A headless CMS gives you an admin panel to manage content (like WordPress) but separates it from your website’s front-end. Manage content in one place, publish it anywhere—website, mobile app, email campaigns, digital signage. Modern architecture with maximum flexibility.
A headless CMS is a content management system where the “body” (front-end presentation) is separated from the “head” (content management back-end).
Traditional CMS (like WordPress): Content and presentation are tightly coupled. You manage content in WordPress, and WordPress also controls how it displays on your site.
Headless CMS: Content lives in a separate system (Contentful, Sanity, Strapi, headless WordPress). Your website pulls content via an API. You can use any front-end technology (React, Vue, static site generators).
Key benefit: Content flexibility. Write once, publish everywhere.
Headless CMS makes sense when you need content management flexibility:
Publish anywhere
Manage content once, display it on your website, mobile app, email campaigns, smartwatch app, digital kiosks. Content lives in one place, distributed via API.
Modern technology stack
Build your front-end with React, Vue, Astro, or any modern framework. Get the speed of static sites with the convenience of content management.
Better performance
Front-end is often static or server-rendered. Sites load faster than traditional CMS because there’s no database query on every page load.
Scalability
Content API scales independently from your website. Handle traffic spikes without slowing down your CMS.
Security
Admin panel and content API are separate from your public website. Smaller attack surface. Less vulnerable to common CMS exploits.
Headless CMS website: €12,000+
Timeline: 6-10 weeks depending on complexity
Contentful Cloud-based, powerful API, great developer experience. Popular for enterprise projects.
Sanity Flexible, real-time collaborative editing, customizable interface.
Strapi Open-source, self-hosted, highly customizable.
Headless WordPress Use WordPress as a headless CMS (content-only), build front-end separately.
| Feature | Headless CMS | Traditional WordPress |
|---|---|---|
| Content Management | Separate admin panel | Built-in admin panel |
| Front-end Technology | Any (React, Vue, static) | WordPress themes |
| Performance | Faster (static or SSR) | Slower (database queries) |
| Flexibility | Publish anywhere | Mainly websites |
| Setup Complexity | More complex | Simpler |
| Cost | Higher (€12K+) | Lower (€10K+) |
| Best For | Multi-platform, modern stack | Single website, simplicity |
Bottom line: Headless CMS is more flexible and performant, but more complex and expensive. WordPress is simpler and cheaper for single-website projects.
JAMstack (JavaScript, APIs, Markup) architecture pairs perfectly with headless CMS:
This gives you the best of both worlds: static site speed + content management convenience.
For content editors: Slightly. Most headless CMS platforms have clean, modern interfaces, but they’re less familiar than WordPress. Training takes 1-2 hours instead of 30 minutes.
For developers: Much easier. APIs are clean, modern frameworks are faster to work with.
Yes. We can migrate your content from WordPress to a headless CMS. It’s a significant project (4-8 weeks), but content migration is straightforward.
Worth it? Only if you have a specific reason: need to publish to multiple platforms, want modern front-end technology, or have performance issues with WordPress.
No. Headless CMS platforms have admin panels where you add/edit content. You’ll need a developer to:
Content updates are DIY.
Yes, but it’s complex. You’ll integrate e-commerce APIs (Shopify, Stripe, custom). It’s doable but significantly more complex than WooCommerce on WordPress.
Recommendation: Use Shopify or WooCommerce unless you have a specific reason to go headless for e-commerce.
Ask yourself:
If you answered “yes” to 2+ questions, headless makes sense. Otherwise, WordPress is simpler and cheaper.
