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Framer alternative

Hatamoto vs Framer

Framer lets a designer publish straight from a polished canvas, with AI agents built in. Your site stays on Framer's hosting, and each plan caps pages, CMS items and seats. Hatamoto runs on your own server with no such limits, and gives you far less design freedom.

Install Hatamoto See the full comparison

35 lines compared

Updated 28 October 2026, against Framer's Basic and Pro site plans, yearly billing.

Hatamoto ahead
16 Ownership, export, limits, schema and software cost
Framer ahead
11 Visual design, AI agents, hosting, collaboration and languages
About the same
8 SEO basics, forms and MCP

Line by line

The full comparison

35 lines in eight groups. Open a group to see each line. "Ahead" means better out of the box for a typical business website.

Hatamoto aheadFramer aheadAbout the same

Ownership and lock-inHatamoto 4
Ownership and lock-in: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
LicenceApache-2.0, open sourceClosed source service under Dutch lawHatamoto
Where the site runsAny server you chooseFramer's hosting onlyHatamoto
Exporting the siteOne command exports the whole site to run elsewhereNo HTML export. Pages and layouts stay in FramerHatamoto
Exporting CMS contentIncluded in the site exportThrough a plugin, as CSV or JSONHatamoto
Cost and limitsHatamoto 4Framer 1
Cost and limits: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
Cost of the softwareFreeBasic US$10 and Pro US$30 a month per siteHatamoto
Page limitNone30 pages on Basic, 150 on Pro, more as paid add-onsHatamoto
CMS item limitNone1,000 items on Basic, 2,500 on Pro, more as paid add-onsHatamoto
Staff seatsUnlimited, freeUS$20 a month per editor, US$10 per content editorHatamoto
Hosting costA small server you pay for and look afterIncluded in the site planFramer
Design and editingHatamoto 1Framer 4Even 1
Design and editing: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
Visual designSection-based page builder within a themeA design canvas close to a professional design toolFramer
Working togetherOwner and editor accountsLive multiplayer editing, comments, branches and stagingFramer
Editing on the live pageAn editor that shows the live page as you workContent editors change text and images on the live siteFramer
Custom content typesSet up in the adminCMS collections with typed and reference fieldsEven
Scheduled publishingBuilt inNot documentedHatamoto
More than one languageNo, one language per siteAI translation add-on at US$20 per localeFramer
SEO and AI searchHatamoto 4Even 2
SEO and AI search: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
SEO titles, descriptions and canonicalsBuilt inBuilt in, with field variables for CMS pagesEven
Sitemaps and robots.txtBuilt inBuilt inEven
Schema markup (JSON-LD)Generated for every content typeWritten by hand as custom code in the page headHatamoto
RedirectsBuilt in on every install, with a 404 logBuilt in on Pro and above, same domain onlyHatamoto
llms.txtBuilt inA static file you write and upload yourselfHatamoto
AI crawler reportsShows which AI read which page, and the visits it sentNot documentedHatamoto
AI agents and developer toolsFramer 2Even 2
AI agents and developer tools: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
MCP serverBuilt in, with scoped keysOfficial MCP server, launched October 2026Even
AI agents in the editorNot includedAgents that build pages, fill the CMS and audit SEOFramer
APIREST API with scoped keysServer API for updating and publishing projectsEven
Custom codeSandboxed server pluginsReact code components in the browserFramer
Site featuresHatamoto 1Even 3
Site features: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
FormsBuilt in, with spam protection and CSV exportBuilt in, with spam protection. Submissions go to email, Sheets or a webhookEven
Visitor analyticsBuilt in, no cookiesBuilt in, with 30 or 90 days of history by planEven
Online shopNot includedThird-party Shopify pluginsEven
Cookie consentNot needed for the built-in analyticsAdd a third-party consent toolHatamoto
Security and hostingHatamoto 1Framer 3
Security and hosting: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
Running itSigned automatic updates, but you run the serverFramer runs everything, with atomic deploys and instant rollbackFramer
Global deliveryYour server, with any CDN in frontAWS CloudFront in front of every siteFramer
Single sign-onNot includedEnterprise plansFramer
Firewall and security headersStrict security headers by defaultCustom headers and firewall rules in a US$200 a month add-onHatamoto
Track recordHatamoto 1Framer 1
Track record: Hatamoto vs Framer
LineHatamotoFramerAhead
MaturityPre-1.0, runs hatamoto.devFounded in 2014, US$2 billion valuation in 2025Framer
Importing from WordPressBuilt in, with a URL auditA step-by-step guide using CSV, an extension or AI agentsHatamoto

