What is a Headless CMS? A Guide for Marketers

Most people recognise traditional Content Management System (CMS) architecture; at least, those in marketing do.

But brands no longer operate in one place, nor do they publish content in one place.

Instead, they operate across websites, mobile apps, campaign microsites, in-store screens, partner platforms, and emerging channels that didn’t exist a few years ago.

Content has been pushed out of a page-based ecosystem. And that means operating a headless CMS is a growing trend among dev and marketing teams.

In the guide below, we’ll explain what a headless CMS is, how it differs from traditional and decoupled systems, and where it makes sense (and when it doesn’t).

What is a Headless CMS?

A headless CMS separates content management from content presentation.

In traditional CMS terms, content management refers to your website backend (where you write and edit blog posts), and content presentation refers to the page on your website where that content gets published. 

Instead of being tied to a website theme or page templates, a headless CMS acts as a central content layer that can feed any digital experience via APIs such as RESTful or GraphQL. 

The CMS stores structured content - articles, products, components, media, metadata - but leaves the front end completely open. That means the same content can power:

• Websites and web apps
• Mobile applications
• In-store screens, kiosks, event displays
• Email and marketing automation
• Future channels you haven’t even planned yet

The best way to think about headless CMS is as a content infrastructure connected to any (in theory) digital surfaces. Even if they don’t exist yet.

How Does a Headless CMS Work?

In short, with a headless CMS, your content is stored in one place and delivered to others via an API. In reality, there are three moving parts.

The Content Repository

The content repository is where your team creates, manages, and structures content. This is, in effect, your backend. But the content you “deposit” isn’t directly connected to a website, for instance.

Instead, the content in your repository is stored as structured data. For instance, a product description. That product description isn’t a block of text formatted for a specific unit on a particular page. It can be replicated on any digital surface.

The API Layer

The API layer is what enables headless to be headless. As we’ve explained, the content you add to your repository isn’t connected to a particular place. Instead, it’s delivered to multiple places via an API (application programming interface). This is typically RESTful or GraphQL. 

Your API layer means that any connected platform or application can request the content it needs from your repository and deliver it in the required format.

The Surfaces

Then you have the channels/surfaces/frontends - whatever you want to call them. And this is where your development team comes in. Whether they’re working with a website, app or screen in a kiosk, they build the presentation layer that displays the structured data.

The CMS doesn't care what's on the other end. It just delivers the content. In practice, that means your content team works in one place, and content flows out to wherever it's needed.

Headless CMS vs. Traditional CMS

Almost everyone working in modern marketing or digital content will be familiar with a traditional CMS, even if they don’t call it that. It’s just the CMS.

A traditional CMS - whether it’s Craft CMS, WordPress or Drupal - connects the backend (where you manage the content that appears on your website) with the frontend (how users see your website). You do make a change in the backend; it appears in the frontend.

There’s nothing inherently wrong with a traditional CMS. But in a world of multi-channel experiences and surfaces, their like-for-like nature is limiting. You couldn’t push the same content to a mobile app and an in-store screen using a traditional CMS without multiple versions and inconsistencies.

How is a Headless CMS Different?

Understanding how a headless CMS is different requires a mindset shift. Forget the frontend. Instead, think of your content as structured data delivered via an API to where it needs to be. That structured data can be used to pull the same information into any channel without having to be recreated incessantly.

That makes it sound like traditional platforms are obsolete. They aren’t. Most brands and businesses still operate through one or two channels, and a traditional setup is simpler, cheaper and easier to manage.

A headless CMS is a relatively complex solution for complex problems. Whether it’s interesting to you depends on your specific business.

Headless CMS vs. Decoupled CMS

So, that’s content management systems covered, right? Well, not quite.

There’s also such a thing as a decoupled CMS. Some use the term interchangeably with headless, but they’re not quite the same.

If we roll with the analogy, a decoupled CMS still has its head, but the head is tucked under the arm. It’s there if you need it.

