The Most Popular Headless CMS, Ranked

Choose the Headless CMS you think is the most popular!

Author: Gregor Krambs
Updated on May 2, 2024 06:39
Content management systems (CMS) have transformed the way businesses and individual creators publish and manage their digital content. With the surge in various headless CMS options, it can be challenging for users to determine which tool might best meet their specific needs. A collective ranking based on user votes can provide clearer insights into the effectiveness and popularity of these systems. Such rankings are dynamically updated based on real-user feedback, offering a current snapshot of user preferences and satisfaction. This empowers new users to make informed decisions based on the experiences of their peers. Voting on this list not only influences the rankings but also helps in creating a resource that can guide potential users in choosing the right headless CMS for their project requirements.

What Is the Most Popular Headless CMS?

  1. 1
    65
    votes
    Contentful is a popular headless CMS that is known for its ease of use and flexibility. It offers a user-friendly interface and integrates with a wide range of third-party tools and services.
    Contentful is a cloud-based headless CMS (Content Management System) that allows businesses to manage and deliver content across various digital channels. It provides a flexible and scalable solution for creating, managing, and distributing content, making it an appealing choice for developers and content editors alike.
    • RESTful API: Allows developers to retrieve, create, update, and delete content programmatically.
    • GraphQL API: Offers a query language for interacting with the CMS, providing more flexibility and efficiency for data retrieval.
    • Webhooks: Enables real-time notifications and automation by triggering HTTP requests based on events within the CMS.
    • Multilanguage Support: Allows for the creation and management of content in multiple languages, facilitating global content delivery.
    • Asset Management: Provides a centralized location for managing and optimizing digital assets such as images and videos.
  2. 2
    29
    votes
    Strapi is another popular headless CMS that is open-source and highly customizable. It allows developers to build APIs quickly and easily and offers a user-friendly admin panel.
    Strapi is an open-source headless CMS that enables developers to build powerful APIs quickly and efficiently. It provides an intuitive admin panel for content management and allows users to focus on developing frontend applications. With its flexible and customizable architecture, Strapi allows developers to create dynamic, content-driven websites or applications easily. It supports various databases, offers a rich set of plugins and integrations, and allows easy deployment on any hosting platform.
    • Open-source: Yes
    • Admin panel: Yes
    • API-first approach: Yes
    • Flexible architecture: Yes
    • Customizable: Yes
  3. 3
    31
    votes
    Prismic is a headless CMS that is known for its user-friendly interface and its ability to handle complex content structures. It offers a variety of content types and integrates with a wide range of third-party tools.
    Prismic is a popular Headless CMS that enables developers and content creators to easily manage and deliver content across various platforms. It provides a user-friendly interface for adding and editing content, while offering powerful API capabilities for accessing and integrating content into applications.
    • Real-time Collaboration: Allows multiple teams to work simultaneously on the same content
    • Content Slices: Enables flexible content modeling with reusable slices of content
    • Rich Media Support: Supports various media types like images and videos
    • Localization: Offers built-in support for managing content in multiple languages
    • Version Control: Tracks and manages revisions of content
  4. 4
    23
    votes
    Sanity is a headless CMS that is designed for developers and content creators. It offers a flexible data model and a variety of content types, including multimedia content.
    Sanity is a psychological state of soundness and rationality, representing a person's ability to perceive reality accurately and cope with the demands of daily life.
    • Perception: The ability to perceive and interpret events, stimuli, and information in a rational and logical manner.
    • Emotional Stability: The capacity to regulate and control emotions effectively, maintaining a stable and balanced mental state.
    • Reasoning: The capability to think logically, critically, and make informed decisions based on available information.
    • Adaptability: The aptitude to adjust and respond adequately to changes and challenges faced in various situations.
    • Self-Awareness: The consciousness of one's own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors, leading to a coherent sense of identity and purpose.
  5. 5
    17
    votes

