Moving from Webflow to Sanity for better website functionality and custom review system

5 replies

Last updated: Feb 24, 2023

Hi all,
Currently have a website self-built on Webflow. I’ve hit a ceiling with it and the functionality for a few key elements I need.

Wondering if moving it over to Sanity is a better option and how hard it would be as I’m non-technical.

Anyone here able to offer advice and help me understand if I can achieve a few key things with Sanity?

Cheers!

AI Update

I can help you understand the differences between Webflow and Sanity, and whether it's the right move for you!

First, important clarification: Sanity and Webflow are fundamentally different tools, and this is critical to understand:

Webflow is an all-in-one website builder where you design, manage content, AND host your site in one platform. It's visual and relatively non-technical.

Sanity is a headless CMS (Content Management System) - it's ONLY the content management piece. You'd still need to build (or hire someone to build) the actual website frontend separately using frameworks like Next.js, React, Vue, or others. Sanity doesn't build or host your website itself.

The Technical Reality

Since you mention you're non-technical, I need to be honest: migrating from Webflow to Sanity would likely be challenging without development help. Here's why:

You'd need a developer to build the frontend website that connects to Sanity
The content lives in Sanity's Content Lake, but you need code to fetch and display it
You'd need hosting for your frontend (Vercel, Netlify, etc.)

When Sanity Makes Sense

That said, Sanity excels when you need:

Complex, structured content that goes beyond basic pages and blog posts
Content reuse across multiple platforms (website, mobile app, digital signage, etc.)
Custom workflows and content operations
Real-time collaboration for content teams
Powerful content modeling with relationships between different content types
API-first architecture for maximum flexibility

The Composable Content Cloud includes Sanity Studio (the content editing interface), built-in AI capabilities with Agent Actions, and powerful content APIs.

Alternative Approach

If you're hitting limitations with Webflow but aren't ready for a full custom build, consider:

Hybrid approach: Keep Webflow for the frontend design, but use Sanity as a headless CMS for complex content needs (this still requires some development)
Webflow + enhancements: Look into Webflow's CMS API and third-party integrations first
Other platforms: Consider tools like Framer or Wix Studio that offer more functionality while staying visual

Getting Help

If you do want to explore Sanity, I'd recommend:

Describe your specific functionality needs here - the community can advise if Sanity solves them
Consider hiring a Sanity partner or developer for the migration
Check out Sanity's starter templates to see what's involved

Bottom line: Sanity is incredibly powerful and flexible, but it's built for teams with development resources. Without technical skills or budget for a developer, the migration from Webflow would be very difficult. However, if you share what specific functionality you're trying to achieve that Webflow can't handle, folks here can give you more targeted advice on whether Sanity would be worth the investment!

Hi and welcome,

user M

. If you want to post the things you’re hoping to achieve, both community and staff alike will be able to weigh in. We’ve tried to make things easier to get set up , though it’s important to note you’ll be editing your schema files (i.e., the documents that establish structure for your Studio) in an IDE or editor of your choosing. This can feel daunting, but we’re here to help if you need it.

Cool. And thank you.
I’m playing around with Sanity now and will be working over the weekend to see what I can achieve.

Long story short, I run a user generated review site here. -
decentreviews.co .
Would love to be able to create comparison pages from collection entries (A vs B product comparisons”, and a client portal log in for brands to better manage their review page.

Also, can I create a custom review system in Sanity or is this something I would have to create elsewhere and embed?

There’s nothing built-in to do product comparisons, but there’s also nothing stopping you from doing so. A starting point might be to create references between products (which would be via the built-in reference type ) and then use custom logic to weigh your products against each other and determine a threshold for when to add such a reference. You could also do this manually, which would be much quicker to implement, and references go both ways so if you add a reference from A to B, you can find that reference back to A in a query of B.
A client portal is doable, though it would take some effort. Ultimately, it will come down to a comfort with our
API . There have been tutorials on YouTube where portals (or something similar) have been built out using Sanity.
You could certainly create a custom review system in Sanity. In my mind, the key there will be giving careful consideration to how you structure your content so that the system is sustainable and can grow. Off the top of my head, I might not make each review its own document; if you get a lot of reviews you may quickly butt up against the document limit.

Thanks for this

user A

.
Not sure I fully understand it all yet as im just getting to grips with Sanity. Will spend some time over the weekend figuring it all out.

No problem! We’re here to help along the way. Have fun building!

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