Where a Decoupled CMS Differs

Both headless and decoupled CMSs do not have directly linked back and front ends. But where a headless CMS has no assumed frontend (it could be anything), a decoupled CMS does have an assumed frontend, but one that can be replaced or overridden.

Craft CMS - our favourite - is actually a great example of this. Craft is a primarily traditional CMS that can operate in a headless or hybrid mode, rather than a ground-up headless platform. More on that shortly.

In reality, most marketers won’t really care about this distinction. Decoupled vs. headless is more about giving your developers the flexibility they need to meet your requirements while keeping the backend workable for content teams.

What are the Benefits of Using a Headless CMS?

If you’ve got this far (well done!), the benefits of using a headless CMS should be relatively clear. But it’s worth laying them out for total clarity.

Content Anywhere

The most obvious benefit of running a headless CMS is that your content is managed in a central repository, but can be pushed anywhere. It’s a much more efficient way to deliver consistent content to multiple channels at scale.

If you find yourself having to deliver multiple versions of content to different surfaces, it’s probably eating up resources that can be saved with a headless implementation.

Complete Flexibility

A headless CMS is a true expression of flexibility. With a traditional CMS, your backend and frontend are inextricably linked. If you want to change platforms or redesign your website, some sort of migration is almost always a requirement. Not so with a headless CMS.

Efficient Structure

In a traditional CMS setup, frontend changes and content updates are usually dependent on one another. There’s a cleaner separation with a headless CMS.

With a headless CMS, developers can work on the presentation layer without disrupting content workflows, and content teams can keep things flowing without waiting on development cycles.

Futureproof Content

A headless CMS is, by its nature, relatively futureproof. Because your content is treated as structured data, it can, in theory, be delivered anywhere via API. Should a new surface be launched into the market, the only thing stopping you from appearing there is creating a presentation layer. No retrofit required.

What are the Limitations of a Headless CMS?

All that makes a headless CMS sound awesome. And they are. But they’re not right for everyone. In fact, they’re not right for most (yet). And here’s why:

The Experience

With a traditional CMS, the backend and frontend are tied together. That puts you in complete control of user experience. You have content and you know, more or less, exactly how it will look on screen.

A headless CMS requires closer attention. Without careful implementation, content teams can find themselves working in an abstract backend with relatively limited ability to preview how content will actually appear on any given surface. And how content appears is often as important as the content itself.

Some platforms handle this better than others. Craft CMS, for instance, retains a strong editorial interface even in headless mode.

It’s Expensive

Purpose-built headless platforms aren't cheap. Enterprise-level options like Contentful or Sanity carry licensing costs that reflect their positioning. And the development work required to build and connect surfaces means the total cost of ownership will be considerably higher than with a traditional CMS.

Ultimately, operating a headless CMS is more of a use case decision. For the right organisation, a headless CMS will be worth it. But for many, it will be overkill.

Complexity by Design

Similarly, a headless architecture is complex because it needs to be. There are several moving parts that all need to work together. That means there’s more to maintain, more dependencies, and more points of failure. For teams with straightforward content needs, a headless CMS likely isn’t right.

Development Resource

This one’s a bit chicken and egg. But the more surfaces your content appears on, the more development goes into making sure it appears properly across all of them.

To be honest, this one’s a bit more about scale than it is the headless CMS itself. That said, it’s still worth going in with your eyes wide open. Maintaining content across multiple channels is easier with a headless CMS, but it’s still not frictionless.

Is Craft CMS a Headless CMS?

The elephant in the room: Craft CMS is best known as - and is primarily - a traditional CMS.

That said, since the introduction of its GraphQL API, Craft has become a credible headless (and decoupled) option. It’s a particularly good option for teams that want the benefits of headless architecture without abandoning the clean and clear Craft CMs experience.