    Kentico Kontent

    Kentico Software
    Kentico Kontent is a cloud-based headless CMS that offers a variety of content types and integrates with a wide range of third-party tools. It offers a user-friendly interface and a variety of customization options.
    Kentico Kontent is a cloud-based Headless CMS that enables businesses to manage and deliver structured content across multiple channels. It provides a powerful API-first approach allowing developers to build websites, mobile apps, and other digital experiences. With its intuitive interface and flexible content modeling, Kentico Kontent empowers content editors and marketers to collaborate on content creation and distribution effectively.
    • API-first approach: Allows developers to use any technology to consume and display content
    • Cloud-based: Content is securely stored and easily accessible from anywhere
    • Flexible content modeling: Enables content editors to define custom content structures and relationships
    • Content collaboration: Supports seamless collaboration between content editors, marketers, and developers
    • Multi-channel distribution: Content can be delivered to websites, apps, digital displays, and more
  6. 6
    12
    votes
    ButterCMS is a headless CMS that is designed for developers and content creators. It offers a variety of content types and integrates with a wide range of third-party tools. It also offers a user-friendly interface and a variety of customization options.
    ButterCMS is a popular Headless CMS that allows developers to build dynamic websites and applications with ease. It provides a simple way to manage and deliver content without the need for a traditional backend. ButterCMS offers a fully hosted solution, which means developers don't have to worry about server maintenance or scaling issues.
    • Flexible Content Structure: ButterCMS allows developers to define custom content structures using its flexible content modeling. This allows for easy organization and management of complex content.
    • Real-time Collaboration: Teams can collaborate in real-time using the ButterCMS editor. Multiple team members can work on content simultaneously, ensuring efficient workflow and better productivity.
    • Rich Text Editor: The ButterCMS editor provides a powerful rich text editing experience, allowing content creators to format and style their content easily. It supports features like tables, images, videos, and more.
    • Media Library: ButterCMS offers a built-in media library for managing media assets. Developers can easily upload and organize images, videos, and other media files, making it convenient for content creators.
    • Webhooks: With ButterCMS's webhooks, developers can receive real-time notifications whenever content changes. This enables developers to take immediate actions like triggering builds or updating caches without manually polling for changes.
  7. 7
    9
    votes
    GraphCMS is a headless CMS that is designed for developers and content creators. It offers a flexible data model and a variety of content types, including multimedia content. It also integrates with a wide range of third-party tools.
    GraphCMS is a popular Headless CMS platform that allows users to create, manage, and deliver content across various digital channels. It provides an intuitive interface and a powerful GraphQL API for accessing and manipulating content. GraphCMS offers a wide range of features and capabilities to help developers and content creators streamline their workflows and deliver content-rich experiences to their audience.
    • Content Modeling: Allows easy creation and management of structured content models.
    • GraphQL API: Provides a flexible and efficient way to query and modify content.
    • Localization: Enables the creation and management of multilingual content.
    • Image Transformation: Automatically optimizes and transforms images for different devices and resolutions.
    • Role-Based Access Control: Enables fine-grained access control for different user roles.
  8. 8
    9
    votes
    Strattic is a headless CMS that is designed for WordPress users. It offers a variety of content types and integrates with a wide range of WordPress plugins. It also offers a user-friendly interface and a variety of customization options.
    Strattic is a headless CMS (Content Management System) designed to make static websites simple and secure. It enables developers to build and deploy websites using any framework or programming language, while providing non-technical users with an intuitive interface for content editing. Strattic generates static HTML files from the dynamic content, ensuring faster load times, improved security, and high scalability.
    • Open Source: No
    • Deployment Options: Serverless, CDN
    • Supported Programming Languages: Any
    • API Access: Yes
    • Content Editing Interface: User-friendly
  9. 9
    9
    votes
    Directus is an open-source headless CMS that offers a variety of content types and a flexible data model. It also offers a user-friendly interface and integrates with a wide range of third-party tools.
    Directus is a popular Headless CMS that provides a clean and intuitive interface for managing content. It allows users to create custom database schemas and provides a powerful API to access and retrieve data. Directus is known for its flexibility, extensibility, and open-source nature, making it a preferred choice among developers and content creators alike.
    • Custom Database Schemas: Users can create and manage custom database schemas to meet specific content requirements.
    • Intuitive Interface: Directus offers a clean and user-friendly interface for content management.
    • Powerful API: The API provided by Directus allows easy access and retrieval of data.
    • Extensibility: Directus can be extended with custom functionality using hooks, extensions, and plugins.
    • Open-source: Directus is an open-source platform, enabling active community contributions and continuous improvement.
  10. 10
    6
    votes
    Cockpit CMS is an open-source headless CMS that is designed for developers and content creators. It offers a flexible data model and a variety of content types, including multimedia content. It also integrates with a wide range of third-party tools.
    Cockpit CMS is a popular and user-friendly Headless CMS that provides a simple and flexible content management solution. It allows developers to build and manage their content APIs easily, enabling them to focus on creating engaging digital experiences.
    • User-friendly Interface: Cockpit CMS offers an intuitive and easy-to-use interface for managing content.
    • Flexible Content Structures: Developers can define custom content structures and fields according to their project requirements.
    • GraphQL Support: Cockpit CMS has built-in support for GraphQL, making it easier to build efficient APIs.
    • Media Management: It provides a media management system to upload, organize, and use media files efficiently.
    • User Management: Cockpit CMS allows for managing user roles and permissions, ensuring secure access to content.

