Freelance headless CMS developer. Content modelling, editor experience and a fast front end in Next.js, React or Astro. Payload, Strapi and Sanity. From $24/hour.
I build headless CMS projects on Payload, Strapi and Sanity from $24 per hour - content modelling, editor experience, and the front end in Next.js, React or Astro. The modelling is the part that decides whether the project works.
Headless projects rarely fail on the front end. They fail because the content model was designed around the first page anyone built, and every page after that needed an exception.
Getting the model right is unglamorous and almost entirely determines how the project feels in year two.
A model shaped around one layout breaks the moment a second layout is needed. Fields named after their visual position - "left column text" - are a reliable sign the model is describing a page rather than the content.
Modelling what the content actually is means new layouts reuse existing content rather than requiring new fields each time.
A technically correct model that editors find confusing produces inconsistent content, which is the same outcome as a bad model. Field descriptions, sensible grouping, validation and defaults are not polish.
If your team has to ask which of two similar fields to use, that is a bug in the model.
Payload when you want full control, TypeScript end to end and the CMS living in the same codebase as the app. Strapi when self-hosting and a conventional admin matter most. Sanity when multiple editors collaborate heavily and its structured content model and real-time editing earn their keep.
I will recommend based on how your team works rather than on feature-list comparisons, which tend to favour whichever product wrote the comparison.
Payload for full control and TypeScript throughout, Strapi for self-hosting with a conventional admin, Sanity for heavy multi-editor collaboration. The right answer depends on how your team works, not on which has more features.
Yes, and it is often the pragmatic choice when your team already knows the admin and you mainly want a faster front end. You keep the editing experience people are trained on and replace only the rendering layer.
Content modelling and editor setup typically take one to two weeks, with the front end running alongside. A content-led site lands around three to five weeks total, depending on how many distinct page types exist.
With a static front end, nothing - content is fetched at build time and baked into the output, so the live site has no runtime dependency on the CMS. Only publishing is affected.
Full Time Contract Available. Tell me about your project, your timeline and your budget, and I’ll reply with an approach and a rate.
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