time backups and one-click restores start on Business.

Developer access

Business and Commerce add SFTP and SSH, WP-CLI, Git commands and GitHub deployments. WordPress Studio, a free desktop app, runs WordPress sites locally.

WooCommerce store

Commerce bundles WooCommerce extensions for unlimited products, upsells, bulk discounts and inventory, and accepts 135+ currencies.

Sanity

• Free$0

  Up to 20 user seats, 2 permission roles, 2 public datasets, 10k documents, 250k API requests and 100 GB of bandwidth a month.

• Growth$15

  per seat / month

  Up to 50 seats, 5 roles, 25k documents, comments and tasks, scheduled drafts and AI Assist. Pay as you go above included usage.

• EnterpriseCustom

  Custom seats, roles and datasets, SAML single sign-on, an uptime SLA, dedicated support and onboarding.

WordPress.com

• Free$0

  A wordpress.com subdomain, 1 GB of storage and basic stats, with WordPress.com ads shown to visitors.

• Personal$4

  per site / month, billed yearly ($9 billed monthly)

  6 GB of storage, no ads, all premium themes, plugin installs and the AI site builder. $2.75 a month if paid every 3 years.

• Premium$8

  per site / month, billed yearly ($18 billed monthly)

  13 GB of storage, premium stats with UTM tracking, PayPal and Stripe payment buttons and video uploads. $5.50 a month if paid every 3 years.

• Business$25

  per site / month, billed yearly ($40 billed monthly)

  50 GB, priority support, SFTP/SSH, WP-CLI and GitHub deployments, real-time backups, VideoPress and email marketing to 500 subscribers.

• Commerce$45

  per site / month, billed yearly ($70 billed monthly)

  Everything in Business plus WooCommerce store extensions, abandoned-cart emails and selling in 60+ countries with no transaction fee.

• EnterpriseCustom

  WordPress VIP hosting for large organizations, priced through sales.

Sanity

No public discounts listed.

WordPress.com

• Annual discount

  Pay yearly to save 35% to 55% over monthly

  Personal is $4 a month billed yearly against $9 monthly; Premium $8 against $18; Business $25 against $40; Commerce $45 against $70.

• Other savings

  Pay every 2 or 3 years for a lower monthly rate

  Paying every 3 years brings Personal to $2.75 a month ($99), Premium to $5.50 ($198), Business to $17.50 ($630) and Commerce to $31.50 ($1,134).

• Other savings

  Free domain for the first year

  Yearly and multi-year paid plans include a custom domain such as .com, .net or .org free for the first year. Monthly plans do not.