Missing your favorite Headless CMS?

Graphs
Discussion

Ranking factors for popular Headless CMS

  1. Features and Functionality
    The Headless CMS should offer a wide range of features and functionalities to meet various content management needs. This may include support for different content types, customizable content models, revision history, webhook support, and more.
  2. Ease of Use
    The CMS should be easy to use for both technical and non-technical users. A user-friendly interface, clear documentation, and good support for integrations and third-party tools are important factors for ensuring ease of use.
  3. Scalability and Performance
    The Headless CMS should be able to handle large amounts of content, traffic and support multiple projects while ensuring fast performance and low latency.
  4. Flexibility and Customizability
    The ability to customize the CMS to adapt to specific industry needs and workflow requirements is important. This might include support for various settings, languages, and custom data types.
  5. API and Developer Experience
    A well-documented and easy-to-use API is essential for integrating the Headless CMS with other systems and building custom functionality. This includes support for REST, GraphQL or other API options.
  6. Security and Compliance
    The CMS should follow industry-standard security practices, including regular updates, patches, and support for secure user access management. Additionally, the CMS should comply with relevant data protection regulations, such as GDPR or CCPA.
  7. Ecosystem and Community Support
    A strong community around the Headless CMS is helpful for finding solutions, plugins, and helpful resources. It is also important to consider the ecosystem of integrations and plugins available for the CMS.
  8. Pricing and Cost-Effectiveness
    The overall cost of using the Headless CMS should be within your project's budget and offer a fair return on investment in terms of features, support, and resources provided.
  9. Vendor Support and Reliability
    Consider the reputation of the Headless CMS vendor, the level of support they provide, and their willingness to address issues and improve the product.
  10. Collaborative tools and Multi-user support
    The CMS should offer features that promote collaboration, such as role-based access control, real-time editing, and tracking changes among team members.

About this ranking

This is a community-based ranking of the most popular Headless CMS. We do our best to provide fair voting, but it is not intended to be exhaustive. So if you notice something or Headless CMS is missing, feel free to help improve the ranking!

Statistics

  • 1992 views
  • 209 votes
  • 10 ranked items

Voting Rules

A participant may cast an up or down vote for each Headless CMS once every 24 hours. The rank of each Headless CMS is then calculated from the weighted sum of all up and down votes.

Categories

More information on most popular headless cms

Headless content management systems (CMS) have become increasingly popular in recent years due to their flexibility and scalability. Unlike traditional CMS, headless CMS separates the backend content management from the frontend presentation. This means that developers can use any programming language or technology to build the frontend, while content creators can still manage and publish content through the CMS. There are many headless CMS options available, each with their own unique features and benefits. Some of the most popular headless CMS include Strapi, Contentful, and Sanity. Each of these platforms offers a user-friendly interface for content creation and management, as well as robust APIs for developers to use in building their applications. When choosing a headless CMS, it's important to consider factors such as ease of use, flexibility, and scalability. Ultimately, the choice of CMS will depend on the specific needs and goals of the project. With so many options available, it's important to do your research and choose a platform that will best suit your needs.

Share this article