# ButterCMS vs Storyblok

> Storyblok scores 67.7 (B) to ButterCMS's 53.3 (D) for content management. Prices, MCP, x402, uptime and agent notes side by side.

- Canonical: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok
- Markdown: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.md (~2,450 tokens)
- Slim: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.min.md (~730 tokens, same facts, less prose, for token-sensitive contexts)
- JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.json (this page as data, same URL with Accept: application/json)
- Site index for agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms.txt (full text: https://www.anchorterminal.com/llms-full.txt)
- API: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/index.json
- Updated: 2026-10-09

Storyblok scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against ButterCMS's 53.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. ButterCMS leads on schema & documentation. Both do content management.

- ButterCMS: grade D, 53.3/100, rank #711 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/buttercms.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/buttercms.json
- Storyblok: grade B, 67.7/100, rank #244 of 950. Markdown https://www.anchorterminal.com/tools/storyblok.md · JSON https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/storyblok.json
- Best headless CMS and website publishing for AI agents: https://www.anchorterminal.com/best/cms/index.md
- All 91 cms comparisons: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/cms/index.md

## Which one, for what

### ButterCMS (D)

Good for: A team already on a paid ButterCMS plan that wants an agent to draft and publish pages, collection items and blog posts in small volumes.

Ahead on:
- Schema & documentation, 78 against 68

Watch for: The Write API is a paid add-on on Advanced ($249 a month) and Professional ($399), capped at 2,000 and 5,000 write calls a month. Its price is not published

### Storyblok (B)

Good for: Teams already on Storyblok who want an agent to draft, translate and publish stories or change component schemas under scoped, per-space permissions.

Ahead on:
- Agent ergonomics, 78 against 64
- Security & auth, 73 against 36
- Payments & pricing, 35 against 20
- Maintenance & community, 80 against 27
- Transparency & trust, 80 against 51

Watch for: The Management API's OpenAPI spec sits in a private repository. Only the Content Delivery API has a public spec (OpenAPI 3.1, 14 operations)


## Score by category

| Category | Weight | ButterCMS | Storyblok | Edge |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Reliability | 16% (20 this run) | 83 | 79 | ButterCMS +4 |
| Performance | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Schema & documentation | 13% (16.2 this run) | 78 | 68 | ButterCMS +10 |
| Agent ergonomics | 13% (16.2 this run) | 64 | 78 | Storyblok +14 |
| Security & auth | 14% (17.5 this run) | 36 | 73 | Storyblok +37 |
| Payments & pricing | 10% (12.5 this run) | 20 | 35 | Storyblok +15 |
| Task success | 10%, pending | pending | pending | not scored in this run |
| Maintenance & community | 7% (8.8 this run) | 27 | 80 | Storyblok +53 |
| Transparency & trust | 7% (8.8 this run) | 51 | 80 | Storyblok +29 |
| Negative events | ≤15 | -2 | -3 | |
| **Total** | | **53.3 · D** | **67.7 · B** | |

## Facts side by side

| Fact | ButterCMS | Storyblok |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Kind | HTTP API | HTTP API |
| Vendor | ButterCMS LLC | Storyblok GmbH |
| Hosted endpoint | `https://api.buttercms.com/v2` | `https://mapi.storyblok.com/v1` |
| Transports | HTTP | HTTP, Streamable HTTP |
| Auth | API key | OAuth or key |
| Pricing | Freemium | Freemium |
| x402 | no | no |
| Licence | Proprietary service under ButterCMS's terms of service. The SDKs and starter projects on GitHub are MIT | Proprietary service under Storyblok's terms. The SDKs, API clients and CLI in storyblok/monoblok are MIT |
| Tools exposed | none | 7 |
| Read-only variant documented | no | no |
| llms.txt | yes | yes |
| Last release | 2025-09-04 | 2026-10-02 |
| Terms last updated | no date given | couldn't be read |
| Privacy policy last updated | 2022-08-15 | 2025-10-06 |
| Customer content may train models | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict automated access | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms restrict benchmarking | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Terms or service can change without notice | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Arbitration or class-action waiver | not found in the text | couldn't be read |
| Popularity | 6.9k npm/wk | 68 stars, 433k npm/wk |

## Verdicts

**ButterCMS.** The Read and Write APIs have a public OpenAPI 3.1 file, Markdown docs and a status page with no incident since October 2025. The Write API is a paid add-on from the $249 plan, capped at 2,000 or 5,000 calls a month. Writes answer 202 with no identifier, support rotates tokens, and the terms are an undated website document.

