Multi-tenancy CMS: Timeline, Technical Details, and Pricing Model?

Thanks for the kind words about Sanity! It's great to hear you're working on a larger project. Let me give you the current state of multi-tenancy options in Sanity.

The good news is that multi-tenancy is already available in Sanity through workspaces, though it's not a separate product feature you need to wait for. Here's how it works:

How Multi-Tenancy Works Today

Workspaces let you create multiple isolated Studio configurations within a single Sanity project. Each workspace can have:

• Its own dataset (completely separate content storage)
• Its own schema configuration (different content models per tenant)
• Its own tools and plugins
• Custom access control and permissions per workspace

You can implement this in different ways depending on your needs:

1. Single Studio with workspace switcher - One deployment with a dropdown to switch between tenants
2. Separate Studio instances - Completely isolated Studio deployments per tenant (requires self-hosting for multiple deployments)

The multi-tenancy implementation guide covers common patterns like managing multiple markets, brands, or client accounts.

Pricing Considerations

Here's where it gets important for your planning:

• Datasets are the key cost factor - Each tenant typically needs its own dataset
• On the Growth plan, you get 3 included datasets by default
• You can add up to 2 additional datasets through the Extra datasets add-on, bringing your maximum to 4 datasets per project
• For larger multi-tenant setups with many external partners, you'll likely need an Enterprise plan which offers:
  • More flexible dataset pricing and higher limits
  • Cross-dataset references (if tenants need to share some content)
  • Enhanced access control features like custom roles

I'd recommend reaching out to Sanity's sales team directly to discuss your specific use case - they can provide custom pricing for multi-tenant scenarios with many partners, as the standard per-dataset pricing might not scale ideally for your needs.

Technical Considerations

A few things to keep in mind:

Schema management: When using workspaces in a single Studio, all schemas need to be defined in your configuration (even if some workspaces don't use certain schemas). You'll want to implement conditional desk structures to show only relevant content types per workspace.

Access control: You can combine workspaces with custom roles and document-level permissions to create sophisticated permission management across partners. This lets you control who can access what within each tenant's space at a granular level.

Scaling: For a "relatively large project with a lot of external partners," the Enterprise plan will likely be your best bet - it's designed for exactly these kinds of multi-tenant scenarios with custom pricing that makes sense at scale.

Hope this helps with your planning! Since you're dealing with external partners, definitely get in touch with Sanity's team early to architect the right solution for your scale.