From Dato CMS to Framer

We are the Dato CMS to Framer migration experts

Challenges with Dato CMS

Key pain points

DatoCMS gives all the vibes of Prismic, but is somehow less flexible. It can feel like a glorified drag-and-drop schema builder. The moment you want to do anything mildly custom, the walls start closing in. And yes, the pricing stings. It scales fast, which is great for Dato, not so great for anyone trying to run a startup without selling a kidney.

The ecosystem is small, the extensions are thin, and deeper customisation often turns into “well, I guess we’re building that ourselves.” There’s no real visual editor, no guardrails for inactive billing, and once your project grows, you quickly realise drag-and-drop doesn’t magically give you validation or extensibility. If you need something genuinely custom or long-term scalable, there are better choices. Just contact us before you start one of the most expensive journeys.

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Limited customisation options

DatoCMS hits a ceiling fast if you need deeply custom logic. The drag-and-drop model is convenient, but it doesn’t give you the freedom a code-first setup would.

Pricing based on traffic

Costs scale with usage, which can get painful quickly for growing sites. Traffic spikes = surprise bills.

Steeper learning curve

While the UI is simple, the API-driven side demands more technical understanding. Non-developers may struggle once things get complex.

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Need for additional plugins

Out-of-the-box features only go so far. More advanced workflows often require plugins or custom development to bridge gaps.

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Limited feature set scalability

Great for small–mid projects, but larger, more demanding setups can outgrow what DatoCMS offers out of the box.

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Potential integration issues

Certain frameworks and tools need careful configuration, and edge cases appear more often than you’d expect in more mature CMS ecosystems.

Benefits of Framer

Key advantages

If you live in Figma all day, Framer is the right choice for you. You can import your layouts, tweak a few interactions, hit publish, and suddenly you’ve “built a website” without ever opening VS Code. The no-code editor is fast, the animations look like you actually care about UI, and the built-in hosting + global CDN means you never have to touch a server or pretend you know what an SSL certificate is.

Multiple people can jump in, rewrite copy, adjust layouts, and preview the site instantly in real time with zero handoff pain, and “can you push this to staging?” nonsense. The SEO defaults are strong, images automatically behave, and performance is fast without you having to obsess over Lighthouse scores.

Can't knock the service, but we're here when you're looking to build something more scalable.

Ability to control layout with drag and drop

You can drag, drop, and publish without the need for any developer or having experience in website development. With Framer, you can easily turn your mockup into a working page.

Quick and cheap to build something

If you need a site yesterday (and on a budget), go ahead with Framer. You can go from a Figma-level idea to a live marketing page in a few hours without writing any code or having developers wait on stand-ups.

Some optimization comes by default

Framer quietly handles things like image compression, semantic markup, and basic SEO hygiene. You ship quickly, and the site doesn't fall apart in Lighthouse analyses.

Huge library of themes

You can pick a template, tweak a few components, and you’re basically done. Its theme library is stacked, and most of it looks “portfolio ready” right out of the box.

Real-time team collaboration

Multiple people can jump in, edit, comment, and tweak designs live like Figma. It speeds up feedback loops and kills the endless back-and-forth.

Intuitive, designer-friendly UI

If you know your way around Figma, you’ll be able to use Framer without any difficulty. Framer’s interface is simple, and keeps designers moving without begging a developer for help.