**Storyblok.** The hosted MCP server covers the whole Management API with seven tools, OAuth scopes split into read, write and publish per space, and a confirmation step on deletes. The Management API has no public OpenAPI spec, no idempotency keys and no monitor on the public status page, and publishing is a GET request.

## Before you call either

### ButterCMS

1. End every path with a slash. A missing slash returns a 301, and the vendor counts the redirect and the retry as two API calls
2. Send the write token only as `Authorization: Token <token>`. The `auth_token` query parameter works for reads only
3. On page creation send every field key of the page type, with empty strings for fields left blank
4. A 202 means queued, not saved. Read the entry back with `preview=1` to confirm, and check a slug exists before retrying a create
5. Call the REST API directly for writes. The JavaScript SDK 3.0.3 has list, retrieve and search methods only

### Storyblok

1. Pick the base URL by the space's region (mapi.storyblok.com for the EU, api-us, api-ca or api-ap otherwise). A token sent to the wrong region fails
2. Create stories without `publish` to keep them as drafts, then call the publish endpoint. It is a GET, so never prefetch or blindly retry it
3. Write translations as `field__i18n__<code>` keys inside the same content object, and set the component field to translatable first
4. Upload an asset in three steps (signed response, POST to S3, finish upload). Through MCP the S3 step needs shell access for curl
5. Stay under 3 calls a second on Starter and 6 on paid plans, and back off exponentially on 429. Saves that break a field's max_length return 422

## Questions

### Which is better for AI agents, ButterCMS or Storyblok?

Storyblok scores 67.7 (B) on agent readiness against ButterCMS's 53.3 (D), and leads in 5 of 7 scored categories. ButterCMS leads on schema & documentation.

### Do ButterCMS and Storyblok need an API key?

ButterCMS needs an API key. Storyblok takes an API key or an OAuth sign-in.

### Can an agent call ButterCMS and Storyblok without installing anything?

Yes. ButterCMS has a hosted endpoint at https://api.buttercms.com/v2 and Storyblok at https://mapi.storyblok.com/v1.


## For agents

- This comparison as JSON: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.json, and with the fewest tokens: https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-storyblok.min.md
- Over MCP at https://www.anchorterminal.com/mcp (no key): `compare_tools {"a": "buttercms", "b": "storyblok"}`. From a terminal: `anchor compare buttercms storyblok`
- Each listing in full: https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/buttercms.json and https://www.anchorterminal.com/api/v1/tools/storyblok.json

## Other comparisons with ButterCMS or Storyblok

- [ButterCMS vs Contentstack](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-contentstack.md)
- [ButterCMS vs DatoCMS](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-datocms.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Directus](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-directus.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Ghost](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-ghost.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Hygraph](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-hygraph.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Kontent.ai](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-kontent-ai.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Payload](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-payload.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Prismic](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-prismic.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Sanity](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-sanity.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-strapi.md)
- [ButterCMS vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-webflow.md)
- [ButterCMS vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/buttercms-vs-wordpress.md)
- [Contentstack vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/contentstack-vs-storyblok.md)
- [DatoCMS vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/datocms-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Directus vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/directus-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Ghost vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/ghost-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Hygraph vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/hygraph-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Kontent.ai vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/kontent-ai-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Payload vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/payload-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Prismic vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/prismic-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Sanity vs Storyblok](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/sanity-vs-storyblok.md)
- [Storyblok vs Strapi](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/storyblok-vs-strapi.md)
- [Storyblok vs Webflow](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/storyblok-vs-webflow.md)
- [Storyblok vs WordPress](https://www.anchorterminal.com/compare/storyblok-vs-wordpress.md)