Craft CMS isn’t a purpose-built headless platform. That means it still retains its front-end layer, meaning you can run it in hybrid or headlessMode. This could be a good option if you’d prefer to transition gradually, rather than all at once.

Craft CMS is a good option for a headless CMS for all the same reasons it works - and is our preference - as a traditional CMS; it’s flexible and good to work with, especially for developers and editorial teams.

On the other hand, Craft isn’t an API-first platform like the leaders in the space, Contentful or Sanity. It's self-hosted (or hosted via Craft Cloud), which means infrastructure is your responsibility.

That means teams operating at enterprise scale through dozens of touchpoints may find a purpose-built headless platform is more robust and, ultimately, suitable.

Instead, Craft CMS is likely a more accessible solution for mid-sized brands and agencies that want headless flexibility without the cost or complexity of the major enterprise platforms. And, of course, it’s a particularly natural fit for those already using Craft and want to expand into different channels without migration.

What Are the Best Headless CMSs?

Craft CMS is our content management system of choice, whether we’re talking about a traditional or headless implementation. We love it. In fact, we’re an official Craft CMS Partner agency with approaching 15 years of platform experience.

And yet, we accept that it won’t be the right solution for everyone. So, here are some of the more popular alternatives:

Contentful

At enterprise scale, Contentful is probably the name most associated with headless CMS.

Contentful is a cloud-native, API-first platform built specifically for multi-channel content delivery. It’s a highly respected platform with a broad range of integrations.

The limitation, predictably, is cost and complexity. Contentful's pricing is representative of its positioning. At the end of the day, it’s a platform built for true scale.

Sanity

Like Contentful, Sanity is considered a leader in the headless CMS space. But whereas Ciontenful is built and optimised for enterprise workflows, Sanity is far more flexible and editable. Developers often prefer it for the options it gives. 

Marketing teams might want to consider Sanity over Contentful if there’s a requirement for full control, real-time editing and complex content relationships. This last point means it’s a good solution for ecommerce brands.

Storyblok

Storyblok takes a slightly different approach. In fact, it might be a little more recognisable to Craft CMS users. Instead of completely decoupling content and surface, it has a built-in visual editor that gives content teams a preview of the end product. 

It’s not a bad option for mid-size businesses dipping their toes into headless, but wanting to retain clearer control. However, those enterprise-level businesses may prefer platforms with deeper customisation or infrastructure control.

Headless WordPress

This one’s worth a mention, if only for teams already running or familiar with WordPress who are considering a headless architecture. 

Like Craft CMS, it’s possible to run WordPress in a headless configuration using REST API or WPGraphQL. Honestly, it’s a great option for teams who want to retain a familiar editorial environment - if you can avoid retraining your team, then why not?

Of course, WordPress wasn’t designed to be headless from the ground up, so it’s a bit of a compromise. Nevertheless, it’s a great stepping stone.

So, Is a Headless CMS Right for You?

That’s the million-dollar question, isn’t it? 

If we were to guess, the answer would probably be not quite yet, but maybe soon.

For most brands and businesses, a traditional CMS is still the best option, all things considered. Your existing platform, be it Craft CMS or WordPress, should be simpler, cheaper, and easier to manage. 

If what you do is primarily based around a couple of channels - a website and an app, for instance - a headless CMS will likely add complexity without justifying it. 

BUT, the landscape is fragmenting. Channels are multiplying. And your users now expect consistent brand experiences across surfaces. 

So, if multi-channel content delivery is already a challenge, or it's firmly on your roadmap, then it’s absolutely time to start considering a headless CMS. 

How Do You Choose a Headless CMS?

From there, the next step is less about choosing a platform and more about understanding your own requirements and going from there. If you’re a mid-sized national business without enterprise requirements, something like Contentful might still be overkill.

How many channels are you targeting? How much development resource do you have? Can your content team stay efficient? Answer those questions before comparing platforms. And if you settle on Craft CMS... come to us.