From Storyblok to Tina CMS

We are the Storyblok to Tina CMS migration experts

Challenges with Storyblok

Key pain points

Storyblock is definitely not our first choice when it comes to headless CMS. It looks sleek, sure, but its extensive documentation makes it confusing to set up. Its modular system demands time and technical assistance, and non-technical editors often get lost trying to understand spaces, stories, and components. Pricing escalates faster than an unoptimised build, especially if you want basic features.

You’ll likely lean on third-party integrations to get simple things done, and that means more complexity, more code, and more potential breakpoints. Webhook changes have also caught teams off-guard. It they deprecated without warning. So, while Storyblok isn’t terrible, it’s not plug-and-play either.

Customisation can take effort

Storyblok can do almost anything, but sometimes the “how” involves developer time, CLI commands, or manual tweaking. Great control, just not always plug-and-play.

Some integrations need extra work

For things like CRMs or complex platforms, you’ll likely build the integration instead of installing it. Expect a bit more engineering.

Slower editing

Real-time previews are great, but large pages or heavy components can load slowly. Occasionally, the editor UI feels less intuitive than the rest of the platform.

Asset management isn’t perfect

Renaming assets, bulk editing, or cleaning libraries can take longer than expected. It is not streamlined like the rest of the system.

Permissions are fixed

Roles are predefined. For smaller teams, that’s perfectly fine. Bigger teams may want more granular access controls than Storyblok currently offers.

Pricing jumps with scale

You get a free tier, but some advanced features sit behind higher plans. It’s worth it for projects if you want to pay more; just something teams should budget for early.

Benefits of Tina CMS

Key advantages

Tina CMS has a genuinely compelling core idea: real-time visual editing backed by Git. Instead of your content living in some opaque database, every change becomes a Git commit. For developer teams that already live in Git, this feels natural. The local development workflow is solid too — you can iterate on schema and content simultaneously, merge everything in a single commit, and keep your content pipeline tightly coupled with your codebase. That's a meaningful advantage over CMS platforms that treat content as a completely separate concern.

The inline editing experience is where Tina really shines. Content editors can see their changes in context on the actual live site, which dramatically reduces the feedback loop between "I changed something" and "here's what it looks like." For marketing teams and content creators who are tired of editing fields in a dashboard and then previewing on a separate URL, this is a breath of fresh air. It bridges the gap between developer-friendly and editor-friendly in a way that most headless CMS platforms don't even attempt.

Since going fully open-source under Apache 2.0 and being acquired by SSW, the self-hosting story has improved significantly. You can run your own backend with your own database and auth, which gives you more control than relying on TinaCloud. If you're building a Next.js or React-based project and want a CMS that lives close to your code, Tina is worth serious consideration. If you want help evaluating whether Tina fits your stack, or you're looking at alternatives, we're happy to chat.

Real-time visual editing

Editors can make changes directly on the live site with instant visual feedback. This is genuinely one of the best inline editing experiences in the headless CMS space.

Git-backed content workflow

Every content change becomes a Git commit, so your content versioning, branching, and collaboration all flow through the same tools your developers already use.

Schema defined in code

Content models are defined in your codebase alongside your components, keeping your content structure and frontend tightly aligned and version-controlled.

Strong local development experience

You can develop locally with full CMS functionality, iterate on schema and content together, and push everything in a single commit. No cloud dependency during development.

Markdown and MDX support

Tina works natively with markdown and MDX files, making it a natural fit for documentation sites, blogs, and any project that already uses file-based content.

Fully open-source and self-hostable

The entire backend is open-source under Apache 2.0. You can self-host with your own database, auth, and Git provider, giving you full control over your content infrastructure.