Headless CMSs are becoming more popular as companies want more flexible content management tools.
These systems separate the content creation from how it’s displayed, giving more options for publishing content across different platforms.
In this article, we’re reviewing ten top headless CMS options. We’re examining them based on the following criteria:
How well they work with other tools.
How easy they are for developers to use.
How flexible they are for organizing content.
We’ve included enterprise-level systems and free, open-source ones to cover different needs and technical skill levels. This comparison should help teams understand their options and figure out which platforms might work best for their specific projects.
Here are the best headless CMS platforms to consider.
1. Sanity2. Storyblok3. Hygraph4. Contentful5. Contentstack6. Strapi7. Directus8. Umbraco Heartcore9. Kontent.ai10. Prismic
Why Should You Use A Headless CMS Platform?
Headless CMS platforms have become increasingly popular for good reasons.
They offer several advantages over traditional content management systems, including:
Flexibility: Publish once, display anywhere – from websites to apps to smart devices.
Developer-Friendly: Devs can use their favorite tools, speeding up project timelines.
Performance: API-driven content delivery often means quicker load times.
Future-Proof: Easily adapt to new tech without overhauling your whole system.
Security: Backend separation reduces exposure to potential threats.
Scaling: Grow your content or expand to new markets without hitting technical roadblocks.
Teamwork: Features like real-time editing streamline the content creation process.
While not a one-size-fits-all solution, a headless CMS is worth considering if you need a flexible, scalable content system that can keep up with changing tech.
10 Best Headless CMS Platforms
1. Sanity
Screenshot from: sanity.io, July 2024.
Sanity is a good fit for small to medium-sized teams prioritizing real-time collaboration and a customizable content studio.
In practice, Sanity works well for structuring and managing content, such as product information, for e-commerce sites. Its GROQ query language allows for flexible content retrieval and filtering.
Why It’s Good:
Real-time collaboration with live multi-user editing.
Flexible, schema-driven content modeling for structured content.
Customizable Content Studio for intuitive editorial experience.
Pay-as-you-go pricing is suitable for scaling projects.
Potential Drawbacks:
Steeper learning curve for non-technical users compared to traditional CMSs.
Requires development resources for initial setup and ongoing maintenance.
Tips and Tricks:
Use GROQ queries for flexible content retrieval and filtering.
Leverage Portable Text for rich text content with embedded objects.
Customize input components in Content Studio for optimal editorial UX.
Best Hack:
Set up a real-time preview using Next.js and Sanity’s Listener. Changes in the Content Studio will instantly update the front end, providing a true WYSIWYG editing experience for content teams.
2. Storyblok
Screenshot from: storyblok.com, July 2024.
Storyblok’s key selling point is its visual editor, which empowers marketers to create and manage content independently.
It’s been successfully used for multilingual corporate sites. The visual editor simplifies content updates, while features like field-level translations streamline localization.
Why It’s Good:
Visual editor for drag-and-drop page building.
Reusable block system for modular content creation.
Field-level translations for multi-language content.
Roles and permissions for content governance.
Potential Drawbacks:
Some technical setup is required to fully leverage the visual editor.
Pricing can add up for larger-scale projects with higher content needs.
Tips and Tricks:
Utilize nested components for flexible, reusable page sections.
Set up Language Fallbacks to gracefully handle missing translations.
Integrate with Sketch/Figma for a design-to-CMS workflow.
Best Hack:
With Storyblok’s Visual Composer within Content Stages, you can build and preview pages in a draft stage before pushing them live.
3. Hygraph
Screenshot from: hygraph.com, July 2024.
Formerly GraphCMS, Hygraph stands out for its GraphQL-native approach and Content Federation capabilities for unifying data from disparate sources.
Hygraph has been used to power blogs with user-generated content. Authors can submit posts via forms, which are managed in Hygraph. Content Federation allows merging this with e-commerce data to create shoppable posts.
Why It’s Good:
Intuitive GraphQL API for efficient content querying.
Visual schema builder for modeling content without code.
Content Federation is used to unify data from multiple sources.
Webhooks and API extensions for custom integrations.
Potential Drawbacks:
Content preview capabilities are limited compared to some other headless CMSs.
GraphQL learning curve for teams new to this query language.
Tips and Tricks:
Leverage remote fields to enrich content with external API data.
Use Scheduled Publishing to automate content releases.
Set up Webhooks to trigger external actions based on content changes.
Best Hack:
Combine Hygraph’s Content Stages with Vercel’s Preview Deployments. Configure a webhook to trigger a new preview deployment whenever content is updated in a draft stage. This allows stakeholders to review changes in a live environment before publishing.
4. Contentful
Screenshot from: contentful.com, July 2024.
Contentful is an API-first headless CMS geared towards large organizations with complex content requirements.
It’s well-suited for global, multi-site content platforms. Content types and relationships allow for well-structured, multi-locale content. The app framework enables customizing the editorial experience.
Why It’s Good:
Flexible content modeling with validations and relationships.
App framework for extending functionality.
Localization features for multi-language content.
Multiple API options (REST, GraphQL, Content Delivery API).
Potential Drawbacks:
Higher learning curve due to extensive features and concepts.
Pricing can be prohibitive for smaller projects.
Tips and Tricks:
Use Link Fields to model content relationships and references.
Leverage Environment Aliases to streamline content promotion across spaces.
Extend editorial capabilities with app framework and UI extensions.
Best Hack:
Integrate Contentful with Gatsby Cloud for a powerful JAMstack setup. Contentful’s webhook triggers a new build in Gatsby whenever content changes, ensuring the static front end displays the latest published content.
5. Contentstack
Screenshot from: contentstack.com, July 2024.
Contentstack is another enterprise-focused headless CMS, with strengths in content localization and publishing workflows.
It’s been successfully used to build global product catalogs. Content types mirror hierarchical product data, varying by locale. Workflows enable synchronized multi-region releases, with granular roles and permissions ensuring proper governance.
Why It’s Good:
Roles & permissions for fine-grained access control.
Localization features for managing global, multi-language content.
Content scheduling and versioning capabilities.
Stackable per-locale publishing for phasing releases across regions.
Potential Drawbacks:
UI can feel complex for content teams used to simpler traditional CMSs.
There are some limitations around content relationships compared to other enterprise CMSs.
Tips and Tricks:
Utilize the pre-built Field Editor extensions to customize the editorial interface.
Leverage webhooks to trigger external processes or rebuild content changes.
Use the CDN-powered Content Delivery APIs for optimal performance.
Best Hack: