Why Sanity is My Go-To CMS for Next.js Projects

When clients ask me which headless CMS to use, my answer depends on their needs. But more often than not, I find myself recommending Sanity. Here's why.

The Real-Time Collaboration Factor

One thing that sets Sanity apart is its real-time, multiplayer editing experience. When you're working with content teams who need to collaborate on the same document simultaneously, this isn't just a nice-to-have—it's essential.

// Setting up Sanity client with real-time listeners
import { createClient } from "@sanity/client";

const client = createClient({
  projectId: "your-project-id",
  dataset: "production",
  useCdn: false, // We need real-time data
  apiVersion: "2024-01-01",
});

// Subscribe to document changes
const subscription = client.listen('*[_type == "post"]').subscribe((update) => {
  console.log("Document changed:", update);
});

GROQ: A Query Language That Makes Sense

Unlike GraphQL which requires you to define schemas on both ends, GROQ lets you query exactly what you need with a syntax that feels natural:

*[_type == "post" && category == "cms"] | order(publishedAt desc) {
  title,
  slug,
  excerpt,
  "author": author->name,
  "categoryName": category->title
}

Portable Text: Beyond Markdown

Sanity's Portable Text format gives you the flexibility of structured content with the simplicity of rich text editing. Your content team gets a familiar editing experience while you get clean, structured data.

The Next.js Integration

With the official next-sanity package, integrating Sanity into your Next.js project is seamless:

// app/blog/[slug]/page.tsx
import { client } from "@/sanity/lib/client";

export async function generateStaticParams() {
  const posts = await client.fetch(`*[_type == "post"]{ slug }`);
  return posts.map((post) => ({ slug: post.slug.current }));
}

When to Choose Something Else

Sanity isn't always the answer. If you need:

• Simple key-value content: Consider Contentful
• Self-hosted solution: Look at Payload CMS
• Maximum simplicity: Markdown files might be enough

But for complex, collaborative content projects with Next.js? Sanity is hard to beat.