Compared against Framer's Basic and Pro site plans, yearly billing on 28 October 2026. Sources: no HTML export, Framer pricing, redirects, JSON-LD help, Framer MCP. Found something out of date? Open an issue.

Six things to know before you build in Framer

  • 01

    Your site stays on Framer

    Framer's help centre says there is no HTML export and no self-hosting. Hatamoto exports the whole site in one command and runs anywhere.

    Export and import
  • 02

    Every plan has a cap

    Framer Basic allows 30 pages and two CMS collections, and Pro allows 150 pages. Hatamoto has no page, item or seat limits.

    Content types
  • 03

    Framer is the stronger design tool

    Its canvas, live collaboration and AI agents let a designer ship a polished site with no developer. Hatamoto's section builder is simpler.

    Hatamoto's page builder
  • 04

    Schema without custom code

    Hatamoto writes JSON-LD for every content type. In Framer you paste it into the page head as custom code.

    Structured data
  • 05

    Redirects on every install

    Framer redirects need the Pro plan. Hatamoto includes redirects and a 404 log on every install.

    Redirects
  • 06

    Both work with AI agents

    Framer's MCP server edits the canvas and CMS. Hatamoto's is built into the site, with scoped keys and an audit log.

    Hatamoto's MCP server

Being straight with you

When Framer is the better choice

Choose Framer if any of these describe your team.

  • A designer builds and publishes the site, with no developer involved.
  • Your site is a small set of pages where design matters most.
  • You want AI agents to build and edit layouts for you.
  • Nobody on your team wants to run a server.
  • You need AI translation into several languages.
  • Your design team already works in Framer.

Moving from Framer

Getting your content out of Framer

Framer cannot export pages, so you rebuild the layouts in Hatamoto. CMS content comes out as CSV or JSON through the official export plugin or the Server API.

  1. 1

    Install Hatamoto

    Run it with Docker or the single binary, next to a Postgres database. Getting started

  2. 2

    Export the CMS

    Create matching content types, export each Framer collection with the CMS export plugin, and download the images it links to. Content types

  3. 3

    Recreate entries and pages

    Create the entries through Hatamoto's MCP server or CLI, then rebuild your key pages in the page builder or with a theme. Connect an AI agent

  4. 4

    Keep the URLs

    Copy Framer's redirects and slugs into Hatamoto, then point the domain at the new server. Redirects

Questions people ask

Written by the Hatamoto team, from Framer's pricing page, help centre and developer docs as of October 2026.

Is Hatamoto a Framer alternative?

Yes, if you want to own your site and avoid page, item and seat limits. Hatamoto is open source and runs on your server. If design freedom and zero hosting work matter most, Framer is the better fit.

Can I export my Framer site?

Not as a working site. Framer's help centre says there is no HTML export and published sites cannot be self-hosted. CMS content can be exported as CSV or JSON through a plugin.

How much does Framer cost?

Basic is US$10 and Pro is US$30 a month per site, billed yearly. Extra pages, CMS items, editors and languages cost more, and the Advanced Hosting add-on is US$200 a month.

Which is better for SEO?

Both handle titles, canonicals, sitemaps and robots.txt. Hatamoto generates schema for every content type, adds llms.txt and redirects on every install, and reports AI crawler visits. In Framer you add schema by hand as custom code.

Does Framer work with AI agents?

Yes. Framer has agents inside the editor and an official MCP server launched in October 2026. Hatamoto has its own built-in MCP server, with scoped keys and an audit log.

How do I move from Framer to Hatamoto?

Export each CMS collection with Framer's export plugin and download the images. Create matching content types and entries through Hatamoto's MCP server or CLI, rebuild your key pages, then copy your redirects.

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