* Update: Framer updated Drafts to be free for everyone as of January 30th, 2025. Woohoo, this is a big win 🥳 *

Drafting Pages

The new drafts feature isn’t just about CMS; you are now able to set web pages to draft so they can be edited without being published alongside the rest of the site, or even taken down after already being published for quick fixes and more. While it would be nice to see this as a basic plan feature, this being a pro plan feature is not such a hangup for me. It makes sense for bigger sites that might be updated with new pages more frequently. My issue when it comes to drafts is with the CMS in particular, so that’s what I’ll be focusing on. Let’s get into it.

Drafts in CMS! But…

Having the ability to write up a blog post or add a new item to the shop without having to publish it is great! Need to take down a CMS item while it gets updated? That is now possible. Thanks Framer! Having drafts is one of those features that makes you think, “Wow, how has this not been there since the beginning?!”–at least we have it now! Right? Hmmm… well, sorta. Let me explain. Watching the announcement video– Me: “We finally have drafts, woohoo!” But as the video comes to a close I hear, “To make use of drafts, make sure to upgrade your workspace to a pro or enterprise plan”... What? You’re telling me I have to pay for one of the more expensive plans to get access to this basic feature? 

Great Feature, Poor Implementation

Drafts is arguably a default feature that many platforms offer. Whether I didn’t get time to finish writing/uploading or I need to return to it to edit some more, being able to draft that item is essential to maintaining a cohesive workflow within the ecosystem of a single platform. Framer adding drafts is fantastic until we take a look at the big asterisk that comes with it. The feature is here, but it’s only available for Pro and enterprise plans. What?! Unless you’re shelling out $$$ for a bigger site, you won’t be able to access drafts as a feature for a live site.

A Free Feature (Elsewhere)

So let me get this straight: I can draft a post on Twitter(X) but I can’t draft this article I’m writing right now for the Framer site since I only have it on a basic plan… this doesn’t seem right. Looking at how this affects me right now, I currently cannot write this as a draft in my CMS directly in Framer because of the paywall. Instead, I’m writing this article in Google Docs so I can copy/paste it into the Framer CMS when I want to push it live. This makes no sense!

The ability to draft work is by no means a premium feature. Locking it behind a paywall does not make a pro or enterprise plan more appealing to me as with many people happy with the majority of what Framer’s basic plan has to offer.

Bad Business (for Templates)

Imagine someone checking out the Framer marketplace looking for a solid template so they can start a blog. They find a beautifully crafted template that is customizable to their liking. We’re off to a great start! They look at the plans and see that the basic plan has what they need for the size of their site. They check out pro and enterprise for the sake of comparison and see drafts listed as a pro site feature. They are confused–”How is this a pro feature? All I want is a site to write my blogs, but I won’t be able to write and edit my drafts unless I have a pro plan? Not cool.”

For this user, a basic plan fits their price range for the type of site they want to run. They can get away with one CMS collection (my next point of contention), but they still will not be able to keep all aspects of their blog on one platform–they’ll have to save their drafts elsewhere and import it at the time they want it published. Especially for potential template users, making Framer an all-in-one operation is key to onboarding and retaining new users. While they might not be worried about drafting new site pages as much, drafting up their next blog (or even just getting the idea down) is something that should be available by default.

The Other CMS Limitation

Framer’s Basic Plan Needs More CMS Collections

As of now, Framer’s basic plan only gives you access to one CMS collection. If you want to use more collections, you have to jump up to the pro plan which gives you 10 CMS collections. At the time of writing this, a basic plan goes for CAD$228 a year (with yearly discount, before tax) and the pro plan is nearly double that, coming in at CAD$444 (with yearly discount, before tax). Essentially, to use even just one more collection, you would have to double your website expenses! Framer is a powerful platform with many benefits that make each plan worth it for the most part, but there is a massive imbalance when it comes to content management systems. I would love to see Framer introduce access to 3 CMS collections for the basic plan.

Nik Brazley on Twitter(X) voices my exact ailments with the disparity in price for having to jump to a pro plan just to use one more CMS collection:

His sentiment struck a chord within the Twitter(X) design community, garnering over 5,000 impressions and multiple comments echoing the sentiment. Framer’s own Edoardo Mercati chimed in to let us know that they have heard us and are actively discussing the matter.

Looking to the Future

Alright, I feel a bit better writing this! I am hopeful to see these positive changes to drafts and the CMS-collection-to-plan ratio in the future. Framer is not just about speedy sites and pushing updates, they are all about community! Their responsiveness and engagement in the design community is woven into their brand and culture. We have made it clear that there is room for improvement and already we know they are listening. Fingers crossed we see the basic plan get a boost with drafts and increased CMS collections soon!

Housekeeping

I am fired up about these recent Framer updates! What are your thoughts on the matter? Head on over to Twitter(X) to keep the convo going and stay up to date with me–see you there!